Stan Lee Media, Inc. (SLM) has teamed with Venture Soft Co., Ltd., Asia's leading creator and aggregator of anime and manga, to form a joint venture that will bring SLM's superhero and fantasy story franchises to Asia. Coming on the heels of a similar deal with Fox Kids Latin America, the Asian venture will be called SLM Japan and will continue SLMs strategy to partner with strong regional communication companies to introduce its branded content via the Internet and then leveraging it into global partnerships. Initially, SLM Japan will produce, distribute, license and market Japanese and Korean versions of all of Stan Lee Media's Webisodes. As part of the agreement, Venture Soft will infuse SLM with US$5 million and move SLM Japan toward an IPO in Japan. Both firms will own an equal share in the joint venture. "This joint venture further enhances SLM's strategy for developing and producing branded content with global appeal, introducing it to audiences on the Internet, and then exploiting it offline through the traditional media value chain," said Stan Lee Media CEO and president Ken Williams. "We are looking forward to bringing the Stan Lee brand to Japanese- and Korean-speaking fans, and to continuing to explore these vast untapped international licensing potentials." Venture Soft CEO Tendo Oto said, "SLM Japan will be the first to combine the creative talents of Stan Lee and the technical innovations of Stan Lee Media with the top anime creators in the world. This represents an unprecedented opportunity for two of the most influential forces in animation to work together creating brands and characters that will appeal to fans worldwide."
Read more about Stan Lee Media in Lee Dannachers Animation World Magazine profile.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
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