New York Anime Fest - Industry
Insiders and Central Park Media Giveaway - 2007
At an anime industry panel on the convention's final day,
John O'Donnell (far left) of Central Park Media told this story. An
acquaintance had decided to get out of the anime importing business and
instead start selling gothic lolita dresses. When asked why he made
that change, O'Donnell said the friend's reply was "You can't download
clothes over the internet." Of course, that was an undisguised
reference to the practice of copying anime and making it available for
internet downloads. O'Donnell said that bitorrent sites had as many as
six million anime downloads in one week, and "People now have a way to
watch the stuff without having to purchase it." The inference at the
panel was that those downloads were a major reason that anime home
video sales had declined in the last year. Another reason, mentioned by
Chris Oarr of ADV Films (sitting at O'Donnell's left), was that 2007
saw no anime "tentpole" title, something so popular that it drove sales
on its own and attracted buyers to look at other anime titles. "We have
to be careful about what we select," said Oarr. "There's anime coming
out of Japan that will not galvanize a large number of fans." Titles
that have the chance of attracting fans in 2008, according to Oarr,
include the Paprika and Appleseed Deus Ex Machina feature films. The
convention also saw the announcement of the forthcoming home video and
cable TV release of Code Geass, one of the hottest titles in Japan.
Since some online anime fans are more comfortable with
downloading shows than purchasing them, that's led to suggestions that
anime importers should switch from selling discs to selling downloads.
The panelists were unanimous in their opposition to that change. "No
business alternative replaces DVD income," said Ken Iyadomi (center) of
Bandai. "We're still seeking the answer." DVD sales are where anime
importers make their income, the panelists said, and no download sales
plan has been found that can replace that income. "DVD sales run the
engine that produce the income that keeps the operation going," Oarr
said. "There is no business model to replace DVD sales." Losing income
from the collapse of Musicland Stores a couple of years ago took away
the cash that some companies needed, leading to major trouble for some
anime importers - and showing that the remaining companies need that
cash more than ever. Those remaining companies face additional
challenges: the panelists said major big-box retail chains such as Best
Buy, once a major
anime supporter, have cut their anime shelf space, and Target has
dropped all but the hottest mainstream anime titles. Those stores are
concentrating now of selling box sets of American TV series, and the
panelists said that's because it's easier to sell store "buyers" on
shows with which they're already familiar, instead of anime series that
are new to them.
At another panel, the Central Park Media panel that was
the last event of the convention, O'Donnell made a move that could have
been full of several meanings. The convention's dealer's room was
scheduled to close at 5 p.m. Sunday, and O'Donnell kept hinting of
something big to come at 4:30 p.m., something that had never been done
before at a convention. Making sure that everyone at the CPM panel had
one of the company's red sales bags, O'Donnell made the announcement at
4:31: take the red bag to the CPM booth in the dealers' room, fill it
with CPM product from that booth - and it would all be free. As soon as
the word "free" left O'Donnell's lips, the panel room emptied as the
bag-toting fans ran for the exit.
The
resulting scene at the CPM booth was one of the wildest seen at a
convention. Fans mobbed the booth as they scrambled for the promised
free stuff, and the booth staff rushed to give away what they had
promised. When convention volunteers realized what was happening, they
tried to impose some control on the scene, but it was too late. The
wild scene was more controlled than it looked: there was a big and
enthusiastic crowd, but it never got too wild. After a half-hour of
giveaways, the CPM booth had been picked clean and the mostly satisfied
fans walked away with their free merchandise. O'Donnell said it was
worth the goodwill CPM generated by the giveaway, along with the
savings in not having to take the merchandise back for stores. This
writer wonders, though...was this a way for O'Donnell to make a
statement about how fans really react to free items, and to make a
point about the damage that fansubs cause to home video sales?
At an anime industry panel on the convention's final day,
John O'Donnell (far left) of Central Park Media told this story. An
acquaintance had decided to get out of the anime importing business and
instead start selling gothic lolita dresses. When asked why he made
that change, O'Donnell said the friend's reply was "You can't download
clothes over the internet." Of course, that was an undisguised
reference to the practice of copying anime and making it available for
internet downloads. O'Donnell said that bitorrent sites had as many as
six million anime downloads in one week, and "People now have a way to
watch the stuff without having to purchase it." The inference at the
panel was that those downloads were a major reason that anime home
video sales had declined in the last year. Another reason, mentioned by
Chris Oarr of ADV Films (sitting at O'Donnell's left), was that 2007
saw no anime "tentpole" title, something so popular that it drove sales
on its own and attracted buyers to look at other anime titles. "We have
to be careful about what we select," said Oarr. "There's anime coming
out of Japan that will not galvanize a large number of fans." Titles
that have the chance of attracting fans in 2008, according to Oarr,
include the Paprika and Appleseed Deus Ex Machina feature films. The
convention also saw the announcement of the forthcoming home video and
cable TV release of Code Geass, one of the hottest titles in Japan.
Since some online anime fans are more comfortable with
downloading shows than purchasing them, that's led to suggestions that
anime importers should switch from selling discs to selling downloads.
The panelists were unanimous in their opposition to that change. "No
business alternative replaces DVD income," said Ken Iyadomi (center) of
Bandai. "We're still seeking the answer." DVD sales are where anime
importers make their income, the panelists said, and no download sales
plan has been found that can replace that income. "DVD sales run the
engine that produce the income that keeps the operation going," Oarr
said. "There is no business model to replace DVD sales." Losing income
from the collapse of Musicland Stores a couple of years ago took away
the cash that some companies needed, leading to major trouble for some
anime importers - and showing that the remaining companies need that
cash more than ever. Those remaining companies face additional
challenges: the panelists said major big-box retail chains such as Best
Buy, once a major
anime supporter, have cut their anime shelf space, and Target has
dropped all but the hottest mainstream anime titles. Those stores are
concentrating now of selling box sets of American TV series, and the
panelists said that's because it's easier to sell store "buyers" on
shows with which they're already familiar, instead of anime series that
are new to them.
At another panel, the Central Park Media panel that was
the last event of the convention, O'Donnell made a move that could have
been full of several meanings. The convention's dealer's room was
scheduled to close at 5 p.m. Sunday, and O'Donnell kept hinting of
something big to come at 4:30 p.m., something that had never been done
before at a convention. Making sure that everyone at the CPM panel had
one of the company's red sales bags, O'Donnell made the announcement at
4:31: take the red bag to the CPM booth in the dealers' room, fill it
with CPM product from that booth - and it would all be free. As soon as
the word "free" left O'Donnell's lips, the panel room emptied as the
bag-toting fans ran for the exit.
The
resulting scene at the CPM booth was one of the wildest seen at a
convention. Fans mobbed the booth as they scrambled for the promised
free stuff, and the booth staff rushed to give away what they had
promised. When convention volunteers realized what was happening, they
tried to impose some control on the scene, but it was too late. The
wild scene was more controlled than it looked: there was a big and
enthusiastic crowd, but it never got too wild. After a half-hour of
giveaways, the CPM booth had been picked clean and the mostly satisfied
fans walked away with their free merchandise. O'Donnell said it was
worth the goodwill CPM generated by the giveaway, along with the
savings in not having to take the merchandise back for stores. This
writer wonders, though...was this a way for O'Donnell to make a
statement about how fans really react to free items, and to make a
point about the damage that fansubs cause to home video sales?
