Setting a JAV Company in Japan. Possible?

[EroMura777]

I have been long time wondering how difficult would be to start a JAV company in Japan, which permissions are required, which is the budget for starting/making a movie, which are the steps to do so, and other things I haven't even imagined that were necessary... Do any of you imagine releasing a movie with a label such as "Akiba-Online"?

Pour your knowledge/thoughts/desires in this thread.

 

[Supmop]

I have been long time wondering how difficult would be to start a JAV company in Japan, which permissions are required, which is the budget for starting/making a movie, which are the steps to do so, and other things I haven't even imagined that were necessary... Do any of you imagine releasing a movie with a label such as "Akiba-Online"?

Pour your knowledge/thoughts/desires in this thread.

I think would be much more difficult for foreigner to open AV company in Japan ?

and beside money, we need connection to some agencies to hire some talents, people who have skill to produce, distribute and promote the products

 

[leebar]

Aside from wanting my personal favorite fantasies produced first
...it might be good to talk to people in the industry who are frustrated producing the same formulaic products. People wanting to break out and do something independent are more willing to sacrifice (at first) to see their vision realized. That would make it more possible to get started on a shoestring budget. "Different" would also give your production company a ready identity.

But there are financial reasons why formulas become formulas. Story is half the market appeal--actress is the other. I'm still not interested in my favorite genre if the girl is not appealing to me. So you'd be a fool not to re-do a successful story several times using actresses with different visual appeals.

I'd say start by reading any book on or by Roger Corman and how he started a film company from nothing, then transfer his successful ideas to what you learn about JAV. Corman knew his movies would be shown at drive-in theaters, so he started with a list of titles--no stories, just the titles--that would fit on the marquee and have instant appeal to drive-in patrons. IIRC, the story is that when Ron Howard first wanted to direct, Corman handed him only a title "Grand Theft Auto" and said, "Make this movie--and you have to star in it for no pay. If it's profitable, then I'll let you direct another movie."

For sure, that first movie has to generate profit immediately. I imagine title & cover is today's equivalent of Corman's drive-in theater marquee. Absolute minimum production costs, and being able to demonstrate that to potential investors is a must. In America, we call it sweat equity. (I think the definition of sweat equity in porn is using your own camera & cock, and your getting your girlfriend to star in it.) Determine how much you provide on your own at no cost other than time.

Also, that first movie has to attract broad interest from people who purchase their films--but still standing out from the familiar formulas. Maybe start your research with which movies (genre) sell the most, then imagine a way to put a new twist on that. I'd look to make that twist something that appeals to the audience of the second or third best selling genres.

 

[Inertia]

It's pretty easy to start shooting AV here. The bar to entry is super low.

As a foreigner, you'd have to have a work visa (possibly an investor visa though I don't know too much about them offhand) or a spouse visa or PR.

You can do this all on your own of course or you can hire staff. I assume you want to shoot movies similar to what you see pushed out by big-name studios so you're looking at 2 hour movies. If you want big names and want the movies to visually look good (good lighting, camerawork, etc.) along with the costs of putting on mosaic, you're looking at $7000-10,000USD per movie in production costs.

The production costs can go way lower if you do more by yourself and hire amateurs.

If you're a fresh studio and have no connections, good luck on getting big names to star for you since nobody can vouch for you. I would recommend working for another studio for awhile to gain experience and trust before branching and attempting to make your dream a reality.

Also, if you call your studio 'Akiba-Online', expect all the kind board members here to 'share' your movie for free.

Also 2, the industry here has a very incestuous relationship and the nail that sticks out does get pounded in...or ignored. If you do everything totally on your own like filming solo, putting mosaic on by yourself, not getting the movies certified, selling only on your site, then even if you do make a good product, agencies may not want to work with you.

 

[Zen10101]

I'd suggest starting small, I think a site like clips4sale is a good place to test the waters and mold your style. The sex itself is a dime in a dozen, it's always the acting and the "script" that stands out. Some of the top selling producers don't even film actual sex, they shoot it gonzo style and are clever with the dirty talking which makes it hugely erotic. Once you build a good rapport with your fans you can consider breaking out and forming your own site. This is a good place to gather thoughts, preferences, fan requests, and probably even advertise.

If however you are extremely wealthy and can build sets plus hire top actresses from the get go, let me know where to send my CV. Wouldn't the yakuza be a bit of a problem though? And I'm curious what type of movies are you gonna make?

 

[Inertia]

Zen> Yakuza don't have much involvement in AV any more. There's still a few companies that have some suspicious connections, but it's not as common as you think. Also is the CV thing real because there are many companies here who would love foreign actors though many people always type about wanting to screw AV stars, but chickening out when it's done in a studio with hot lighting and cameras and other people staring right at you. You also have to be in Japan so if you're not, then forget about it.

Your Clips4Sale idea is good. A Japanese equivalent would be putting up your amateur clips on a site like XCream. If you want to shoot professional, but don't want to go all in with your own studio, you can possibly get a deal with http://mousouzoku-av.com/ which is not a studio itself, but a publishing company that distributes movies for smaller studios sometimes.

 

[princeali692]

Interesting and informative insight Inertia! I do imagine it would be a lot of pressure to actually fuck an AV star while staying hard with strangers staring at you. I do believe though it would probably be much easier to be one of those guys that just ejaculates in a bukkake movie. I was reading a gokkun/bukkake directors blog, his name is Kirin and he's made a lot of those cum swallowing movies and such. I saw he had an application in Japanese for guys who would like to sign up and be one of those "jizzers" for lack of a better term. If one were to get a decent job in Japan and live near where they often produce such movies (do you know where JAV is produced the most?) would becoming one of those guys be difficult for a foreigner?

 

[Inertia]

I don't think it would be tough for a foreigner to become a random bukkake man provided you can speak Japanese very well and live where most AV is shot in Tokyo.

The pay is zero or close to it so don't expect to make bank. It's possible to rise from the bukkake ranks into acting if you have the urge and get along well with the staff and women.

 

[needs more loli]

I don't think it would be tough for a foreigner to become a random bukkake man provided you can speak Japanese very well and live where most AV is shot in Tokyo.

The pay is zero or close to it so don't expect to make bank. It's possible to rise from the bukkake ranks into acting if you have the urge and get along well with the staff and women.

But what if you can unleash some freakishly huge loads?
I'd imagine studios would love to have you plaster some of their top idols. Like the guy at the end of those Knights Visual movies.

 

[jppilot]

JAV=a lot of money , a lot of money=Yakuza

Don't be so naive, japanese do not like foreigners.

 

[Inertia]

japss> 1987 wants its stereotype back. AV certainly is expensive, but Yakuza involvement is not as much as it used to be. Company here don't care about a person's race so long as they can communicate at a near native level.

Loli> if freakishly big seriously means freakishly big, then you're than welcome to contact studios directly and explain your talent along some proof. Even if its commendable, you won't get far if you're not in Japan. Sorry to rain down on your parade, but unless you're the Double Dick Dude from Reddit, no studio would hire an actor from abroad without meeting them in person first.

 

[EroMura777]

It's pretty easy to start shooting AV here. The bar to entry is super low.

As a foreigner, you'd have to have a work visa (possibly an investor visa though I don't know too much about them offhand) or a spouse visa or PR.

You can do this all on your own of course or you can hire staff. I assume you want to shoot movies similar to what you see pushed out by big-name studios so you're looking at 2 hour movies. If you want big names and want the movies to visually look good (good lighting, camerawork, etc.) along with the costs of putting on mosaic, you're looking at $7000-10,000USD per movie in production costs.

The production costs can go way lower if you do more by yourself and hire amateurs.

If you're a fresh studio and have no connections, good luck on getting big names to star for you since nobody can vouch for you. I would recommend working for another studio for awhile to gain experience and trust before branching and attempting to make your dream a reality.

Is it possible to detail that $7000-10,000USD budget?

What do you think about the idea of partnering with a Japanese citizen, in order to make things easier?

Do you think it would be a crazy idea to start gathering funds through a crowdfunding campaign (for example in a place like Offbeatr)? Do you know if established JAV companies have thought about doing so?

If however you are extremely wealthy and can build sets plus hire top actresses from the get go, let me know where to send my CV. Wouldn't the yakuza be a bit of a problem though? And I'm curious what type of movies are you gonna make?

For now it's just a crazy thought. But given the chance and with enough resources, why not?

Your Clips4Sale idea is good. A Japanese equivalent would be putting up your amateur clips on a site like XCream. If you want to shoot professional, but don't want to go all in with your own studio, you can possibly get a deal with http://mousouzoku-av.com/ which is not a studio itself, but a publishing company that distributes movies for smaller studios sometimes.

How do you put your movies in a place such as DMM? Does it work just like DLsite (for artists/creators), where you send them the content, and they keep a percentage of every sale?

 

[jppilot]

japss> 1987 wants its stereotype back. AV certainly is expensive, but Yakuza involvement is not as much as it used to be. Company here don't care about a person's race so long as they can communicate at a near native level.

Japan=Ethnic groups:98.5% Japanese. This number says everything about "communicate" "they don't care about race"

Yakuza created this industry, and why they are not involved today?

 

[Inertia]

Your actress (well, her agency) gets the bulk of that. Are you imagining shooting a title with a really big name like Hitomi or Kirara Asuka? Figure at least $4,000 for the appearance fee alone and if you're a new studio with no connections, good look on getting someone as well known as that to appear no matter what you offer.

Have your own studio to shoot in? No? OK, add another $1,000 or more if you want to shoot in the Hanazono Room ("The Pool"). Oh, and if you want to use "The Pool", that also costs extra

Then you need to pay your director and his staff (cameraman, sound guy, lighting guy, assistant director, makeup artist, etc.).

We're not done yet. You got a 2 hour title on your hands and want to sell it in Japan so you need mosaic. Figure anywhere from $300 to $1000 for that depending on your standards and how much genitalia you showed.

Then you gotta get that movie edited and the cover package designed.

It all adds up and it isn't cheap if you want it to sell.

So yes, figure $7,000 to 10K. You can bring it way down if you cut corners and shoot a lot. Many AV companies own their own studios and have the aforementioned staff already on payroll so they just get a salary.

DMM and sites like it (DUGA, JADE, etc.) work on a revshare. I can't go public with percentages but you definitely will make more per title with a site like Clips4Sale.
Most AV companies will put new releases on hard drives and send them over to places like DMM.

I hope that answers your questions.

 

[ding73ding]

Hmmm... I wonder how important is Yakuza on such kind of business nowadays... Is it possible to do anything without getting their approval/consent?

Also I'd contradict leebar by saying you'd have no hope to attract broad interest. If it's mainstream concept starring big stars, what hope do you have to compete against the big studios? Rather, if you have your own vision, that eve if it only target a niche audience (expect to lose a lot of money) but shows your skills as a director/producer and your "soul" as an artist. That's your ticket to be taken (more) seriously.

So forget about Inertia's scenario of making a 2-hour film from scratch, start by doing a short film, likely a single scene, or make a 2-scene (target 60 mins) by two parts, finish a scene first (including post-production), show it around to get some feedback and support, then make the other scene, re-cut both scenes to finish the whole film.

If you look at the careers of most successful filmmakers, almost all of them started from low budget short films (5-30 mins) or music video (3-10 mins) or commercials (30-60 seconds).

Expect to receive no income at all for your first few short films, use them only to practice your film-making skills and generate attention/confidence/support.

Also if you don't know Japanese and don't already have a setup (place to live, office address (maybe just a PO Box to start with), phone number etc) in Japan, then just going there to start from scratch is a formula for disaster. You should start by making some short films in your native country, then either try to release it in Japan perhaps partner with someone on Akiba-Online who's living in Japan, (looks at @Inertia ) to release it in Japan social media (2chan?) to generate some buzz. Or if you feel confident, take your films in person to Japan and start from there. If you bring nothing but money and an idea to Japan, without a local partner to help you, I predict you will burn up all your funds without even getting 10 minutes of footage in the can.

 

[Inertia]

japss: that's some random clip of uyoku. Seriously you can't assume a group consisting of many Zainichi Koreans can serve as an analogue for the bulk of the AV industry.

In fact, why am I arguing about racism with a person whose username is 'japss'?

 

[Inertia]

He can always shoot movies in his home country, put mosaic on them, and then sell them to Japanese users. I don't offhand what DMM's bar to entry is, but sites like XCream and Infopot.jp and Gcolle.net seem to have a burgeoning amateur film market.

It's totally possible to hire a crew to shoot for you while you just stay at home. If OP has the money, he can always just contact a studio that shoots what he likes, offer them big financial support for the title, and maybe it will get made that way. I know of examples of this happening right now but I can't say which companies and who's funding it (no, it's not yakuza).

 

[ding73ding]

Oh... looking at @Inertia 's post... I'm even more convinced you can't dive in there willy-nilly. You got to make some short films on your own, with nearly-free sets (i.e. cheap hotel room or furnished apartment or best is your own home) with very cheap actress (your own girlfriend/female friends or older (40+) AV vets with flappy/saggy tits) and equipment (your own SLR, PC and cheap consumer-grade video editing software). With cheap everything, the film may look like crap to the typical consumer, but pros in the industry can easily tell the talent and skills of a director/producer from such demo films, they can in their mind substitute the 40+ grandma with an S-class performer and your crummy apartment with an expensive elegant set (Hanazono Room or a nice onsen). If you can't do something on a shoestring budget why should anyone trust you with a full scale production.

Luckily nowadays you can buy a basic set of home-made film hardware for about 5-10k USD, that's an SLR body, a decent lens (my very unprofessional guess for a good startup set for AV filming is a sensible zoom lens, a wide angle and a short-tele-macro, but if you can only afford one to start: get a zoom), a couple of microphones, a bunch of lights (LED has made them so cheap and compact nowadays) and a bunch of tripods, booms etc. You probably should have a heavy-duty laptop to take to the set also, that's another 3-5k.

As for crowdfunding... yeah right, imagine posting an ad: "please contribute money in my project to hire hot Japanese girls to make sex videos, BTW I have never made any film, not even non-sex films."

 

[Supmop]

japss> 1987 wants its stereotype back. AV certainly is expensive, but Yakuza involvement is not as much as it used to be. Company here don't care about a person's race so long as they can communicate at a near native level.

about yakuza, I agree seem their involvement is not as much as it used to be

but for male performer's race I think they care, for example beside those black, how often we see the japanese let other foreigners fuck their woman on screen ? just a few caucasian males, but for others ?

 

[Zen10101]

but for male performer's race I think they care, for example beside those black, how often we see the japanese let other foreigners fuck their woman on screen ? just a few caucasian males, but for others ?

I don't think that's down to them not letting foreigners in. It's more towards making their consumers more receptive to the fantasy. Like, how is the typical Japanese man able to indulge himself into thinking he's bonking an actress when he sees a white dick attached to himself in POV mode The experience would feel foreign and awkward. And the Japanese actors are usually unattractive or their characters losers. They're avatars for the otakus.