Full story: Anime Central 2009: ADV Films and Sentai Filmworks
Interesting portions below:
A lot of candid talk from ADV ranging from what’s going on with them to how they’re handling their new announcements, interest in more CPM and Geneon shows, rereleases, blu-ray future, older titles, Manga division in freeze…
But also for dub fans it sounds like Sentai/ADV are doing well with Clannad that a dub might be a potential and that Anime Network division is pushing for a dub. Very interesting information and one of ADV’s most open and candid dialogues in a long time.
Is that due to complaints from TAN viewers, or is Rai and company actually pushing for this on their own?
This is actually a topic PP and I have wanted to discuss for a long time now, thanks for the opportunity. 
I’d like to discuss the range of issues along with your question.
There’s still an extreme nonsense going on still by a few harmful individuals on other sites that helps foster a bad mentality in this fragile industry due to the market. Again the issue isn’t dub preference. I have been a very outspoken and public supporter of dubs for years, still am – but on one hand we need to be realistic about the market, and on the other hand some dub fans out there are just embarrassing now and are just as bad as the enemies they claim to fight – those elitists that think anything dub is no good). Companies can’t continue to constantly bend with unrealistic fan demands, instead they may break.
But back on track, lol.
Short answer as far as I was told before: Within the company.
Subtitles are doing well for Anime Network with the recent offerings and why they made a deal with RightStuf to bring these award winning new shows to Anime Network. But Anime Network is always looking for diversity and keeping as many of its viewers with something to check out; whether it’s new, old, sub, dub… AN is offering a lot more diversity now than in a long time.
More than a short answer… 
But also, from what Anime Network mentioned before with some of their recent announcements – Cable providers and digital content providers prefer more dubs other than for major or artsy foreign theatrical/movie stuff for sub-only. ADV/Anime Network is expanding rapidly through lots of digital providers like Xbox Live, Playstation Network, YouTube and in a partnership with Warner Brothers for iTunes. The distribution giants grant easier access to dubs on their services due to more mainstream accessibility, and dubs tend to do better on digital distribution, since otakus (ie. a lot of sub-only viewers) prefer DVD format. This discussion doesn’t include the whole free-streaming-sub-preference domination in recent years though, since that has less to do with monetization and more to do with people watching illegally – and the whole elitist mentality of japanese > all that is not worth discussing anymore, at least not without me pouncing on someone.
I actually asked Anime Network about this issue recently and candidly they told me there has been very little viewer complaints about the sub-only content.
In my own view, of course there will always be disappointment (ADV was one of the most important powerhouses in industry dubbing until recently… so there are a lot of ADV fans that want dubs, and certainly it used to be Anime Network’s main method of delivering shows – so that comes with added expectations from us viewers), but also always a group of violently loud dub viewers that want and only want dubs, but, I don’t believe they (Anime Network) are spinning the situation when I inquired about it. Even on the largest of Anime sites there’s only a small handful (like nowadays only less than 5 loud ones, everyone has moved on except people who are better remained nameless lol) that are still fighting the dub demanding war.
The market has shifted towards sub-only for a lot of more specialty titles like Clannad and Princess Resurrection, but there are a lot of possibilities and options to make it happen… also there may be a large end-game strategy to all of this from ADV’s vantage point if they are able to dub it, it may open the door to more partnerships with Japanese companies (ie. Clannad After Story, K-On or further partnerships).
This news comes to me with very mixed feelings… I have uncertainty on whether dub is the right move for these shows especially in this kind of down market. I just hope they are making a good move even at the expense of losing some fans short-medium term, better that than making a costly gamble. ADV’s been making a lot of great business decisions lately, I can only wish them luck with whatever choice they make.
What’s the long term strategy and big picture? That really is the key, and I suspect only the high brass know what the next step may be.
This is what I have been waiting for(an actual transcript), so they did announce some more movies(I don’t know these either, I swear I follow Japanese cinema), and 6!!! new anime, Clannad After Story is a safe bet but what are the other 5?
I’ve been hearing ADV and Media Blasters are doing well in Best Buy to the point most of their titles are getting stocked.
Funimation on the other hand about half of their June releases are going to be online only.
I’m kind of wondering if the 50% off sale helped to sell more of the ADV and Media Blasters stuff and Best Buy is using that sales data.:unsure:
The problem with dubbing Clannad is that their may not be a lot of people that have the sub set that will double dip. I think the main people Clannad was aimed at has passed.
Honestly I think Princess Resurrection would be a better choice to dub but I don’t think its worth dubbing.
It’d be much better if ADV used the money to get more shows and maybe dub one of them then dubbing something that honestly probably does not stand much of a chance of recouping money from any kind of dub that would be worth dubbing.
I’d say go cheap and use a foreign dub studio like Bandai and Geneon have done in the past but I’d honestly rather have no dub then one that stands a very small chance of being good.
I think people think oh Funimation is dubbing everything so everyone should be able to.
It’s just not that simple.
Funimation strategy has of yet to be proven sure they seem to be doing ok but like with every company we never get more information then what they tell us. What happens if the market gets even worse?
My thought is the bigger they are the harder they will fall.
Think about it for years Geneon was the king of the hill and look at them now they are getting someone else to release their stuff and not licensing anything new.
ADV at one time was called the Best in Anime and now they are just keeping their head in their shell hoping when they stick it out all the way there will still be something there.
Market is way to unstable to not play it safe.
Mita alot of switchblade titles are softcore porn or low budget horror so its not like they are well known. You can find all of them you just have to figure out what the original name is to find them.
Siren is from what I can tell EROTIC GHOST: SIREN with Sora Aoi.
Zombie Self-Defense Force/ZONBI JIEITAI played at the 2006 Fantasia Festival.
"It’s an ordinary day in the Japanese countryside - a day of sightseeing for tourists, photo shoots for a pop-star model and her crew, routing training for a squad of JSDF soldiers, treachery for an adulterous couple and sudden murder for gangsters. Everything changes, though, when a UFO crashes and releases some form of strange radiation. Confusion turns to sheer terror and the grim, blood-soaked will to survive when the dead rise and attack the living in a mindless cannibalistic frenzy! Soon, the soldiers and a handful of civilians are holed up in a secluded hotel, surrounded by the zombie hordes. There are other dark secrets at work, though. One soldier, Yuri, has been having sudden, painful flashbacks to a mysterious operating room, and there’s that spooky legend about the ghostly, ultra-patriotic Japanese soldier from WWII lurking in a local cave…
Though I think Zombies of Eureka is this thing http://www.atasite.org/calendar/?x=3216 .
Media Blasters seems to pick up the more known titles for their Tokyo Shock label.
I was planning to go to ACen this year but with my Japanese Club but that fell through. Nobody was free 
Maybe next year I can make it.
I WOULD LOVE TO SEE A DUB FOR PRINCESS RESURRECTION. Its good subbed, I bet it would be fantastic dubbed.
Matt Greenfield is usually pretty candid during panels, at least from the few I’ve attended. He may not come out and say things directly, but if you pay close attention, you can figure out exactly what he means.
It would be nice to see Clannad dubbed, though I doubt they would make money on a rerelease of the show at this point. But if you look at it as a more long term investment, and factor in the money they made on the subtitled release, it may not be a bad idea. Of course, that depends on how much further they can expand the fan base, and how long Sentai ultimately has the license. (And also how many of us would be willing to double dip.) I would certainly double dip for the show, especially if it was given a more premium release, like a thin pack.
Also, I know Clannad Part 1 did quite well at Best Buy. In fact, it did well enough that Clannad Part 2 is being carried at most, if not all of our stores. I’ve also noticed that some stores, even some that recently had clearance sales, are starting to get more shows in from Media Blasters and ADV, but we are getting less and less from Funimation. It’s been a bit interesting to see more shows like Doujin Work and Clannad, and less One Piece and Claymore. (Though this may ultimately have more to do with problems with Navarre, than Funimation itself…)
At this point, I think many people were certain ADV’s manga division was dead. And that’s probably for the best. They did some great work in their time, and put out two of my favorite series, but sadly there just isn’t room in the market for them right now. Throwing money at their manga division would just hurt the company more, especially given the huge financial problems Border’s is having.
The live action stuff sounds interesting too, though I have yet to pick up any Switchblade titles. I really need to grab a few soon. And can’t wait to hear what other license rescues they have up their sleeves, and whatever Sentai has grabbed.
PP: I don’t think Geneon was ever king. They were well liked among the hardcore DVD buyers, but never king of the R1 Landscape. They were always losing money to, which is a problem when you are trying to make money. CPM on the other hand ruled for over 10 years, and now look what happened. I agree the king of the mountain doesn’t stay there too long. After CPM, it was ADV. Now it’s Funimation. Who’s next?
I am one of those fans that always wants a dub. But I’m not unrealistic here. I understand ADV can’t dub everything. I don’t want them to. And I too would rather they spend the money for a dub on Clannad, on dubbing another show, hopefully something I would like. It makes more sense for them. However if they do dub Clannad, I’ll be buying it.
I did enjoy ADV’s manga line. They had great extras, and did everything the way I liked it (well minus the part where the glossed covers would get all icky), but it’s for the best that they are frozen, for now anyway. Not a big fan of manga though, so it doesn’t effect me. Anyway it seems ADV’s panel had a lot more interesting news then Funi’s did. It gives me hope ADV has a lot more goodies in store for us. CPM and Geneon rescues will be bought buy me, that’s a given (as long as I like the show).
I think it’s too much of risk for ADV to dub anything right now. Their strategy seems to be working so they should stick to it.
Pretty interesting to see him be so open with his answers, which is nice.
As for me, I prefer dub releases. I enjoyed what I saw from Clannad and Aria, so I’ll wait for a dub to come along to purchase the DVDs, if they ever come along that is.
I do think it’s a good strategy to release a sub early on to combat the fansubbers, but they should then take the shows that sold well and dub them, to give others a chance to enjoy it.