The anime industry has proven to be a big business in Japan. And with events like Anime Festival Asia (AFA), Anime Expo, and Japan Expo happening all over the world, it has become a global phenomenon. It is so big right now that the Tokyo Metropolitan government is even stepping in and launching their own program.

In an announcement, they revealed their “Anime Overseas Expansion Step-Up Program”. It will aim to promote Japanese animation to the foreign market… even more, than it is now.

As the announcement says, it will include seminars and workshops, as well as having foreigners pitch their ideas for new anime through international contests. They will be offering cash awards for these contests, and will even exhibit the winning pitches in next year’s MIFA (Marche international du film d’animation) animation market.

As for the seminars, they’re planning to run them between August and October this year. It will primarily focus on outlining the foreign anime market. Meanwhile, the workshops will be happening sometime in November and seek to train people to improve their presentation of pitches.

They are now collection entries for the “Tokyo Anime Pitch Grand Prix” to be held on February 2020, with the grand prize of one million yen.

Expect them to reveal more about these workshops, seminars, and contest soon.

source:  Animation Business Journal