[CINEMORE ACADEMY Vol.1] Project edition How to make the movie “The Brightest Roof in the Universe”

To acquire the film rights to the original work

Movie planning can be broadly divided into two types: original projects that are started from scratch, and those based on novels, manga, or other sources. In recent years, there has been a trend to turn original works into movies that are easier to predict audience numbers. The film "The Brightest Roof in the Universe" is based on Nonaka Tomos's popular novel " The Brightest Roof in the Universe " (published by Kobunsha Bunko).

Q: I heard that the film adaptation of "The Brightest Roof in the Universe" began when Maeda-san encountered the original work more than 16 years ago. My honest impression is that it has taken a long time! Is this a long time compared to normal filmmaking?

Maeda: That's right. In the case of this film, I first encountered it at a bookstore in the airport, but when I contacted the publisher after returning to Japan, I found out that the film rights had already been acquired.

However, three years had passed The Day After, and I hadn't heard any rumors of this work being made into a movie, so I inquired again. However, it was still reserved, so I kept calling them at intervals, but in the meantime it had become a paperback, and that's when I found out that the film rights had expired. So I contacted the original author, Tomosato Nonaka, who lives in New York.

Anyway, there was a lot of twists and turns before we got the film rights. So it took 16 years, but I wasn't working on the project all that time.

“The brightest roof in the universe” Kobunsha Bunko

Q: I see... In the first place, when adapting an original work into a film, is the first orthodox action that a filmmaker takes to obtain the film rights to the original work?

Maeda: Yes. First, we investigate whether it is still possible to adapt the original work into a film.

In my case, the film had already been booked, but when I get the message, "It hasn't been booked yet, but it's possible," I meet with the person in charge at the publishing company, and they ask me a lot of questions, like "What kind of project is it?" and "What kinds of films have you made so far?"

And when the person in charge thinks there is a certain degree of potential, they will contact the original author. However, even before they contact the original author, it takes some time.

Publishers do of course evaluate whether it's okay to entrust the film adaptation to these people. If they think, "It's okay to leave it to these people," they talk to the original author. They explain to the original author, "We're going in this direction, with this kind of director..." and once the original author agrees, the rights to the original work have finally been acquired.

Q: When approaching a publisher, you need a proposal, right? What kind of content should you include?

Maeda: I'll write about my intentions for making the film, why I want to turn this novel into a movie, what parts I want to turn into a movie, and what aspects I want to get out to a wider audience.

The Day After, we put in a simple summary of the story, along with marketing elements, such as who we want to appeal to . First, we decide who the main target audience will be - do we want women in their early twenties to watch it? Or high school students? Or perhaps seniors? We also consider sub-targets and include them in the proposal. Without that, it's difficult to find a distribution company. When I started out as a producer, my senior colleagues taught me the importance of this marketing.

Also, the "production committee system" (where multiple companies team up and invest) is the style used in most Japanese films, but this format has a "management company" and then a "distribution company. " When you make a film, you need to decide on a distribution company, that is, an outlet for distributing the film to theaters, otherwise it's quite risky to make a film and then look for a distributor.

I will also suggest some kind of image cast.

Q: To whom will the proposal be submitted - publishers, distributors, and others?

Maeda: Of course, distribution is one thing, but my job is also to solicit investment, so I also show it to investment companies.

In addition to the business proposal I mentioned earlier, we will also create a separate document that will highlight how interesting the novel would be if it were made into a movie.

Q: I'm also curious about how distribution companies and production companies are decided. Is there something like a "distribution company tour"?

Maeda: That's certainly true. However, this time, it was decided by KADOKAWA, who we spoke to first. It's a family story, a drama, and KADOKAWA has been quite good at it up until now, so we consulted them first. It was so smooth that it's rare for a decision to be made so easily.

Q: Do you also include budget details at the proposal stage?

Maeda: I will. But I failed this time (laughs). Actually, I realized when I started working on it that "The Brightest Roof in the Universe" was a very difficult project that required a lot of money.

First of all, there are a lot of night scenes. However, the lead actress, Kaya Kiyohara, was underage, so there was a law that said she could only work until 10 p.m. Moreover, since it was filmed in the summer, it didn't get dark until after 7 p.m.

So there was a lot of trial and error in figuring out how to visualize that. We also had to make some adjustments in terms of the budget.

relationship between producer and director