3:30 PM – 4:00 PM (PDT) |  Friday 4 September 2020 – 5:30 pm to 6 pm central

Panel Description: GKIDS, New York-based producer and distributor of award-winning, international animation, including Makoto Shinkai’s WEATHERING WITH YOU and Studio TRIGGER’S PROMARE, discusses their upcoming titles and shares insights on film distribution for feature animation in a changing world. Featuring: Dave Jesteadt, Erica Chon, Chance Huskey | Room: SUDACHI STAGE

Credit: Casea Mhtar | @madamekrow​

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• Lupin III The First is coming soon in English Dub! The Japanese Sub version was initially released in 2019 to much praise and excitement for the film. GKIDS are doing their best to have a theatrical release with the highly anticipated film; however, they want to be as safe as possible when doing it. A video release date has been set, and it was also announced that the original voice cast will be returning for Lupin’s first CGI adventure. If you haven’t seen Lupin III or have any prior knowledge, no need to fear! This film is a good entry point into the “Lupin Universe” since it’s light-hearted and easy to enjoy without needing to know what came before it.

• Children of the Sea (2019), a beautiful film based on the five part manga by Daisuke Igarashi. The story is full of lore that the film will trust the viewer to know or understand. The story-telling goes off the beaten path and gives a very unique and profound experience. It doesn’t try to adapt the source material into something more palatable by Hollywood’s standards. The film’s purpose is to bring this cult-hit to life authentically. In the future, they are open to a theatrical release as the bright and detailed visuals and depth of the music demand it. But will look into doing so when it is deemed safe. With that in mind, they do have a video release date set for the Dubbed version.

• ON-GAKU: Our Sound (2019) is an indie animated film based on the manga by Hiroyuki Ohashi. The director of the movie and close friend of Ohashi’s, Kenji Iwaisawa, spent seven years working on this film as a passion project. The story follows three high school delinquents as they pursue their goal of having a rock band. The art is simple with humorous little details, and it pairs perfectly with the bone-dry humor. The film has gained quite a lot of traction in Japan, especially showing how it can acquire a following based on word-of-mouth alone. GKIDS informs that it should be released no later than early next year.

• Earlier this year, GKIDS released Weathering With You, a film directed by Makoto Shinkai. Famously known for his other works such as The Garden of Words (2013) and Your Name (2016), it has amassed great success for this recent film. Weathering With You has achieved the title of the third top-grossing animated film of the year thus far! It is available for download, and on September 15th, there will be a SteelBook released in limited quantities. A Limited Collector’s Edition is also set to drop in mid-November.

• Promare (2019) is a colorful and energetic film from Studio Trigger. It was directed by Hiroyuki Imaishi and written by Kazuki Nakashima, having previously worked together on Gurren Lagann and Kill la Kill. There was a Collector’s Edition released in early August, and GKIDS has pledged to bring it to theatres in 2021!

• The most recent film from Masaaki Yuasa, Ride Your Wave, is GKIDS’ first dub to be done remotely after Covid-19 hit. On the GKIDS website, there is an interesting blog post detailing the process of dubbing the film and adapting the theme song in such conditions.

• GKIDS is currently creating an English dub for The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl, by Masaaki Yuasa, for a release early next year.

• GKIDS will also be dubbing another film by Yuasa, Inu-Oh, that is currently in production.

• Hayao Miyazaki’s most recent film, The Wind Rises, will finally be coming to Blu-Ray and DVD on September 22nd! This will allow you to complete your GKIDS collection of Miyazaki films. It will also include a documentary episode of Miyakai entering the creation process of The Wind Rises in addition to other bonus features that are not on previous editions. GKIDS will also continue to regularly drop SteelBook editions of the Studio Ghibli films, Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind and KiKi’s Delivery Service being the most recent to be released. (Here’s a link to that very blog post: https://gkids.com/2020/08/06/ride-your-wave-behind-the-dub/)