IMAGINARY WORLDWIDE DEAL
Netflix has picked up worldwide rights to “The Imaginary,” a currently-on-release Japanese animation film from producer Studio Ponoc.
“Studio Ponoc is thrilled to bring our storytelling and innovative hand-drawn, hand-painted animated films to all audiences, and in particular to children and their families to enjoy together, around the world on Netflix,” said Nishimura Yoshiaki, Ponoc founder and former Studio Ghibli producer.
The film is directed by Momose Yoshiyuki, who has credits on Ponoc’s 2017 title “Mary and the Witch’s Flower” and others on Ghibli’s “Spirited Away,” “Princess Mononoke” and “Porco Rosso.”
Adapted from a novel by A.F. Harold, with a screenplay by Nishimura, the film “portrays the depths of humanity and creativity through the eyes of young Amanda and her imaginary companion, Rudger. Their fantastical adventures, launched from her attic, lead them to discover a magical world of creatures and places never before seen until a sinister force threatens to destroy their imaginary world and the friendship within it.”
MISS UNIVERSE FINDS SUITOR
JKN Global Group PCL, the Thai media company that runs the Miss Universe Organization, said this week that it has agreed to sell half of its stake in the pageant company.
In a deal that is expected to close by September, JKN will sell 50% of the company to Mexico’s Legacy Holding Group for $16 million. The stake sale is expected to help alleviate JKN’s debt problem.
The company, which is headed by Thai media mogul and transgender icon Anne Jakkaphong Jakrajutatip, bought said the transaction is expected to be completed by September.
The deal will be a step forward in JKN’s financial rehabilitation. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in November 2023, roughly a year after it agreed to buy the company from Endeavor’s IMG for $20 million. JKN, which also operates a TV channel in Thailand, had over-extended itself with content purchases and the Miss Universe acquisition, and was unable to repay $12.4 million of debts that were due in September.
