DEADLINE:Firstly, how are you?
Youve had a very busy year?
GENKI KAWAMURA:It was especially busy in 2022 and 2023.
Genki Kawamura.STORY Inc.
I won the Silver Shell for Best Director Award for the film.
At the same time, I was producingSuzumeandMonster.
In 2023,Suzumepremiered in competition at the Berlin Film Festival and was released worldwide.
DEADLINE:As anyone who checks your filmography can see, youre extremely prolific.
How do you keep up this pace?
Most of my ideas come to me while I am concurrently working on multiple projects.
Can you tell me a little about your career?
Around the same time, I began making original animated films such asMiraiwith Mamoru Hosoda andyour name.with Makoto Shinkai.
In 2017, I founded a company called STORY inc.
It was a small planning and production company consisting of twelve creative producers.
The core members were the same people who worked together onyour name.
Since then, we have madeWeathering With YouandSuzumewith Makoto Shinkai, andThe Makanaiwith Hirokazu Kore-eda.
DEADLINE:International readers perhaps first became aware of you from the success of Your Name.
Did you expect that film to be so beloved?
And whatexactlydo you think helps Japanese films travel well?
I believe that we, the Japanese, have the ability to invent one-of-a-kind stories and characters.
Here is another reason why I chose Story as the name of my company.
DEADLINE:Blindspotting filmmaker Carlos Lopez Estrada is currently adapting Your Name.
Hows that process going?
How involved are you?
And how is the experience of working with Hollywood studios?
I am involved in this project as a producer.
DEADLINE:You produced Kore-edas last film Monster.
How did that come about?
And how would you describe the experience?
KAWAMURA:I was developing an original story with screenwriter Yuji Sakamoto.
We came up with a very good story, so we took it to director Hirokazu Kore-eda.
DEADLINE:Youve traveled to international festivals with Suzume, Monster, and Weathering with You.
How important do you think the European festival circuit is to Asian and specifically, Japanese films?
DEADLINE:What are the current challenges in the Japanese market?
KAWAMURA:I feel that more diverse talent should emerge, and more diverse films should be made.
DEADLINE:Whats next for you?
In addition, I am now working on a new novel.
It is the story of a horse and a woman.
It will be published next year.
