40th PFF Special Report TV Director Tetsuya Inagaki + Kenichi Sasaki's "Techniques for Creating TV Programs You Really Want"

Various hurdles that stand in the way of realizing a plan

In the television industry, where viewer ratings are the goal, every possible means is considered to get the numbers. The "Takeshi Birth" project was no exception, and the station ended up proposing additional plans to get the ratings. "How about having a popular idol interview Takeshi? (The actual interviewer for the show was Director Inagaki.)" "How about making it a special edition of an existing popular documentary show?" and so on. They were bombarded with instructions about things the two didn't want to make or see, things they didn't want to make or see.

Usually, a production company's business only becomes viable once a program is decided to be produced. If the program is not produced, no money will be generated. In other words, the most important thing for a production company is to get the program made, and the cast and format of the program are secondary. However, Inagaki apparently turned down all of the proposals from the aforementioned stations. He decided that it would be completely upsetting to have a plan to create something he wanted to watch being fitted with cast members and an existing format that he did not intend. So he apparently withdrew the plan himself. This meant that the program production would cease to exist, and no money would be generated.

Sasaki said, "Because of the position of a production director, it is difficult for him to withdraw a plan himself. Plans that have been worked on for a long time will not earn a single penny unless they become a TV program." "So when Inagaki made this decision, it was a critical moment that determined whether 'Takeshi's Birth' would go ahead."

Director Kenichi Sasaki

Still, the two of them did not give up, and changed the channel they proposed the plan to from terrestrial broadcasting to BS broadcasting, and somehow managed to make the plan a reality. Three years had passed since they first proposed the plan.

"I usually work as a producer for variety shows, so I can make a living that way. So it's not like I'm always stoic and only making what I want to see. However, I am able to continue coming up with ideas that I want to do in addition to my daily work. I think it's important to turn the things I want to do into plans and continue to submit them to people like Sasaki who say that my plans are interesting," says Inagaki.

"When I watched 'Takeshi Birth' again, I thought it was a really good program, but it's all down to Inagaki's obsession. In the three years it took for the plan to be approved, he continued to come up with other plans. I want to support creators like Inagaki, and I'd like to continue making programs with him in the future," says Sasaki.

Whether it's film or television, it's extremely difficult to create what you really want to see. If you're not prepared to persevere and keep trying, you'll never achieve it. Choosing a career in video production itself may not be that difficult, but from there on, it's all up to the individual. What these two men said made it clear that even though the mediums are different, film and television, in the end, what you need to achieve what you want is the same.

Interview and text: Fumio Koda

Editorial staff and writer for CINEMORE. My favorite movies are ``The Goonies'' and ``Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.'' My recent favorites are 4K digitally remastered classics by Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu.

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