how do anime studios make money

by Dr. Lesley Heller Sr. 7 min read
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How Do Animation Studios Make Money?

  • Post processing animation video content
  • Audio editing (adding looping and sound effects)
  • Adding closed captioning, subtitles or dubbing
  • Creating and inserting graphics, animation or special effects
  • Formatting animation content for various media
  • Receiving and incorporating feedback from test audiences
  • Promotional activities

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Animation studios can make money by selling their projects to distributors, streaming sites, etc. A studio may begin work on an animated movie long before they've sold the project to anyone. Maybe they're considering releasing the movie independently, but independent releases can only reach a very limited audience.Nov 15, 2021

Full Answer

How much does it cost to make an anime?

According to Masamune Sakaki, a CG creator in the anime industry, an average 13-episode anime season costs around 250 million yen (or $2 million). He also made it clear that most anime can't recoup this expense, and the industry rests on the windfall of a few big hits.

How much do Animation Studios make?

How Much Do Animation Studios Make? Animators in the bottom 10 percent get under $38,520 a year, and the top 10 percent get higher than $115,960 a year. Animators working for the motion picture industry average $75,630 a year, while those working for computer systems design companies earn a slightly lower $73,800 annually on average.

How does illegal distribution of anime affect studio revenue?

Anime studios earn their revenues from a variety of sources. When anime is distributed online without legal authorization, not all of a studio’s revenue streams are equally impacted. This doesn’t mean that illegal distribution of anime is not harmful.

What are the three largest revenue streams for the anime industry?

The industries three largest revenue streams are merchandising, international licensing, and anime-themed pachinko machines. The three lowest revenue streams are Japanese home video, Japanese digital distribution, and anime related music sales. Notice the trend?

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Do anime studios make a lot of money?

Anime brings in more than $19 billion a year. Its artists are earning barely enough to survive.

How much do anime creators get paid?

The salaries of Anime Artists in the US range from $36,930 to $113,600 , with a median salary of $63,970 . The middle 60% of Anime Artists makes $63,970, with the top 80% making $113,600.

How much do anime studios pay animators?

A 2019 survey by the Japan Animation Creators Association found that anime workers aged 20-24 earned an average of 1.55 million yen (US$13,434) per year. Why is the payment so low?

What anime studio makes the most money?

2:565:10Which Animation Studio Makes the Most Money? - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipSo the simple answer to the question of which animation studio makes the most money is a resoundingMoreSo the simple answer to the question of which animation studio makes the most money is a resounding Pixar.

How much does Netflix pay for anime?

Animators were paid bottom rate on a recent Japanese production for Netflix, according to Ippei Ichii. The animator and storyboard artist took to Twitter to condemn the streaming giant, claiming that artists working on a Netflix show at Tokyo studio Mappa were paid as little as 3,800 (USD$34) per cut.

Is the anime industry dying?

The Anime Market Shrinks For the First Time in 11 Years The market size in 2020 was 2.4 trillion (or 2,426.1 billion) yen, a 3.5% shrink compared to 2019. Nevertheless, the fact that it was a small-scale contraction can be actually seen as a positive surprise for the industry.

Why do Japanese animators get paid so little?

The main reason that an animator's salary is so low is that most studios pay by commission. The entry-level “in-betweener” who makes all of the individual drawings, only earns 200 yen per drawing, which is around $1.83 in US dollars. Keep in mind that a single drawing takes about an hour to make.

How much money does Naruto make?

Naruto - $10.3 Billion The series follows the story of Naruto Uzumaki, a ninja-in-training from the leaf village.

How much has Naruto earned?

$10 billionEven though the anime is what helped propel Naruto into the mainstream, the manga series is still the highest source of revenue for the franchise. Naruto has impressively amassed over $10 billion since its creation.

Do animators make money?

Animators in the bottom 10 percent get under $38,520 a year, and the top 10 percent get higher than $115,960 a year. Animators working for the motion picture industry average $75,630 a year, while those working for computer systems design companies earn a slightly lower $73,800 annually on average.

How much do anime animators make per hour?

How Much Do Animation Jobs Pay per Hour?Annual SalaryHourly WageTop Earners$146,500$7075th Percentile$99,500$48Average$79,232$3825th Percentile$51,000$25

Who is the best anime studio?

The 11 Best Animation Studios Behind Top-Tier Anime Series and...Production I.G. Production I.G has produced some of the best anime series, including sports anime like Haikyu!! ... Wit Studio. Wit Studio is a subsidiary of IG Port and was founded in 2012. ... Ufotable. ... A-1 Pictures. ... Cloverworks. ... Sunrise. ... Bones. ... MAPPA.More items...•

Do animators get paid well?

BLS data lists the 2017 median pay for animators at $70,530 a year. Glassdoor has the national average a bit higher at $74,000. Like many other fields, compensation for animators also depends on experience: it's not uncommon for senior-level animators or art directors to earn well into six figures.

How much do anime animators make per hour?

How Much Do Animation Jobs Pay per Hour?Annual SalaryHourly WageTop Earners$146,500$7075th Percentile$99,500$48Average$79,232$3825th Percentile$51,000$25

How much do anime animators make per frame?

They are often paid on a "per frame" basis, earning an average of 187 yen (US$1.60 approx.) per frame. 73.7% of these animators earn less than 1 million yen per year and the highest paid storyboard animators earn at most 80% of what other types of animators make.

How much money does anime make per year?

around USD$24.08 billionThe anime industry grew to 2.5112 trillion yen (around USD$24.08 billion) in 2019, according to the Association of Japanese Animations (AJA). This figure, a 15.1% rise on 2018, is an all-time high.

How is anime production managed?

Nowadays anime production is almost always managed by a “Production Committee”, which consists of a diverse set of companies, each taking a portion of the pie.

What is an anime studio?

Anime studios are the actual anime makers, yet usually the least powerful in the industry . In most cases anime studios are not members in Production Committee, which means what it gets is simply a fixed amount to cover production fee. Of course there are exceptions like Studio Ghibli.

How much did Shirobako cost?

In a July interview, Takayuki Nagatani, producer of Shirobako (itself an anime about anime production), claimed that his show cost 500 million yen (or $4 million) for 24 episodes. In order to make it sell, he had to "advertise it, plan events, and make merchandise.".

How much was the anime episode in 2010?

According to an investigation by Media Development Research Institute Inc., a 30 minute episode of a TV anime in 2010 that totaled 11,000,000 yen (about US $145,214 at the current exchange rate) consisted of the following expenses: (Note: All US dollar conversions are approximate based on current exchange rate.)

Does Akira get all the money from Dragonball?

For instance Akira Toriama gets almost all the Merch Money from Dragonball. But Almost none of the DVD money. Localization: This is when the company lets another company (Like funamation) Distribute the show outside Japan. A lot of times most of this money is not going to go to the Anime Studio.

Who owns A-1 Pictures?

Aniplex is a good example. It owns A-1 Pictures, a well-known anime studio, and the fact that it also owns some music production business makes it interested in anime projects that can drive sales selling CD. Anime studios are the actual anime makers, yet usually the least powerful in the industry.

Do Japanese TV companies rob content producers?

And its not from add, Japanese TV companies basically rob content producers. DVD’s: Most of the money is made off of the sell of DVD’s. There is a general ‘target’ number for each Project, and a lot of people are often stunned by how low the number is.

Why is stuff made?

Stuff is made because some book company decides they want to fund a show, so they take money and pay a committee / studio to make one. That's one way money could come in. It could also be some investment that the studios is doing, because they want a try on that random number generator.

Is art profitable?

Point is, even if some shows don't make profit in the initial run, doesn't mean they will always not make a profit later on. It's usually not. Art is not profitable. You may find facts and stats around but some of the process isn't really holding up anymore now, the industry is not doing that well.

Is anime legal in Japan?

Most anime don't get out of Japan, even if we consider either worldwide legal or illegal services that offer anime, what is seen most are the most well-known series. Anime is not cheap to produce, we can consider that each anime episode is about 120000 US dollars. Anime is pretty time consuming to watch in general.

Animators

These people are the lifeblood of a great show, yet their pay is actually pretty awful. A 2013 survey (only available in Japanese) showed that the average animator salary was around 1.1 million yen or $10,000 US dollars a year.

Voice Actors

The stars of the show, voice actors bring your favourite characters to life. Yet, for the first three years of their careers, they earn very little. Rank 15 voice actors make around ¥15,000 ($130) per episode, with agents and the taxman also taking a cut.

Directors

The director is the person who projects their vision of what a show should be, and makes it a reality. So how much do they earn? Well, that depends. According to the Shirobako team, the average salary is around $42,000 a year, but the JACA’s 2015 survey reported that it’s actually closer to $60k a year.

The Verdict

Anime is a brutal industry to work in. It takes real dedication and passion to avoid burnout, which could be why 80% of animators quit in the first three years. Most people don’t realize just how much work goes into making even a single episode of any given anime, and when the truth hits, it hits hard.

How much does an animation studio cost?

As a new animation studio, you could expect charges anywhere from $100 to $200 per one minute of animation. Multiple factors affect the overall price of an animation project, however, just be mindful of the complexity of your animation as that will ultimately determine the cost.

How much do animators make?

Animators in the bottom 10 percent get under $38,520 a year, and the top 10 percent get higher than $115,960 a year. Animators working for the motion picture industry average $75,630 a year, while those working for computer systems design companies earn a slightly lower $73,800 annually on average. What Type Of People Are Needed To Run An Animation ...

What kind of people are needed to run an animation studio?

The type of people needed to run an animation studio are people who are creative, people who can work with little or no supervision and of course, people who can work for long periods of time at a stretch and can pay attention to details.

How much does it cost to become a computer animator?

Most bachelor’s degree programs in Computer Animation cost between $10,000 to $40,000 per year. For admission to a master’s level program, prospective students are typically expected to have completed a bachelor’s degree with at least a 3.0 undergraduate GPA.

What is animation studio?

An animation studio is a company that is involved in the production of animated media. The wide-ranging of such companies conceive of products to produce, own the physical equipment for production, employ operators for that equipment, and hold a major stake in the sales or rentals of their animation works. How Do You Start An Animation Studio ...

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Production Committees

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Production committees are heavily talked about but are rarely understood by the community. For many fans, there is a mysterious air about production committees sort of like puppet masters. Before diving into how studios generate revenue, we need to briefly examine the structure of the committee system. Committees are p…
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The Importance of Discs

  • Home video is still vital for animation studios. Production committees and studios will rarely if ever comment on revenue splits, but it’s been implied that home video is extremely important for an anime studio’s bottom line. Discs sales have also been falling in Japan every year since 2005, meaning that this revenue stream is drying up. This is one of the reasons anime is so expensive …
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The Importance of International Licensing

  • It tends to clash with the “international fans don’t matter” narrative people love to peddle, but international licensing has become the life-bloodof anime. In 2015, licensing was the second largest revenue stream for the industry. This includes legal streamingand purchasing localized home video releases. Licensors don’t report the revenue splits (and they have no reason to), but …
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The Effect of Piracy

  • Piracy isn’t a zero-sum issue that can be easily solved. In fact, various academic studios from independent agencies have found that piracy has a minuscule effect on sales numbers for most industries since not all revenue streams can be pirated. However, academics do agree that piracy hurts home video sales, which is what studios rely on. The availability of pirated streams …
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Anime Industry Growth, But Lack of Studio Profits

  • How is that the anime industry posted a record 2 trillion yen revenue line, but anime studios are struggling to pay their artists? It’s because the actual anime itself isn’t profitable. The industries three largest revenue streams are merchandising, international licensing, and anime-themed pachinko machines. The three lowest revenue streams are Japanesehome video, Japanese digit…
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Selling Projects to Distributors

  • Ok, so this is probably the most obviou one. Animation studios can make money by selling their projects to distributors, streaming sites, etc. A studio may begin work on an animated movie long before they’ve sold the project to anyone. Maybe they’re considering releasing the movie independently, but independent releases can only reach a very limite...
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Crowdfunding

  • One of the funding options that animation studios now have at their disposal is crowdfunding. Sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo give creators the opportunity to pitch a project and ask regular people to chip in some money to fund the project. Crowdfunding would definitely be a more advisable option for a brand new animation studio than for an established studio with a great de…
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Merchandising

  • Have you ever heard this piece of advice before: if you want to support a band, buy a t-shirt from them, not their music. This speaks to an unfortunate reality of individuals and companies working in creative industries. Making something and selling it to people isn’t always a great way to make some real money from the work. That’s because both musicians and animation studios often ne…
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Commissioned/Sponsored Work

  • For smaller animation studios, starting another feature-length film directly after finishing a feature probably isn’t going to be possible. For one, depending on how the previous movie performed, the studio might not even have enough money to get started on a new project. So what can a studio like this do to bring in some more cash? Well, one common answer to this question is to take co…
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