Tag Archives: business

VIZ Media Creates VIZ Labs To Drive Digital Content Innovation

Posted on by

VIZ MEDIA CREATES VIZ LABS TO DRIVE DIGITAL CONTENT INNOVATION

New Division To Be Led By Gagan Singh

San Francisco, CA, April 23, 2012 – VIZ Media, the largest publisher, distributor and licensor of manga, graphic novels and anime in North America, announced the formation of VIZ Labs, a new division of the company led by Gagan Singh, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer. VIZ Labs will focus on innovation in digital content distribution, and will consolidate engineering and digital business efforts across the company into one group. VIZ Media has recently been selectively acquiring engineering talent, and that acquisition strategy will continue under VIZ Labs.

“Innovation in distribution is an integral part of VIZ Media’s future,” said Ken Sasaki, President and CEO of VIZ Media. “As a long-time partner of the company, Gagan helped us shape our digital content strategy, and we’re delighted to have him join our team full time.”

VIZ Labs and Singh are responsible for integrating technology across the entire company, including the digital platforms for VIZ Manga and VIZ Anime. Prior to joining VIZ Media, Singh was the Founder and CEO of West Side Labs, a long time technology partner for VIZ Media.  With advanced degrees from Harvard, MIT and UC Berkeley, Singh joins VIZ Media with a wealth of experience.

“I am honored and excited to join VIZ Media,” said Singh. “With all VIZ Media has already accomplished in building a digital content platform, there is still phenomenal opportunity and growth potential for the company. VIZ Labs will be the tip of the spear to drive the innovation that brings the manga & anime our fans love through their preferred digital platform.”

Over the past 18 months, VIZ Media has transformed the traditional manga and anime business through a variety of strategic partnerships and digital platforms, making manga and anime more accessible than ever before. VIZ Media’s anime titles rank among the most popular streaming entertainment series online, thanks to partnerships with Apple, Hulu and Netflix. The VIZ Manga digital platform was an industry breakthrough, making high-quality, legal translations of the world’s most loved manga available at VIZManga.com and the VIZ Manga apps for iPhone®, iPod® touch and iPad®. VIZ Media took things even further when it introduced WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA, a digital manga anthology making the most popular manga series in the world available in the United States within two weeks of their original Japanese release, faster than ever before in the history of the industry. VIZ Labs will announce its first major initiative and VIZ Media’s next digital platform this summer.

For more information, visit www.viz.com.

# # # # #

About VIZ Media, LLC

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, VIZ Media distributes, markets and licenses the best anime and manga titles direct from Japan.  Owned by three of Japan’s largest manga and animation companies, Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd., VIZ Media has the most extensive library of anime and manga for English speaking audiences in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa. With its popular digital anthology WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA and blockbuster properties like NARUTO, BLEACH and INUYASHA, VIZ Media offers cutting-edge action, romance and family friendly properties for anime, manga, science fiction and fantasy fans of all ages.  VIZ Media properties are available as graphic novels, DVDs, animated television series, feature films, downloadable and streaming video and a variety of consumer products.  Learn more about VIZ Media, anime and manga at www.VIZ.com.

New Creator-Owned Publishing Imprint, “Small Batch Comics” Launches

Posted on by

NEW CREATOR-OWNED PUBLISHING IMPRINT,“SMALL BATCH COMICS” LAUNCHES

Kansas City, Mo. April 16, 2012 – New comic book publishing imprint opens its doors to publish the work of first time creators:

Straight from the ever-expanding comic book proletariat, comes a brand new opportunity for independent comic creators: Small Batch Comics. Created as a home for new comic creators to showcase their work, Small Batch Comics now joins the ongoing movement in the comic culture to help push creator-owned content straight from unknown contemporary artists, into the hands of readers.

“I strongly believe that creator-owned titles are the renaissance the medium desperately needs right now in order to survive and truly evolve,” said Small Batch Comics’ founder, Jonathan Duran. “Now that technology has made interaction, collaboration and world-wide discourse so manageable, we should inevitably expect comic books as a medium to benefit from this instantly accessible pool of people, information and tools.”

It could be said that Small Batch comics is the first Socialist collective in the medium; a publisher with a political, ethical and communal stake in the medium itself. Originally, with the creation of r/ComicBookCollabs, Small Batch’s main goal was to cultivate a community which focused on creating new comics via an online classified section for first time, burgeoning creators of all stripes. By combining a social networking backbone and more traditional, independent publishing, Small Batch Comics has made it easier than ever for first time creators to jump into the game. 2012 has often been referred to as ‘the year of the creator,’ and Small Batch plans to do their part to see that conjecture become a reality by helping amateur, undiscovered talent publish their work.

Small Batch Comics will offer an outlet for creators which includes a print and digital distribution method with full editorial services, all of which feed into the goal of helping first time creators create. “It has been said time and again; the way you break into comics is by making comics,” observes Duran, “The very specific phrasing, of having to ‘break in’, is vile to me; the fact that you have to break in to anything means that someone is actively trying to keep you out – art should not work this way. This is an opportunity for independent creative minds to articulate whatever they’d like, without filter; to say things that are volatile, poetic and subversive. By utilizing the resources freely available to us all we will usurp traditional publishing methods and create truly independent comics with authenticity, honesty and conscience – and in turn, take an active part in democratizing the medium and pushing it more into the hands of the masses.”

Small Batch Comics is currently seeking additional contributors for their first release; an anthology project titled “Batch #1”, which will showcase many new and innovative voices. Small Batch has also launched an Indiegogo crowd-sourcing campaign, to ensure larger scale distribution and creator recompense. Please find more details at http://www.indiegogo.com/smallbatchcomics

Small Batch Comics allows creators to retain 100% ownership of their projects and properties. All Small Batch comics will be released under creator specified Creative Commons Licenses.

From Micro-Distribution to Worldwide, ComixTribe Signs Deal with Diamond

Posted on by

ComixTribe Signs Deal with Diamond, Keeps Micro-Distribution Network Intact

April 19, 2012 — Newburyport, MA — Independent publisher ComixTribe announced today a partnership with Diamond Comics Distributors, Inc. to distribute its creator-owned titles including SCAM, THE RED TEN, and others in development.  The upstart publisher had previously made headlines by circumventing the traditional direct market distribution system and still managing to ship thousands of books directly to more than 50 retail partners. The Diamond deal will give the year-old publisher a direct pipeline to virtually every comic shop on the planet.

“We’re thrilled to be working with Diamond,” said ComixTribe publisher and THE RED TEN scribe, Tyler James.  “With the help of maverick retailers who took a chance on our books, we were able to demonstrate that our comics could find a readership and deserved shelf space.  Diamond took notice.”  Last November, ComixTribe humbly launched its first title THE RED TEN #1 in a handful of shops, before expanding thanks to a partnership with the New England Comics Retailers Alliance (NECRA.)  Joe Mulvey’s SCAM #1 built on that momentum, selling out of its first printing of 777 copies 10 days before going on sale in just 21 retailers.  The second issue of THE RED TEN in February was ComixTribe’s widest release to date, and it’s microdistribution network was comprised of more than 50 retailers when they inked the Diamond deal.

“We can’t speak highly enough of the retailers we worked with.  Whether they stocked five copies of our books or 500, we’ve always believed that every single retailer, and every single reader counts.  I promise to keep that in mind as we now have a fighting chance to get stocked in retailers nationwide,” said James.  The Diamond deal will mean ComixTribe books can be ordered alongside the biggest titles from Marvel, DC, Image, and the rest.

The Downside…

The one drawback to this opportunity is that new issues of SCAM and THE RED TEN will be delayed until the series has had a chance to distribute through Diamond.  ComixTribe’s Diamond debut book will be a relaunch of SCAM #1 which will be appearing in the June issue of Previews, for sale in August.  SCAM is “X-Men meets Oceans 11″ and involves a team of super-powered grifters on the biggest con of their lives…taking down a Vegas casino and getting revenge on a former teammate who double-crossed them. A remastered version of THE RED TEN #1 will appear in the August previews, for sale in October. The series will then release on a bi-monthly schedule.

“I’m beyond honored that SCAM will be the Diamond debut book for ComixTribe,” said writer/artist Joe Mulvey.  “I’m thrilled people everywhere will have a chance to pick it up at their local shops.  And for those readers who already have, I promise SCAM #2 will be worth the wait.”

The Presses are Broken on SCAM and THE RED TEN 
Because ComixTribe is going back to press with a Diamond order in July, no more books for these series will be printed between now and this summer, and the books will soon be pulled from their online shop.  “First prints of SCAM and THE RED TEN have sold to collectors on Ebay for as high as $25-$59 dollars, so hopefully there’s an opportunity for any of these micro-distributed, limited run issues still out there to increase in value in advance of the Diamond relaunch,” said James.
“We Still See an Opportunity for Micro-Distribution”
ComixTribe also announced that they will continue to keep their micro-distribution network in place.  “While we’re excited to be working with Diamond, we think that there still is an incredible opportunity for short run, exclusive, micro-distributed titles in the comics market.  As a publisher, we see micro-distribution as an opportunity to market test new properties, or reward shops with exclusive books.  And I think retailers also see a value in having an elite selection of books, and stocking books virtually no one else has,” says James.
For this reason, ComixTribe has announced that it will continue to offer certain new titles directly to its micro-distribution network, including the North American retail debut of THE STANDARD by John Lees and Jonathan Rector, and a super limited run of THE RED TEN spin-off OXYMORON #1, featuring a script by Eisner-nominated writer Jason Ciaramella (THE CAPE) later this year.

Check out our ComixTribe Retailers

Retailers: Interested in ComixTribe Micro-Distribution Network?

ComixTribe has a limited number of spots left for retailers interested in carrying our books.  These spots will be filled first-come, first-serve, so if you are a progressive retailer looking to support quality creator-owned books, contact tyler.james@comixtribe.com (or DM @tylerjamescomic at Twitter) immediately.

About ComixTribe

ComixTribe is a publisher of creator-owned comics, including SCAM, The Red Ten, EPIC, Tears of the Dragon, The Standard,  and Runners.  In addition to being a publishing imprint, ComixTribe is also an online community, with the mission statement: Creators helping creators make better comics. ComixTribe also sponsors the annual 30 Characters Challenge, an online art event where participants challenge themselves to create 30 brand new characters in just 30 days, one for every day of November. Visit ComixTribe.com or email publisher Tyler James (tyler.james@comixtribe.com) to learn more.

IDW’s Dirk Wood Named Vice President of Marketing

Posted on by

IDW’s Dirk Wood Named Vice President of Marketing

[Dirk Wood Avatar]San Diego, CA (April 11, 2012)—IDW Publishing, an award-winning leader in graphic novel and book publishing, announced today that Dirk Wood has been promoted to Vice President of Marketing.

“Since Dirk joined IDW, we’ve seen increased sales and exposure in comic book specialty stores and he’s overseen revolutionary marketing campaigns such as the Godzilla “Smash Your Store” cover promotion,” said Greg Goldstein, IDW President and COO. “His new title reflects the bigger overall role he’s taken in shaping all of IDW’s marketing and promotional efforts and is well deserved.”

Mr. Wood started his career with the retail chain Things From Another World, before a long run in Marketing at Dark Horse Comics, capped by several years as that company’s Marketing Director. He joined IDW as director of retail marketing in 2010, and has nearly 20 years of combined experience in the comic book industry.

As a company, IDW has grown exponentially in recent years, expanding both its comics and book catalogs, and continuing its leadership in the digital space. As Vice President of Marketing, Mr. Wood will play a key role in driving continued growth in all these areas, and lead the company’s public relations, and tradeshow efforts as well.

“I could not be happier about where I am,” said Mr. Wood. “The whole crew at IDW is amazing. Every day I get to work with great people at the best comic publisher there is. The only problem is that I have to buy more bookshelves, because the books we’re putting out are unreal. I look forward to new challenges, and continuing to expand IDW’s presence everywhere.”

Mr. Wood also plays guitar for The Woodford Brownley Band, and is right wing for the IDW soccer team, where he spends most of his time injured.

Visit IDWPublishing.com to learn more about the company and its top-selling books.

About IDW Publishing

About IDW Publishing 
IDW is an award-winning publisher of comic books, graphic novels and trade paperbacks, based in San Diego, California. Renowned for its diverse catalog of licensed and independent titles, IDW publishes some of the most successful and popular titles in the industry, including: Hasbro’s The TRANSFORMERS and G.I. JOE, Paramount’s Star Trek; HBO’s True Blood; the BBC’s DOCTOR WHO; Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles; Toho’s Godzilla; Wizards of the Coasts Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons; and the Eisner-Award winning Locke & Key series, created by best-selling author Joe Hill and artist Gabriel Rodriguez. IDW is also home to the Library of American Comics imprint, which publishes classic comic reprints, and Yoe! Books, a partnership with Yoe! Studio.

IDW’s critically- and fan-acclaimed series are continually moving into new mediums. Currently, Jerry Bruckheimer Films and Disney are creating a feature film based on World War Robot, while Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes and Sony are bringing Zombies vs. Robots to film.

Around the Tubes

Posted on by

It’s the weekend, yay!

Around the Blogs:

Mark Waid – Print Math – Mark Waid voices his thoughts on the print side of comics.

Scottish Book Trust – Using graphic novels in special needs settings – Great to see an article like this.

Brian Wood – The Retailer is the Customer – Brian Wood talks about the current market.

Savage Critic – About Waid’s “Print Math” – Retailer Brian Hibbs rounds out the trifecta of opinions on the current sales model.

 

Around the Tubes Reviews:

CBR – Hulk #50

CBR – O.M.A.C. #8

Graphic.ly Changes Focus – The First Digital Comic Distributor Falls

Posted on by

Graphic.ly FoursquareI predicted it last year that we’d soon see the first digital comic distributor app shut down within a year and news has come out that prediction was dead on.  Graphic.ly announced that they are taking their business in a new direction.  They’ve recently changed their focus from an application and distribution tool, to more of a middle man helping publishers get their titles in eBookstores like Apple iBooks, Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble Nook and the many more services that are out there.  With that they’ve also shifted their focus from just comics to all graphic-based material, like children’s books, art books, magazines, textbooks and picture books and also comics.

But, how does this affect users of their previous applications?

  • As of this week, Graphic.ly will be retiring the previously-released Graphicly Comics marketplace applications.  Their iPhone, iPad and Android applications, as well as their Adobe AIR Desktop application will no longer be  available for download.
  • If you have purchased titles and use these apps, you will still be able to read your titles via the apps, but you simply will not be able to purchase titles through the apps anymore.
  • Your complete library of purchased titles will be still be, and always be, available to be purchased and read via their website at http://graphicly.com/store as well as through their Facebook Application (http://apps.facebook.com/graphicly/).

And with that, the first major digital comics application goes silent, leaving customers with the ability to no longer make purchases and having to go elsewhere.

The bigger question is, will anyone notice and what’s the impact to confidence in digital comics?  This question was posed at the comiXology panel at last year’s New York Comic Con, so it’s on people’s minds.  I’m not sure Graphic.ly had the customer base to shake up confidence in digital comics, but if anything this stresses for more digital rights for digital comic readers, which we’ve been vocal about.

In an ideal world, former Graphic.ly customers would be able to port over their already purchased comics to another platform, allowing them to have one library for past and future libraries.  There’s still many hurdles for that to happen, including picking a digital file standard, but maybe this will get the conversation going.

Around the Tubes

Posted on by

Emerald City Comicon was this weekend and nothing crazy came out as far as news, but here’s some other news you might have missed.

Around the Blogs:

Ars Technica – Comics on the iPad: will the new iPad attract paper readers? – I’m going with yes.

CBR – ECCC12: Simone on “Batgirl” and Diversity – Some interesting bits.

Naples News – Zap! Pow! Bam! The Golden Age of Comic Books Exhibit – Looks like a good exhibit.

Your Penn Trafford – Readers still drawn to traditional comic books, local shop owners say – That’s good to hear…

Kotaku – Sunday Comics – Each week Kotaku posts some great web comics.

VIZ Media Names Ken Sasaki President And CEO

Posted on by

VIZ MEDIA NAMES KEN SASAKI PRESIDENT AND CEO

Hidemi Fukuhara Elevated to Vice Chairman

San Francisco, CA, March, 29 2012 – VIZ Media, the largest publisher, distributor and licensor of manga, graphic novels and anime in North America, announced today that Ken Sasaki will succeed Hidemi Fukuhara as President and CEO of the company as of April 1st, 2012.

Sasaki joined VIZ Media in February of 2008 and most recently served as Senior Vice President and General Manager for VIZ Media, where he led the company’s digital content distribution strategy for animation. Sasaki was a driving force behind developing relationships with industry leaders for the digital distribution of anime.

“We have spent the last few years preparing VIZ Media for its digital future,” said Ken Sasaki. “I look forward to expanding our digital distribution channels even further, making manga, graphic novels and anime even more accessible to fans across North America.”

Fukuhara is to be elevated to Vice Chairman for VIZ Media at the end of the month, leaving the day-to-day operations to his successor. He joined the company in March 2004 and began directing and overseeing all financial and operational concerns. Prior to this, Fukuhara spent 19 years at Merrill Lynch Japan Securities, moving quickly up the ranks to become its Deputy President and Managing Director.

 

“Ken Sasaki is a dynamic businessman and leader, and I am proud of the work we have done together over the past few years,” said Hidemi Fukuhara. “Ken will continue what we started, ensuring fans of manga and anime all across North America get the stories they love anytime in their preferred medium, whether it be physical media or digitally through the web or phone or tablet apps.”

In the coming months, alongside the vibrant publishing, licensing, home entertainment and broadcast entertainment businesses, Sasaki will continue to build the audience for its digital platforms, VIZ Anime and VIZ Manga, and to create innovative product offerings such as WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP ALPHA (the new digital manga anthology). Sasaki plans to unveil the next digital chapter for VIZ Media this summer

For more information, visit www.viz.com.

Nerdist Industries’ CEO Peter Levin Joins comiXology’s Advisory Board

Posted on by

NERDIST INDUSTRIES’ CEO PETER LEVIN JOINS COMIXOLOGY’S ADVISORY BOARD

 March 29th, 2012 – New York, NY— ComiXology, the world’s largest digital comics platform available on iPhone, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire and the Web with over 50 million comic and graphic novel downloads to date, is proud to announce that Nerdist Industries’ CEO Peter Levin has joined comiXology’s Board of Advisors.

In this new role, Levin will advise comiXology on strategic initiatives and partnerships as well as business and corporate development.

Nerdist Industries, a multi-platform creator of genre and popular-culture content, was most recently in the news when founder Chris Hardwick announced the launch of the Nerdist YouTube Channel with a slate of two-dozen new shows as well as their pre-Comic-Con International lightsaber relay race “Course of the Force” in partnership with Lucasfilm LTD., Machinima and Octagon.

Levin now joins an Advisory Board that includes geek culture veteran and CEO of ICv2 Milton Griepp, longtime president and editor-in-chief of DC Comics and MAD Magazine and Double Nickel Entertainment co-founder Jenette Kahn, and former head of ZDNet and investor in and advisor to several technology startups Jeff Ballowe.

Levin was co-founder and CEO of GeekChicDaily until it merged with Nerdist in 2011 to form Nerdist Industries. Levin serves as an Executive Advisor to Japanese media juggernaut Yoshimoto Kogyo and recently advised Rovio Mobile (Angry Birds).

About comiXology
Founded in 2007 with the mission of bringing comics to people everywhere, comiXology — in just five short years — has revolutionized the comic book and graphic novel world. From creating the industry leading platform for digital comics to tools and services for brick and mortar retailers, comiXology has lead the charge in exposing new audiences to the rich history and culture of comic books. With the development of the Comics by comiXology digital comics platform — available across iPhone, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire and the Web— comiXology provides the easiest way worldwide for people to enjoy comics at just the click of a button! Regularly ranking as the top grossing iPad app in the entire iTunes App Store, Comics by comiXology was recently selected as a preloaded app on Amazon’s Kindle Fire. Providing digital comics across multiple platforms, comiXology will not stop until everyone on the face of the earth has been turned into a comic book fan.

About Nerdist
Nerdist Industries is a multi-platform creator of genre and popular culture content – a true next generation media company. Founded in 2008, Nerdist is the brainchild of comedian, author, podcaster and new media personality and Talking Dead host Chris Hardwick. In 2011, Nerdist and GeekChicDaily merged to form Nerdist Industries with Hardwick serving as Founder and Chief Creative Officer and digital media entrepreneur Peter Levin, co-founder of GeekChicDaily, serving as Chief Executive Officer. Nerdist Industries consists of a popular website at Nerdist.com; a premium YouTube channel (youtube.com/nerdist), a top comedy/popular culture podcast network on iTunes, recently named one of the top 10 best comedy podcasts by Rolling Stone and sold as a television show to BBC America; a following of over 1.6 million Twitter fans, which Time Magazine named as one of the 140 most influential brands on Twitter; a book, The Nerdist Way, by The Penguin Group; a plethora of live events and much more. Nerdist Industries investors include Legendary Pictures, Mandalay Enterprises, Machinima CEO Allen DeBevoise, Japanese media juggernaut Yoshimoto Kogyo, Gamespy founder Mark Surfas and Revolution Studio’s Joe Roth. Nerdist Industries’ partners in its YouTube channel include The Jim Henson Company, Broadway Video Entertainment and The Chernin Company. Nerdist Industries is headquartered at Meltdown Comics in Hollywood, CA.

« Older Entries Recent Entries »