Funimation has been going out their way lately to promote Funimation Films, buying ads on major anime websites and in print. While Funimation is acting as if no one has heard of such a thing as anime in a theater, it was only a few years ago that Spirited Away won its Academy Award. And unlike the repackaged work that compromises the majority of what Funimation is going to put in movie theaters, the works of Hayao Miyazaki are real, full-length features, not just a teaser for a set of DVDs. As an aside, actual Dragonball movies are going to shown, but while I acknowledge that the series has its merits, I refuse to believe that anything involving Dragonball is an advance for anime in the United States or elsewhere*. Funimation is attempting to promote this program as an experience – you wouldn’t go to an anime in a theater just to watch, but also to socialize with other local anime fans.
Meanwhile, not all that long ago, Central Park Media put a little extra push into their campaign for the small screen, with both PSP and iPod formatted trailers and episodes available on their website. This is analagous to ADV’s experiments with Bittorrent, with lots of trailers and just a few full episodes. The “watch anywhere” appeal is obvious.
So, what is the future of anime promotion and distribution? Is it in the small and portable? Or is it in the large “crowd bringers”? I think that any attempt to get into movie theaters at this point in time is not such a great thing. Some months ago, I went to see the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe at the local cinema – I was one of maybe 6 or 7 people that was in the theater, and I don’t believe that anyone went to see a different show. There were 4 employees visible throughout the building; even assuming that they were all paid minimum wage, it’s clear that the theater lost money just by being open that night, or, assuming people really splurged on popcorn, marginally made a few dollars. This isn’t an isolated case – the entire industry has been hurting for a long time. When viewed from this perspective, it’s clear that Funimation has been sold an attempt by the theaters to bring in more people. An article at the Motley Fool by Rick Aristotle Munarriz argues that movie theaters must change or die, specifically that they must become social locations with an emphasis on cross-selling (he says “in-theater merchandising”). Having anime nights is a step in this direction, but not a strong one, unless there are going to be box sets of anime for sale at the exit.
*I’m joking here.