A group of three organizers has announced that they will host Anime Business Conference, a B2B event to be held the day before Anime NYC, the second-year anime convention organized by LeftField Media (see "LeftField Media News Round-Up"). The event is being hosted by Anime NYC, #1 anime news site Anime News Network, and Japan Society, a U.S. non-profit devoted to facilitating “the exchange of ideas, knowledge, and innovation between the U.S. and Japan.” Content will be curated by Anime News Network and Anime NYC, and the event will be held at the Japan Society facility at 333 E. 47th St. on Thursday, November 15 from 11:30-1:30, with reception to follow.
Participants from Aniplex, Crunchyroll, Funimation, GKIDS, HIDIVE, Kodansha, Sentai Filmworks, Vertical, VIZ Media, and Yen Press are promised, with topics to include:
- Globalization of anime production, marketing and consumption
- Measuring success in an ever-changing entertainment landscape
- Engaging with emerging and disruptive technologies
- The next big thing in anime and manga
"There is a unique opportunity here in New York for a professional forum focused on Japanese poular culture and open to all the marketing, licensing, publishing, and entertainment brands that call New York home," AnimeNYC Event Director Peter Tatara said of the event.
The pre-consumer show business conference is a familiar one for LeftField co-owner Greg Topalian, who helped ICv2 organize a similar business conference on anime and manga the day before Reed Exhibitions’ New York Anime Festival over 10 years ago (see "ICv2 Announces ICv2 Conference on Anime and Manga"), and Tatara, who was working for Topalian at Reed at the time. Topalian launched NYAF for Reed, and it was eventually folded into New York Comic Con; LeftField returned to the concept of a New York anime show last year. Then this year, New York Comic Con broke some anime and manga content and exhibitors off into a side event at Pier 94 in collaboration with the organizers of U.S. anime convention granddaddy Anime Expo (see "Photo Report: Anime Fest @NYCC X Anime Expo").