Hanabee - New Australian Anime Company

[WTK]

via ANN AU

Hanabee - New Australian Anime Company

Company fronted by former Siren Visual CEO launched quietly at Supanova Melbourne

Anime News Network spoke with Eric Cherry, the former CEO of Siren Visual, at Supanova Melbourne this past weekend, regarding his new company, "Hannabee." Although Hannabee's Supanova booth featured only non-anime titles Red vs. Blue and The Guild, Cherry made it clear that Hannabee would focus on Japanese anime, "Hanabee is a new Australian licensing company focusing on Japanese anime and other pop-culture related programs like Red Vs Blue and The Guild."

When asked specifically if Hannabee was an "anime company," Cherry replied, "Definitely! After being involved in licensing some really interesting stuff while at Siren including Dennou Coil, Kaiba and The Tatami Galaxy it became obvious that there's a really rewarding challenge in trying to make the anime market down under a more interesting one. I like some of the innovative ways companies like NIS America and Aniplex of America are navigating through the USA market, and Hanabee aims to expand on that down here. "

Hannabee has not yet announced any anime licenses, however Cherry made it clear that titles would be forthcoming.

Regarding Red Vs. Blue and The Guild, both of which were previously distributed by Siren, Cherry explained, "The Red Vs. Blue license was one that I held outright, so when I quit I brought it over to Hanabee. Same goes for The Guild.

[Tratious]

cool always nice to see another company pop up, with his previous choices of licensing Dennou Coil and Higurashi Kai, I wonder where this company will go with him leading.

[WTK]

The Geek of Oz Twitter

#smashcon‬ @hanabeetv panel: Website will launch around October with integrated streaming, B2B and press areas.

LINK

#smashcon‬ @hanabeeTv panel: Boss man Eric Cherry says that he wants Hanabee to be more community involved.

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via Geek of Oz (@ SMASH!)

When taking questions from the audience, Eric stated that he hopes to release a number of limited edition sets although that will depend on demand and availability. He then outright stated that they will NOT be releasing any hentai titles.

The crew then went on to state that they have a number of other releases all but confirmed but were hesitant to announce contracts are signed

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Hanabee Interview At SMASH! 2012 With Eric Cherry

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I will just stick this here...

via Hanabee Facebook page

our next series of title announcements will be at Supanova Brisbane and Adelaide! So stay tuned.

Supanova Brisbane
November 9-11

Supanova Adelaide
November 16-18




And this was mentioned last week: LINK

We know we've been a bit quiet, but for good reason. We'd like to share that http://hanabee.com.au will launch 21st NOV. save the date!

[WTK]

Official Website is now live.

http://103.9.69.43/

[WTK]

Originally Posted by WTK

Official Website is now live.

http://103.9.69.43/

It should be fully working now. Hanabee posted a note on the matter as well: https://twitter.com/HanabeeOfficial/...917376/photo/1

[WTK]

Originally Posted by WTK

It should be fully working now. Hanabee posted a note on the matter as well: https://twitter.com/HanabeeOfficial/...917376/photo/1

It now says on my end:

Bandwidth Limit Exceeded
The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to the site owner reaching his/her bandwidth limit. Please try again later.

EDIT: it's back up now.

[WTK]

http://www.capsulecomputers.com.au/2...o-eric-cherry/

Interview with Hanabee CEO Eric Cherry

The Australian Anime Industry is currently going through a period of great growth. Last year a new company joined the fray down under in the form of Hanabee. Since beginning operations they have made quite an impact on the community and industry. I recently got a chance to conduct an interview with CEO of Hanabee, Eric Cherry in order to get his thoughts on the state of the industry and its future.

Q. Hanabee is a relative newcomer to the Australian anime industry, having only just begun operation last year. What do you believe sets Hanabee apart from the rest of the industry down under?

A. At present, we exist as a company purely to service the anime and gaming community. All our activities are designed with the same audience in mind, and I believe we’re the only company with this approach.

Q. How would you describe Hanabee’s position in the current landscape of the Australian anime industry?

A. Hanabee is a pretty dynamic company. We’re continuing to try out ideas that we hope resonate more and more with the community. If we keep having success in this area it should go a long way towards putting us in the position to exist.

Q. In the past few years there has been a notable increase in the popularity of more niche titles such as those from the noitaminA brand. Hanabee has even recently announced the acquisition of Kids on the Slope, another series that ran on noitaminA. What do you believe makes these kinds of titles so popular?

A. I think noitaminA’s overall success is attributed to the high level of talent they were able to attract to their projects. Kids on the Slope has the Director/Musical Composition A-Team from Cowboy Bebop behind it so I think it has a real chance of resonating with a wider anime audience.

Q. A lot of the titles in Hanabee’s library could be classified as niche. Can we expect to see more mainstream series licensed by Hanabee in the future?

A. Yes.

Q. Simulcast streaming has become a mainstay in the industry at this day and age with both Madman Entertainment and Siren Visual having tried their hand at it. Is this something that Hanabee would be interested in trying out?

A. Australia’s a funny market for simulcasting because it’s not big enough to generate substantial revenue from advertising or subscription sources, but I think it will eventually. We will jump in at one point, but we will need to be smart about it.

Q. There are several anime distributors in Australia, but very few manga distributors. Has Hanabee considered releasing manga in Australia?

A. We have, but we’re not ready to make any announcements one way or the other right now.

Q. Since its inception Hanabee has proven itself to be a company strongly involved with the anime community. Why do you believe it is important to stay so closely in touch with your audience?

A. Thanks. I can’t imagine a situation where it wasn’t important for a company to stay closely in touch with its audience, so it’s kind of a hard one to answer. I suppose if Hanabee was to grow substantially, a close relationship with the community may become harder, but it will always be important.

Q. Social Media is undoubtedly an incredibly useful tool for connecting with your audience. What can anime fans expect from Hanabee on Facebook and Twitter?

A. The element of surprise is one of the things that keeps it fresh, so I wouldn’t be willing to answer this question directly. That said, we’ll continue to invest resources into this area and come up with innovative ways to use it.

Q. What advice do you have for someone looking to get working in the anime industry?

A. Send us your CV and if an opportunity that suites your skill set comes up we’ll contact you.

Q. How do you view the current state of the Australian anime industry and where do you see it heading in the future?

A. It’s expanded a lot in a short amount of time so I expect it will eventually have to contract a bit, then probably ebb and flow like the USA market does.

Q. Is there anything you would like to say to all the fans of Hanabee reading this?

A. Reach out. Message us, make suggestions, come see us at conventions, share with us the ideas you have to build your own community and we’ll do everything we can to support you.

Q. Thank you for your time.

A. Indeed, thanks for the opportunity!