IG Port is a huge parent company for some of Japan’s biggest and most popular anime studios, as well as manga publishers. These include Wit Studio, XEBEC, Signal.MD, and of course, Production IG. The also own publisher Mag Garden. Now, these IG Port companies are looking for new talent, so they’ve launched a new contest called Project Bigship. This is all to celebrate the 10th anniversary of IG Port, which launched after Production IG and Mag Garden merged in 2007.

Each of the IG Port companies have their own categories. This means that those who wish to enter must first know which category they wish to compete in. The winner of each category will win the Gold Prize. And then, from those Gold Prize winners, they will pick the Grand Prize Winner. The winner will then have his/her work get an anime adaptation.

Those interested to participate must submit their entries by 31 January 2018. They will then go through three rounds of screenings to narrow down each category. Each individual IG Port company will then choose their winners. One they do, the judges will then choose the grand prize winner. And impressing the judges is no easy task at all! They include some of the biggest names in the anime and manga industry. The panel includes Kozue Amano (Aria creator), Tow Ubukata (Mardock Scramble creator), Haruki Kasugamori (Sgt Frog director), Kemuri Karakara (Donten ni Warau author), Katsuyuki Motohiro (Psycho-Pass director), and Kore Yamazaki (The Ancient Magus’ Bride author). Here are the categories:

Production IG: 

Judges include Mitsuhisa Ishikawa (Production I.G CEO), Rui Kuroki (Kuroko’s Basketball, Joker Game producer), Katsuyuki Motohiro (Psycho-Pass director), and Production I.G staff.

  • For their  “Tate Anime” smartphone app
  • Must be accompanied with 3-minute video
  • Must be presentable for vertical screens such as smartphones and tablets
  • Themes include either comedy, romance, sports, action, workplace, horror, gourmet, games, medical, finance, economy, slice-of-life, and healing.
  • Winners receive:
    Bronze: 100,000 yen cash prize
    Silver: 500,000 yen cash Prize
    Gold: 1 Million yen cash prize + chance to get video streamed in their Tate Anime app

Signal.MD:

The judges include Katsuji Morishita (Signal.MD CEO), Haruki Kasugamori, and Signal.MD staff.

  • Must submit gif animation
  • Themes include either comedy, romance, sports, action, workplace, horror, gourmet, games, medical, finance, economy, slice-of-life, and healing.
  • Winners receive:
    Bronze:50,000 yen cash prize
    Silver: 100,000 yen cash prize
    Gold: 300,000 yen cash prize

XEBEC:

Ryuji Mitsumoto (XEBEC CEO) and XEBEC staff will serve as the judges

  • Must have a climbing theme
  • Must have stories about “Reaching the Top”
  • story pitches and concept illustrations are acceptable
  • Only one prize, with winner receiving 100,000 yen in cash

Mag Garden:

Judges include Yoshihiro Hosaka (Mag Garden CEO), Kemuri Karakara, Kore Yamazaki, Kozue Amano, and the Mag Garden editorial department.

  •  Must be in high fantasy, low fantasy, and science-fantasy genres
  • Themes include either comedy, romance, sports, action, workplace, horror, gourmet, games, medical, finance, economy, slice-of-life, and healing.
  • Winners receive:
    Bronze: 100,000 yen cash prize
    Silver: 500,000 yen cash Prize
    Gold: 1 Million yen cash prize + Company acknowledgement + Serialization of the winning story
  • Will also hand out separate “Judges’ Choice” and “Editors’ Choice” awards

WiT Studio

Judges include George Wasa (WiT Studio president) and Tow Ubukata

  • For their Wit Novel label
  • In collaboration with Amazon Japan and Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing
  • Must be a novel
  • Possibility of being the foundation for a future video project
  • Must have themes with either science fiction or fantasy
  • Bronze: 100,000 yen cash prize
    Silver: 300,000 yen cash Prize
    Gold: 1 Million yen cash prize + possible anime adaptation + Amazon Kindle Direct publishing Deal
  • Possibility that WiT might not choose any awardee for the cash prizes at all

IG Port will announce the awardees in spring 2018.

Source:  Uri-sure Matome+