Takumi Kitamura has been the main character in more than 5 dramas…Kento Hayashi and Takayuki Yamada are active in “Net-distributed dramas”: merits and demerits

On December 14, Netflix began streaming the drama “Yu Yu Hakusho,” starring Takumi Kitamura (26).

Based on the popular manga of the same title by Yoshihiro Togashi. In the original story, the main character is a junior high school student, so Kitamura’s starring role in the live-action adaptation drew controversy, but the high quality of the CG, which is unique to Netflix, has attracted attention from around the world” (movie writer).

Stardust Promotion, to which Kitamura belongs, is actively involved in video distribution platform productions.

“It was probably significant that Stardust’s Kento Hayashi (33) starred in ‘Spark,’ distributed in ’16, which created a pipeline with Netflix.’ Stardust’s signature actors have appeared in Netflix films one after another, including Takayuki Yamada (40) in “Naked Director” and Kento Yamazaki (29) in “Alice in Imaginary Country,” both distributed in 19 years.

With the COVID-19 crisis, video distribution sites began to do well, and major entertainment agencies began to market their products in droves, but Stardust has been sending popular actors to the site since the dawn of video distribution, including “Spark. Stardust has had foresight.

On the other hand, major entertainment production company HORIPRO starred Akiyoshi Nakao (35) in “Jimmy~An Idiotish Honma no Hanashi~” on Netflix in 2005, and “A2Z” starring Kyoko Fukada (41) is being distributed on Amazon Prime Video this year as well. However, they are cautious about video distribution.

In the case of YouTube, personal channels are also basically not allowed.

Only a few personalities, such as Jun Idoda (51) of “Speed Wagon” fame, have received permission after direct requests from the production company. The upper management is probably skeptical about the business model of video sites,” said a director of a production company.

Yoshimoto Kogyo has been the mainstay of Netflix’s “Talk Survivor! but broadcasters say that their participation is “conditional.

In some cases, however, the broadcaster says, “If you are not involved in the production of a distributed work, you do not get an incentive based on the number of times it is viewed. If that is the case, the fee is not much different from that of terrestrial TV, so they make it a condition for appearing on the show that you have to be involved in the production of the content.

Foreign-owned platforms such as Netflix are a boon to small and medium-sized entertainment professionals because they cast regardless of the size of the agency or name recognition, but for established actors and major professionals, there are disadvantages.

They “lose media exposure because of the lengthy production period and the time it takes to deliver the product. There is a strong element of gambling in having actors who are on the market. It has the effect of increasing their name recognition around the world, but in many cases, the corporate executives who have the authority to make decisions on commercials do not pay attention to the works they distribute. It is risky to disappear from terrestrial broadcasting for a while.

The reality is that while video distribution services have become firmly established among viewers, the industry’s perception of them varies widely.

From the December 29 , 2023 issue of FRIDAY