Interview with ADV about Fansubbing

atikiN

This is an interview I did with a man by the name of David Williams. He was kind enough to spare some time after his pannel at Anime Next and gave me some interesting answers. Enjoy the read!

Hello, could you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about ADV?

Ok, my name is David Williams. I’m a DVD producer and an ADR director with ADV films. ADV has been in business for about 12 years licensing and producing anime for a lot of people in the U.S.

What are your thoughts about fansubbing?

It’s kind of a tricky area. In the past, it served a really strong purpose because there were no companies around to release anime in the U.S. It was one of the only ways people could see translated anime. Since then, fansubbing itself is fine, don’t have any problems with fansubs. It’s great if you want to fansub something, show it to your friends, show it in your club and stuff like that. It’s the distribution of the fansubs that’s troubling.

Do you believe that at this point, fansubbing would hurt the anime industry if it’s distributed over the internet?

I think it can both hurt and help the industry. It can help the industry in some ways because it can help build awareness of the titles. It can also hurt the industry. I have a classic example that I’ve used quite often. We had a show that was fansubbed very heavily for the first part of the show but the last part wasn’t. When that show was released in stores, the sales on the first part of that show were really low and the sales on the part that was not fansubbed, were really high. That’s backwards from the way a normal sale works out. It normally starts out really high and then gets lower on the later volumes. So there’s an example of where we can see that a lot of people that have seen the fansubs didn’t buy the first part of it but they went out and bought the last part of it because it hasn’t been fansubbed.

What fueled ADV’s decision to begin cracking down on licensed titles?

Well, first off, this is nothing new. We’ve been doing this for years. We’ve constantly gone around various websites that distributed titles, like e-bay, and asked them to take down any titles that were licensed by ADV. We’ve been doing this since the company got started. It seems to have generated a lot of talk this time and I know that it’s not just ADV that’s doing this the other companies are doing it as well.

Being that fansubbing is a way of advertising shows to the American public, how do you think this will effect the sales of DVD’s?

Well, you can look at it that way but for example, I was at Anime Central recently and Shinichi Watanabe, the director for Excel Saga, was there. He was asked the fansub question by some of the fans there, who said, “How do you feel about it? Are you honored by this, that they’re making fansubs in English?” His answer to that was “If you are distributing the fansubs and not going out and buying the DVD’s then basically, you’re making it so I can’t feed my wife and children.” So you can say that it builds popularity but at the same time it also takes away from sales so it’s kind of a tricky area. I can’t tell you to do it and I also can’t tell you not to. The only thing I can do is what we’ve done in the past, ask people, that if you’re fansubbing the title and we announce it, take it down. That’s all we ask, anything other than that is your business.

Do you think that ADV’s new anime channel “Anime Network” will replace fansubbing?

I think that it’s going to make it a lot easier for people to watch anime. I know one reason a lot of people go to see fansubs right now, is that they want to see stuff real soon. It’s the newest thing, it’s just coming out. I understand that a lot of high school and college students are very tied on money. So they can’t go out there and buy everything they want. I think with the Anime Network it’s going to help that. One of our goals with this is to get anime out there for more people to be able to sit down and just watch it, not have to go out and buy everything that comes out. We have also increased our production, so that we get stuff out a lot faster now. Things that are coming out in Japan were getting started on so we can do that quickly. Is the Anime Network going to completely stop fansubbing and replace it? No, it’s not going to do that but it will help satisfy a need for a lot of people to be able to see anime and not have to go out and buy every disc that comes out.

Do you have any plans to work with any people that work on fansubs?

We have actually hired quite a few fansubbers to work for ADV. A lot of our timers started out as fansubbers and a lot of our translators did translations for fansubs in the beginning. So we have picked up and worked with a lot of them and brought them in to work in the industry and actually work on the licensed titles.

Final question, where do you see ADV in ten years?

Where do I see ADV in ten years? I’m surprised where ADV is now! Ten years ago, I would never imagine that the company would be like it is. When we did the first title, Devil Hunter Yohko, production work was done in my living room and I never imagined that we would be as big as we are now. I’d like to see it continue, I’d like to see us just knock Disney out of there, ha ha. Who knows? Well see, it’ll be interesting to see where it goes.

the_matrix · Posted: Sun Jul 04, 2004 8:20 am Post subject: Interview with ADV

The guy is right, fansubbing is just the way that we (people with not too much money) watch anime, and of course fansubbing afect their sales so licencing series is the most logical thing to do. Rolling Eyes

but for example, i live in central america and we have zero anime channels. so? what they expect from people that wants too see anime and hasn't any resources like tv channels, stores (theres only 1 decent anime store in my country!) and stuff like that? so, you see (i would like that ADV managers read this), internet and fansubbing are my only ways too watch some anime.

One last thing.... they should NEVER had Kurau Phantom Memory licenced... that sucks... i hope i can get to watch it some day.

Drakuun · newbie! Joined: Jan 15, 2003 Posts: 1 Location: Belgium

damnit, ppl will look at fansubbing the wrong way
it exists for anime that aren't licensed yet, right?
that watanabe guy now prolly thinks fansubbers are criminals -_-

Reeder5002 · Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2004 2:43 am Post subject:

i see fansubbing as a means to get anime. I dont like having to use that means but its the only available option. I cant afford anime so ill just have to take what i can get.
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Nomori · Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2004 2:46 am Post subject:

What drives me away of the DVDs is the very high cost compared to what you get on those DVDs. Paying 40$CDN for 4 episodes is just crazy.

And how much from this 40$CDN goes directly to the director and the crew that originally made the anime? Not much if it's like books (one of my teachers wrote a book that we used in class, she received 1$ for every 45$ books that was sold...) Now, how much of this 40$ goes to the distributor?

See that's the problem with manga and anime in the US/Canada. The costs are just to high compared to those in japan. I know that the distributor has to translate, dub and produce, but it would be so nice if they could at least drop the price 10$.

Just my opinion.

kurii · newbie! Joined: Jun 19, 2003 Posts: 1 Location: Australia

That was a great piece of interesting read.

People really should support the 'DVDs' and go buy em. But with the prices really high, i personally don't feel obiliged to buy them.

Lower the prices and i'll start 'saving n buying' else don't expect me buying Razz

Of course i'll buy dvd's, but not as much as i'd like too. I also feel discouraged to buy the dvds cuz of the prices. i mean for just ONE boxset it costs over $100...

i think i've made my point...PRICES!

Specky · Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2004 7:31 am Post subject: lame

prices prices prices.... You guys don't even want to get me started on that one...

but if you are interested, go here:

http://www.anime-source.com/banzai/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=620&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0&sid=49ef393007c80e4d8dd660a2a0e4505a

page 2. Can't miss it. Big huge long winded thing not worth reading anyway because you are still going to think they are ripping us off.

(That and again I can't speak for the poor Canadian folk that don't like letting anime into their country.)

For the gossip on Canada being anti anime go here:

http://zannen.pathea.com/
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Basilm · Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2004 7:41 am Post subject:

Nomori do you know any "good" online japanese anime store, that are "so" cheap, a friend of mine was in Tokyo this spring, he said it was more expensive in Japan, then in Sweden (yeah, on those titles Ive found we have lower prices then USA/Canada, but not by much). The relly good thing with the anime in Japan, that is that you find every little thing, those who never get subbed, or never mentioned...
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atikiN · Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2004 11:57 am Post subject:

The price question was asked at the ADV panel and heres what David's answer was. (indirect quote) "The anime companies in the U.S, are doing a lot of experimenting with prices" So basically, if a company hikes up their price to $40 USD and the sales for that titles don't drop, then they will probably raise the prices of other dvd's.

Tank252ca · Posted: Mon Jul 05, 2004 12:33 pm Post subject: Re: lame

There are those of us that know how expensive Japanese DVDs are. I know some people that sometimes wait for the R1 release because it can be a lot cheaper. I do find it odd though, but I guess that it's a reflection of the difference between Japanese and N.A. markets.

Specky, I hope that you're not basing your opinion on one man's ramblings? "Canada being anti anime"? It's a much deeper issue than that. Being next door to the largest English media producer in the world places pressure on our cultural identity. We want to be American as much as the Japanese want to be Chinese (ok, maybe not that extreme Smile

). So, we have regulations set up to protect our local industry from Hollywood. There are similar regulations in other countries as well. But these regulations can not be country specific, so they affect Japanese media as well, not just American.

The other big issue is financial. We only have 1/10th the population of the U.S., so economies of scale come into play. If a big company like ADV has to charge more for anime DVDs than what Hollywood movies are selling for, that problem is multiplied further in the smaller Canadian market.

We also are not privy to the details of licensing agreements. Sometimes a license will include Canada, other times it may not, in which case a separate deal has to be struck. Many titles are then treated as imports instead of domestic releases and then the cost here is a lot higher (about 1/3). A strange example is Card Captor Sakura, where the sub was an import but the Cardcaptors dub was domestic.

Now, if we're talking about anime on TV, it comes back to money and licensing deals again. YTV and Teletoon don't have the budgets that Cartoon Network has. That doesn't make them anti anime. In fact I would argue the opposite. AFAIK, only YTV managed to air all of Sailor Moon, and while Escaflowne died a horrible death on American TV, they aired the complete series on Canadian TV. And when Bravo and Space were airing all sorts of anime movies and OAVs on late night TV years ago, I don't think Cartoon Network had any anime running. If anything, I bet that the Canadian networks got the movies cheap and the increased interest in anime in the US has made them unaffordable now.

I don't have any statistics to back this up. Mostly speculation on my part from this side of the Canadian border. Smile

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Specky · Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2004 6:49 am Post subject: Re: lame

Tank252ca · Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2004 11:05 am Post subject:

I didn't have time yesterday to read all of the material from Zannen, but I'll admit that he does make some interesting points, and I would agree with several of them. He's just a little one-sided and I always like to make opposing arguments. Smile

BTW, I enjoyed the interview AngelKing. Shinichi Watanabe's comments got me thinking, when the Japanese produce an anime, do they take foreign markets into account now? A few years ago foreign sales would probably have been a drop in the bucket and fan subs would not have had any significant impact on domestic revenues. But if ADV can grow from a home run business into a small corporation, I wonder if anime houses are taking potential foreign sales into account when budgeting their series now?
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atikiN · Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2004 6:39 pm Post subject:

Nomori · Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2004 10:19 pm Post subject:

Haha... er remind me to shut up when i don't know what i'm talking about...

toot · Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2004 2:49 am Post subject:

thank you for doing the interview and posting it angel king.

this must be otakus favorite topic to argue. never get tired of it, right?
i just wish i understood the economics of why an anime dvd with 3-4 eps retails for $26-$30 and yet i can buy the whole first season of friends or frazier or some other top tv show for $40. you would think the licensing for a #1 show would also cost alot. or i can buy a foreign film from any other part of the world for $12-$25. the tv shows may sell lots of dvds, but the foreign films usually dont, yet anime is still about $10 different a title. i think this is where most ppl fall off the wagon.
i guess there are reasons why things are priced that way, otherwise some company would start up with really low prices and blow the others out of the water. hopefully the anime network will be great for everyone.
i have heard also that some of the japanese studios arent doing well. and that they make very little money from the licensing of their works. does anyone else know more or heard this as a fact? i think thats a huge shame if its true.