Abstract
Tokyo Docs was launched by the Association pf All Japan TV Program Production Companies (ATP) in 2011 with an aim to encourage independent producers and directors to take part in international co-productions and deliver their own content to global market. In the past seven years, the forum received 528 project proposals, among which 160 projects were selected to be pitched at Pitching Session. Pitching Session serves as an opportunity for Japanese producers and directors to seek the possibility of international co-production. They deliver presentations of their proposals in front of overseas and domestic decision-makers such as persons in charge of programming or production departments of broadcasters. The analyses of the pitched 160 project proposals show that many of the projects deal with social issues or humanity, which indicates that Japanese producers and directors are trying to portray universal themes that can be shared across the globe by filming human activities. It is also revealed 70 of the pitched proposals are project to be shot mainly in Japan to take the geographical advantage. The seventh year of Tokyo Docs achieved some good results: 42 proposals either “have found co-production partners and completed the production” or “are in a negotiation process,” and about 25% of the pitched projects are proposals that have potential for overseas distribution. One of the initial targets of Tokyo Docs was to “nurture 20 globally competitive producers by 2020,” which now sees a number of aspired candidates, especially among young producers. Therefore, the future task will be to provide them with more hands-on experiences. The author, who has taken part in Tokyo Docs since its first forum, keenly feels that it is growing steadily as a good opportunity for Japanese program makers to develop their capacity to appeal their projects in the global market place.
