| SB is OK! |
[Jun. 10th, 2008|12:48 pm] |
Other personal struggles that my clients have been facing this year aside--there's this:
Tokyopop Revamps; Cuts Titles, Lays Off 39
by Calvin Reid -- Publishers Weekly, 6/3/2008 10:26:00 AM
The persistent rumors during BEA about the state of Tokyopop turned out to be mostly right. The Los Angeles manga publisher announced a major restructuring that will create two separate divisions—the Tokyopop Inc. publishing unit and Tokyopop Media, a digital and comics-to-films unit—under the Tokyopop Group’s holding company. The moves will result in the layoffs of about 39 Tokyopop staffers.
Tokyopop is also dramatically cutting by half the number of titles it plans to release (typically the house releases nearly 500 books a year) and will also pullout as a major exhibitor at the San Diego Comic-Con International, the most influential comics convention of the year. Tokyopop’s Japanese entity will be separated into two units as well: one under Tokyopop Media and the other will continue as the Tokyopop group’s holding company. Tokyopop’s European operations will not be affected.
The move comes just as Borders, the top retailer of manga in the U.S., announced a restructuring of its business resulting in over 270 layoffs. During BEA, many comics publishers were concerned about the impact of changes at Borders on the sales of graphic novels and manga in particular. But Tokyopop’s restructuring is also meant to highlight its efforts in getting its original manga content turned into film projects as well as to focus on the growth of its digital and mobile phone comics initiatives
Stuart Levy, CEO and chief creative officer of Tokyopop, said the restructuring was “the right business move,” and said the changes would align its publishing business with current book retail trends. “The time is now for us to focus our publishing business to overcome current market challenges,” Levy said in a release. “Fewer releases will allow for less cannibalization at retail. At the same time, the opportunity is significant in the digital and comics-to-film space. We must adjust our overhead to properly execute this new business plan.”
Tokyopop also announced two executive appointments. Tokyopop group president and COO John Parker will take over as publisher of Tokyopop. And Tokyopop director of marketing Marco Pavia has been promoted to associate publisher of the publishing division. In addition, current Tokyopop publisher Mike Kiley will now lead Tokyopop Media, the new digital and film unit.
Parker said he intends to “significantly reduce our annual output, focusing on the most successful continuing series and the most promising new titles.” He also said that Pava will focus on developing new lines. Kiley pointed to more than 25,000 pages of original comics and manga published by Tokyopop over the last three years and said, “with the relationships we have established in the past year, Tokyopop Media is ready to move quickly into the comics-to-film and digital markets.”
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Looks like TP has def downscaled their publishing output. Kodansha most likely woke up finally and decided maybe they can publish their own translated books for the US market. *ding*
Luckily, ShutterBox wasn't one of the cut titles-- and despite loosing some of the best editors we ever had on this book, pages march forward. We now have a new editor, Lillian Diaz-Przybyl.
Currently the last pages of ShutterBox vol. 5 are being created. Looks like the last of the editing and touch ups will happen at the end of this month. I'm not sure of the street date, but I have a feeling it won't be till around Fall this year- maybe the beginning of next year. All I know is we start SB6 this July. We received the returned contracts w/ Mr. Parker's shiny sig on them in the mail just yesterday. So its a positive sign of security to finish SB to the end. *phew* What a long road bumpy its been! ---and not quite over yet. We appreciate all the positive support from all of you out there.
I really need to update this LJ more often. Hopefully there's still a small audience out there....somewhere ::crickets:: There-see? ::デザートポッキーバナナショコラのタルト風がおいしいよ〜!:: |
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| Anime Ambassador! |
[Mar. 20th, 2008|01:12 am] |
This is too kewl... Only in Japan would they honour animation like this!
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23716592
Also, apologies for the long, long silence. My clients were in a fit of a family & pet crisis. If you hadn't heard, all can be read here. Now, aside from Tavisha's eye infection, all is getting better. SB5 is officially off schedule, but it is getting done.
Thanx for your patience- I'll try to post updates asap.
cheers!
-Ade |
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| The internet is a powerful tool, don't be fooled by it |
[Jan. 19th, 2008|09:15 pm] |
First off, thanx so much for the kind & generous person who gave me some paid months on LJ. I know I've been bad at posting here, but really, its been insanely busy. Hope you understand.
So, how about that Cloverfield? I thought the Blair Witch was already a been there done that next to the old 1970's "bigfoot" footages- then again, maybe I've just existed waaay too long to be that impressed by anything Hollywood tries to "wow" at us lately. Not to say Cloverfield was a "bad" film, it has entertainment...value...had some ...moments.... in parts, however, to be fair, I did enter the movie house w/ low expectations and a very open-mind. I've been busy with the musings so I pretty much missed the internet buzz that somehow "justifies" this movie. But, it seems to me, this whole internet viral ad campaign only serves to hype up a mediocre film and save on the budget while it lures in a curious audience. In other words, its an experimental film w/ experimental marketing. Well, kudos on another Hollywood gimmick. After sitting through 84 mins of a hipster party gone sour, near constant clamour , and epileptic cam-cord spasms (wait, there was a few shots of monsters in here too, right?), it becomes glaringly obviously, the real entertainment was the anticipation of this film. So, yeah, there was an online buzz manipulated by the various websites offering glimpses and revelations of what this "monster" was going to look like. So much of a hype that when you DO finally get to see the monster its like a false orgasm. Wait. That's it?
::long awkward pause::
Conclusion: I think J.J. Abrams needs to understand that the Godzilla franchise is uniquely Japan's pop culture first (the world's second)- that markets primarily to children and those nostalgic of their childhood. Godzilla has earned endearment because its sincere, not serious and certainly not because its a kitchy teen slasher flick.
ps> Why is the monster even called "Cloverfield"?
pps> SB5 updates soon |
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| Viva California |
[Oct. 24th, 2007|03:32 pm] |
Ahhh...California- the land of Shake and Bake
...Never a dull moment here |
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| Updated Tavicat Website! |
[Oct. 21st, 2007|09:35 pm] |
•The new updated STUDIO TAVICAT site•
Finally! At last- its been updated! Now you can read Super Information Hijinks: Reality Check! (in full 32-bit colour!) that has been out-of-print for years! And not to mention those two elusive Ranklechick comics published by Slave Labour Graphics back in 2001! There's also first chapter previews of ShutterBox vol.1~ 5 (yes, 5) So have a fun time exploring and please report any bugs/typos you might find. Any other Qs please feel free to ask-
Thanx for the kind patience everyone & happy reading!
-Ade |
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| NewsFlash: ShutterBox gets an "F"... |
[Sep. 18th, 2007|01:41 pm] |
...from some cosplaying Bleach otaku.
http://hobotaku.blogspot.com/2007/09/shutterbox-manga-volume-1.html
"Maybe it's just me, but in my never humble opinion, unless you like stories involving inane girls arguing over their prom dresses (and I like a good dress argument) or plot that feels tacked on, I don't recommend this one."
ROFLMAO!!! Obviously this guy didn't read it at all! Not even 20 pages of it! There was no prom and there certainly wasn't any arguments over prom dresses! Isn't the basic plot Megan trying to find "herself" and her "place/purpose" in the world even if it isn't in "this world"? Far as I was musing, ShutterBox deals w/ some sort of spiritual journey that presents the ideals of a much broader scope of existence, and certainly doesn't pander to mundane life we already know exists here on earth. But, apparently this guy was skimming over images and making up the prom and dress argument in his head as he went along. LOL! I'm giving this reviewer an "F" for reading and comprehension. And an "E" for entertainment.
-Aj |
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[Jul. 15th, 2007|05:48 pm] |
Just wanted to post these gothic lolita designs my client has made for this year's Anime Weekend Atlanta (AWA) 's con badges. Enjoy!
    
My clients, Studio Tavicat, will be at AWA this year Sept 21~23 where they will be guests of honor! Please come by the artist alley & say hi!
Updates on SB5 sooooon! |
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| Happy to announce! |
[May. 20th, 2007|12:37 pm] |
At last!
Pre-Orders for ShutterBox 4 on Amazon.com now available
Thanx for all your patience, everyone! Looks like they have the release date marked for Sept. 11th. But I keep hearing it'll be late Aug/early Sept.
Meantime, I'll be putting up some updates for SB5 very soon! --thanx again everyone for all the support in making these books happen-- My clients & we, the muses, really appreciate it! |
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| Quiz |
[Feb. 24th, 2007|02:32 pm] |
Last night my né-chan, ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) gabycat convinced me to create a silly quiz of myself. Here it goes- and I don't expect for anyone to get it 100% --cheers!
Create your own Friend Test here |
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| Saturday afternoon geekery |
[Feb. 17th, 2007|05:34 pm] |
So, this is almost a complete group shot of the FFXI linkshell I'm a member of:
Server: Pandemonium.................................................................................................................... Linkshell: XIII |
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| Love is... |
[Feb. 7th, 2007|04:16 am] |
Dying in an eternal embrace...
...Happy almost V-day ppl! |
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| Oh- one more thing... |
[Jan. 29th, 2007|01:49 pm] |
My latest Pocky obsession:
Winter Pocky! |
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| Sb4 and all that stuffage |
[Jan. 29th, 2007|01:07 pm] |
chapter break of "Tina" from ShutterBox vol.4
Well, after nearly three months, my clients finally got the wurd from their editor at TP that SB4 will not hit the streets until Sept. 2007. The reason for the long delay is due to the new ties TP now shares w/ Harper/Collins publishing. Apparently H/C needs ONE full year notice before any book is published. ---Soooo... sorry for the long wait ppl, but not much we can do about it when it's the bigwigs of the industry calling the shots.
The best news is, thankfully, SB5 is on schedule (so far) and now w/ a new comp & programmes all running stable- there shouldn't be any major crashes or setbacks for the rest of the series. Currently the watercolour (Dane & Khaa), sketches & layouts are being made for the first 50 pages. As soon as there's anything tangible, I'll share it here.
Thanx for your patience & support everyone!
And as always- if you got any more Qs- IM me- or leave them here & I'll respond asap
-Ade |
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| Happy Xmas! |
[Dec. 25th, 2006|05:07 am] |
Ok- even muses get a vacation now and then- I happen to take mine in Vana'diel! Wherever you go for holiday, have a happy & safe one!
name:Ajdrien
race: Elvaan
WAR/37, MNK 14, RDM 13, RNG 10
chocobo: BlackJack (M)
server: Pandemonium
(p.s. thanx for the 2 months paid LJ!) |
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| SB Art update! |
[Nov. 11th, 2006|12:39 am] |
Thanks for waiting everyone! At last the cover to SB5 is done! DONE! DONE! (The text is added by TP upon publication) More SB4 updates asap! ---and What happened to Halloween?!! I missed it!!! So what if its Nov-- I still want to hear any ghost stories, so if you have any please post!
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