Viz Media, UTA Ink Content Development Pact
Manga publisher and anime distributor Viz Media is partnering with the international talent and literary agency, United Talent Agency, to develop film, TV, online and multimedia animation properties from Viz’s extensive Japanese pop culture catalogue.
The partnership will create new opportunities to capitalize on the global popularity of Japanese pop culture franchises from consumers and from a range of Hollywood, broadcast and videogaming content producers.
Viz Media is co-owned by, and is the U.S. publishing arm of, three of Japan's largest publishing and entertainment companies, Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd.. Viz offers a catalogue of wildly popular international bestsellers, including such properties as Bleach, Death Note, Naruto, One-Punch Man, Tokyo Ghoul and many others. The company marks its 30th anniversary this summer.
Brad Woods, chief marketing officer of Viz Media, said “The UTA partnership represents an important new direction for Viz Media and our colleagues in Japan. Bringing the rich stories of manga and anime to life in new ways is an exciting opportunity with tremendous potential.”
