Mary-san would have been so mad…” “STARTO’s challenge” that allowed Fuma Kikuchi to establish his “personal fan club”.
Johnny’s has ceased to exist, and the newly created “STARTO ENTERTAINMENT” (hereafter referred to as “STARTO”) is expected to cause a new sensation in the entertainment industry.
Until then, Johnny’s had a hidden influence in the entertainment industry, and when they held concerts, they quickly drew tens of thousands of people. Its fan club income was over 10 billion yen per year, and it was the “absolute king” of TV and commercials.
Last year, however, the late founder Janie Kitagawa’s sexual assault scandal threw all the wheels out of gear.
The firm ceased to exist, and was split into two companies, SMILE-UP. and STARTO, which specialize in compensating victims. The change of name did not restore the former momentum, and NHK stopped using new talent. Some companies also continue to refrain from using STARTO’s talents because of the image of sexual assault.
In addition, former V6 member Junichi Okada, Kazuya Ninomiya, Toma Ikuta, and Tsuyoshi Domoto have left the company and gone independent.
The situation would have been unthinkable a year ago. The golden signboard of Johnny’s has fallen to the ground, and its image is now a stumbling block.
In the days of Johnny’s, there were only a handful of talents who could complain to management, and those who left the office were not pursued. Now the talent has more power, and the office is struggling to hold on to them.
Koichi Domoto of “KinKi Kids,” who is one of the most talented talents in the industry, gave an interview in the May issue of “Nikkei Entertainment! in the May issue of “Nikkei Entertainment!
The history that each talent, whether KinKi Kids or anyone else, has created is that of the previous company, never that of the new company.
The five of us have launched a new company, “Storm.
Arashi, the five members of which launched the new company, also issued a statement saying
We will have more independence than ever before, make decisions more independently than ever before, and act more independently than ever before.
The word “proactive” was used three times in the statement to emphasize their initiative.
On the other hand, the change from “office > talent” to “office < talent” has given the company a much greater degree of freedom.
Arashi, which launched a new company, signed an agent contract with STARTO. A sports newspaper reporter in charge of entertainment said
The new company will not have a large number of employees, so it will receive support from STARTO in terms of sales, such as live performances and TV appearances. This is also a move in anticipation of the resumption of Arashi’s activities.
He explains, “This is also a move in anticipation of the resumption of Arashi’s activities.
Fuma Kikuchi of “timelesz,” which changed its name from Sexy Zone, also signed an exclusive agent contract on January 20 and announced the launch of a personal fan club for 500 yen per month (excluding tax).
In the days of Johnny’s, it was unthinkable. I am surprised that Mr. Kikuchi has come up with such an idea. If it had been during the era of Johnny’s, I think the vice president, Mary Kitagawa, would have rejected the idea and would have been furious.
If 10,000 people pay 500 yen per month, that is 5 million yen per month for Kikuchi.
Keiichiro Koyama of “NEWS,” who recently got married to Minako Uno of “AAA,” mentioned the employment system with STARTO during “Bala-iro Dandy” (TOKYO MX).
He said, “For us NEWS, we have signed a new contract with STARTO, and each individual is totally different, one by one. I have my own contract, and I don’t know what kind of contract Masuda (Takahisa) and Kato (Shigeaki) have. All the talents are different.
He revealed, “I don’t know what kind of contract Masuda and Kato have.
The contract system is flexible to meet the needs of individual talents. The amount of work varies depending on the type of work, and in some fields, such as Kikuchi’s, the individual may be able to take all the work. This is
“The agency takes seven and the talent takes three.
This is a far cry from the old “donburi assessment,” in which the agency takes seven and the talent takes three.
From the perspective of other agencies’ talents, this is something to be envied. The new president, Jun Fukuda, may have a big hand in this area.
With the spread of social networking services such as YouTube, production management has reached a transitional stage. It seems certain that challenges such as STARTO’s will bring about changes in the entertainment industry in the future.
PHOTO: Yusuke Kondo