Shinsengumi&Hollywood (What went Wrong/Right)

For the past weeks I was in contact with someone in a company which
expressed interest in a documentary topic concerning Japan. In fact
Last SAmurai was the catalyst for the interest. IRONICALLY, Last
Samurai was also part of the failure of this project (the film's box
office earnings was not "good" enough).

Keep in mind that the company expressed interest first. I involved a
respected authority figure in this attempt and the company has this
person's proposal and contact info.

A WEALTH of images, multimedia (movies, music vids), scans, links etc
basically everything I have or WE have I should say was presented to
them on a silver platter. Everything was tailored to their
convenience. SHQ's site as well as pics/maps gathered by our members
were used to make the case.

The authority submitted a proposal and I did as well but full of eye
catching imagery. Things moved along quickly up the ladder. Numerous
updates and what I would like to call "info feeds" were made to my
contact (on a DAILY basis 0_0), a VERY strong case of the Shinsengumi's
1) marketability
2) universal appeal...movies made for every generation with various
interpretations and forms
3) proof that NOW is the time to bring them to the USA but tailored a
bit to suit the tastes of the American audience
*successful in showing marketability* I used screenshots of
Shinsengumi movies from different "generations" to show that their
story did not just "die" or lose appeal

yes, I said documentary so why am I mentioning the "reformulation" of
the Shinsengumi?

The project shifted DRAMATICALLY to the fictional realm.

Problems which killed the project
1) the lack of an Asian host/narrator who is
a) famous b) speaks English
2) overall fear of putting money on something risky HOWEVER...the idea
is OUT there and there is no stopping someone from the company to
pitch this idea elsewhere

Strange stuff the company didn't pursue but SHOULD HAVE
the fact that Spielberg is working on Memoirs of a Geisha
Memoirs...has NOTHING to do with the Shinsengumi HOWEVER what is
important in the industry are "key" words
Samurai + Geisha
Memoirs can lead back to the topic of samurai and importing the
Shinsengumi at the right time may be successful

An example of "key" words is this...When we discuss things about the
Shinsengumi...the WORD Shinsengumi is TOO hard for these people (these
people DO NOT know the difference between Emperor and Shogun, Japan
and China and overall know very little about the 19th century). So
Shinsengumi had to be abandoned for Shogun's Swat Team or just "Swat
TEam" and finally "team".

Why would a company be filled with ignorant people? The specific
folks are the important people. Details like history would be handled
by knowledgeable people later...the first step is just to sell the idea.

I would have mentioned this project earlier but I refrained from doing
so only because it was not something definate.

In conclusion, it totally took me away from my original
goals/projects. Yes, it was a waste of time but it gave me incredible
insight into the business and why we have so many bad movies and poor
documentaries. The people who control what we hear and see aren't
necessarily interested in doing something new and fresh.

I assure you all that we pushed different aspects of the Shinsengumi.
Everything from the red-light district patrols, swords, martial arts
mayhem (ACTION!!!!), political intrigue, internal strife...everything
which as made the Shinsengumi a source of fascination.

AS of this moment this project has been cast aside for good because
these people have moved onto bigger and better projects.

secretarytocapt3
tired soooo tired.

I would like to add that on a personal level I feel that the
Shinsengumi's story has "value" and would affect any viewer in many
ways...that was my sincere motivation for all of this work (sigh)

That's unfortunate to hear, but the sad truth. The guys who fork
have the money usually know the least. Probably explains why
everything is a remake or a sequel. There are a couple problems
though. I don't think the American public would warm up to the
Shinsengumi like the Japanese do. It's a part of their society, and
what they feel are part of who they are. The American audience, on
the other hand, view samurai only in the romantic/robotic
personality. It's doubtful the mainstream will accept a "down-and-
dirty" fighting unit like the Shinsengumi, portrayed with an eye for
accuracy. At least not pay to see it.

> 1) the lack of an Asian host/narrator who is
> a) famous b) speaks English

Recommend Tamilyn Tomita. Speaks excellent English, is Japanese,
and HOT!!! Kind of famous.

> So Shinsengumi had to be abandoned for Shogun's Swat Team or

just "Swat

> TEam" and finally "team".

Did you try "Wolves of Mibu"? That has a "cool" sound to it. It's
too bad it fell apart. Have you considered something along the
lines of the History Channel? Not as mainstream, but they seemed to
be the type to jump all over something like this.

Hi Sec,

So this is the project you were talking to me about! I commend you
for this more than A+ effort. You are right at least the idea is out
there and someone will definitely pick it up sooner or later. The
fact that you came SO CLOSE, is victory enough itself. Thank you!

~wounds

Give me the names and numbers of these people Sec. I'm personally going to
kick every one of their tails! LOL!

-MissBehavin


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

--- In SHQ@yahoogroups.com, "secretary"
wrote:

> secretarytocapt3
> tired soooo tired.

Thank you for your work.
Kondou, Hijikata, Okita, and Saitou are surely watching you.


Confusion of the Japanese culture by a Hollywood film and the China
culture is really severe.
(But since I cannot do distinction of the Europe culture, I cannot
blame Hollywood.)^^;;;
I think it very difficult that Shinsengumi is understood by many
people in countries other than Japan.
Therefore, I was truly surprised when SHQ was got to know.
I was very glad that people who love Shinsengumi like me were also
in overseas.
I appreciate your efforts.
Thank you.

momoiro-usagi

Actually, one of the more intelligent people wanted to basically
revise the Shinsengumi entirely to adjust to American tastes as I
mentioned even modernize them. The setting would be changed but
political and internal conflict/story would be the same. It would
be an alternate universe but not "fantasy". And the cast would be
PC, multiethnic and have female captains. They received screenshots
of Jin-Roh:The Wolf Brigade and picked up on the idea. So really,
the basic idea of the Shinsengumi, and swords+martial arts was
appealing. The financial resources was an issue and a strong
personality/host to draw an audience was a major obstacle. As I
mentioned ideas are stolen all the time. Many people have been
exposed to the Shinsengumi at the same time and not always in a
formal meeting setting...any one of these people can take the idea
to another company.

The company specializes in documentaries and needed ideas to pitch
to a cable channel. NOt the History channel but similar. In fact
the idea of something to experiment with such as cutting tests with
swords was discussed. They like Action+History under the mask of
education so to speak and this is why they were very open to the
idea in the beginning.

"the Wolves" were part of our list of key words but they warmed up
to swat team faster. Whatever works for them. To these folks "The
wolves of Mibu" would be too long...

> Recommend Tamilyn Tomita. Speaks excellent English, is Japanese,
> and HOT!!! Kind of famous.

Yeah, there are many famous Japanese who can speak English just fine
the problem is the person has no "name recognition" with an American
audience. This goes back to how there aren't many Asians in showbiz
to begin with. The authoriy figure who submitted a formal proposal
would, to us, be a good host but there were certain reasons why the
company did not use this person or contact him back ASAP.

--- In SHQ@yahoogroups.com, "Alan" wrote:
> That's unfortunate to hear, but the sad truth. The guys who fork
> have the money usually know the least. Probably explains why
> everything is a remake or a sequel. There are a couple problems
> though. I don't think the American public would warm up to the
> Shinsengumi like the Japanese do. It's a part of their society,
and
> what they feel are part of who they are. The American audience,
on
> the other hand, view samurai only in the romantic/robotic
> personality. It's doubtful the mainstream will accept a "down-and-
> dirty" fighting unit like the Shinsengumi, portrayed with an eye
for
> accuracy. At least not pay to see it.
>
> > 1) the lack of an Asian host/narrator who is
> > a) famous b) speaks English
>
> Recommend Tamilyn Tomita. Speaks excellent English, is Japanese,
> and HOT!!! Kind of famous.
>
>
> > So Shinsengumi had to be abandoned for Shogun's Swat Team or
> just "Swat
> > TEam" and finally "team".
>
> Did you try "Wolves of Mibu"? That has a "cool" sound to it.
It's
> too bad it fell apart. Have you considered something along the
> lines of the History Channel? Not as mainstream, but they seemed
to
> be the type to jump all over something like this.