MEGUMI: “There is a lot of “emo” in the producer business! [Special Interview

Her latest movie “FUJIKO” is now in theaters.

FUJIKO’s latest film “FUJIKO” was released in theaters on May 13.

She was quick to make a counter-proposal to the photographer who pointed his lens at her, showing her pride in her work.

Producer MEGUMI (44) has been remarkably active. In February, she signed an exclusive contract with Netflix to produce a reality show, and on June 5, her film “FUJIKO” will be released.

Thanks to you, I’m extremely busy every day,” she said. I’m currently working on two or three projects for Netflix, and one of them is “Love, Superior, Season 2,” which is scheduled to be distributed by the end of ……. The only information I can give you is that it will be shot on location in Okinawa, but everything has been scaled up, so please look forward to it!

At the Cannes International Film Festival this May, I produced the event “JAPANESE NIGHT” to promote Japanese culture. I am working on a total of about 15 projects from events to films.

For the film “FUJIKO,” he was involved in all aspects of the production, from fundraising to casting, filming, and editing. The film is a drama set in Shizuoka Prefecture in the 1970s and 1980s, in which a single mother confronts a variety of unreasonable situations and searches for a way of life that is true to herself. The film won two awards at the Udine Film Festival in April, including the top prize.

About four years ago, I had dinner with director Taichi Kimura (38), who shot “FUJIKO,” at a pub in Nakameguro. It was an up-and-coming restaurant with music blaring, and I remember thinking, ‘Wouldn’t it be better to have our meeting somewhere quieter? I remember thinking, ‘If we are going to have a meeting, it would be better to have it somewhere quieter.
The hardest part of the project was to coordinate the opinions of all the geniuses – the performers, the scriptwriter, and the director – and make sure they all landed on the same page.

At the beginning of the film, there is a fight scene where Kayoko Kishimoto (65) and YOU (61) splash each other with a glass of water. This scene is essential to give the characters a “bitchy old hag” look, but the two are both well-known actors. I thought to myself, “Water is a bad idea,” not unlike the famous line from “Love is Superior” (laughs). But I explained to them the purpose of the project and what we were aiming for, and they accepted. She even went without makeup. Thanks to her, we were able to shoot one of the best “hag water fights” ever seen in a Japanese movie.

One time, we brought in a whole café car to the site, and in one day we received an outrageous amount of money for it!　(laughs). (laughs). “That’s about the only big trouble I had,” he laughed.

After the film was cranked up, he said he cried because of the sense of accomplishment.

The number of people who sympathized with me increased, money and cast members came together, and my chat with the director at a tavern took shape. It was very emotional, wasn’t it? Yes, there is a lot of “emo” in being a producer!　That’s what makes it fun and what drives me. I had a lot of drinks with the director at the launch. We drank a lot of sake together and cried over how hard we worked (laughs).

In the “FRIDAY June 5th and 12th” issue, which will be on sale on May 22nd, and in the paid version of “FRIDAY GOLD,” many of the other cuts that could not be published in the magazine will be shown!　In addition, she candidly revealed behind-the-scenes stories from her gravure days while looking at her own past issues of the magazine. She also speaks passionately about her work theory to keep challenging new genres one after another.

From the June 5 and 12, 2026 issue of “FRIDAY