Viz appoint two new key staff

[melonpan]

Just found some incredibly interesting news here, this might really get the ball rolling for Viz in Europe.

(VIZ Media), is pleased to announce the appointment of Pascal Bonnet as Director of Licensing and Brand Management, and Isabelle Aghina as Director of TV & DVD Sales and Distribution

Not that I know much about Viz' past history and how this will change anything, all I know is Viz has had interest in Europe for a while now and this little quote proves quite interesting:

VIZ Media is one of the most innovative companies in the area of Japanese content, and its impressive track record in North America should help us accelerate our expansion in Europe. I am looking forward to building stronger relationships with the best partners in this region.

Both these two new Viz Europe people have had considerable experience in their areas.. Bonnet did the same role for Ubisoft for 14 years and Aghina did 10 years for Buena Vista and Saban (although BV and Saban are children's orientated companies I believe (I heard Saban did some dreadful editing to a certain series, not sure which it was though)).

Either way though, this statement sounds promising:

Both are seasoned experts with a broad range of international experience and leadership skills. Pascal brings with him vast experience in the video game and toy industries. Isabelle has a long track record of success building television sales with leading entertainment companies. Pascal and Isabelle will be responsible for driving VIZ Media Europe’s growth and brand strategies for a variety of new properties for all demographics

Considering Viz Europe's properties contain: "BLEACH, DEATH NOTE, BLUE DRAGON, HONEY & CLOVER, M.A.R, ZOIDS GENESIS and KIRARIN" We could be seeing these in some form or another on TV soon enough.

 

[Ryo Chan]

Zoids genesis on tv..................

plz god no, don't destroy the zoids francaise comeback like you did with CC and GF

 

[Noratav]

Firstly, they appoint the most powerful man in their North American division to run their European operation, now they hire two entertainment industry veterans in sales related positions. Let's not forget they also moved their European headquarters from Amsterdam (a remote backwater in anime terms) to Paris (the centre of the European anime industry). They really are taking the European anime market seriously, and given that the UK is one of the larger anime markets in Europe that means more Anime and Manga for us.

As for Saban, they're most famous for Power Rangers, They, originally being a French company, were also involved in some of the 80s Japanese/French co-productions. You're probably referring to their involvement in the early sagas of Dragonball and Dragonball Z which they co-produced with Funimation. Although they also produced a butchered version of Escaflowne for Fox Kids, as well as bringing Digimon to the west. Incidentally, they're now owned by Disney.

Re: Zoids Genesis. I'd be happy to see it any form really, Viz licensed it for the US and said they were going to stream it on Cartoon Network's online video service but nothing's been seen of it yet.

 

[melonpan]

As for Saban, You're probably referring to their involvement in the early sagas of Dragonball and Dragonball Z which they co-produced with Funimation.

That's what I think it was. I think they still have the first 10 episodes of Dragonball editied, which was why Funimation couldn't release it from the start, something along those lines anyway.

Another little thing I just thought of. The fact that Viz Europe's catalogue doesn't contain Naruto and that they sub-licensed it to Manga might be an indication that they are having a hard time getting what they want out of Naruto, namely a good television deal. Although as I just think of it, that thought is somewhat flawed as Manga got it on Jetix. Either way, I think we can safely say this news is 100% good news, I'm really looking forward to what these new people do with Viz Europe.

 

[Noratav]

Another little thing I just thought of. The fact that Viz Europe's catalogue doesn't contain Naruto and that they sub-licensed it to Manga might be an indication that they are having a hard time getting what they want out of Naruto, namely a good television deal. Although as I just think of it, that thought is somewhat flawed as Manga got it on Jetix. Either way, I think we can safely say this news is 100% good news, I'm really looking forward to what these new people do with Viz Europe.

You're reading too much into the lack of any mention of Naruto. It's not mentioned because they've already handed out all the rights they have for Naruto, (except for Terrestrial TV rights) which means they're not trying to market it. Notice the press release doesn't mention Inuyasha either, another Viz property which has also been fully licensed. Besides the version posted on Animeondvd does mention Naruto but only in the second paragraph. In Europe, Viz are purely middlemen, once they've sold the rights to the shows to someone else they stop caring about it. Besides, Naruto isn't mentionned in their website either.