Losing ‘The White Lotus’ Season 3 Over Tax Incentive & Dodging Police To Shoot In Shibuya: Japanese Producers Discuss Industry Struggles — Tokyo Film Festival

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As the Tokyo Film Festival returns with a focus on international expansion, this year’s MPA seminar hosted as part of the festival industry program was centered around how to make the country a more attractive production environment for international producers. “The world is in love with Japan,” Toho Tombo producer Georgina Pope told the seminar in her opening keynote speech. “There is a massive global interest in everything Japanese: art, fashion, youth culture, food.

And IP such as Anime, Manga, and film.” To harness this interest, however, Japan must address a series of key lapses in official film infrastructure, Pope told the audience.

One of the main issues, Pope said, is the country’s lack of an official shooting permit system. “Most directors want to shoot in Shibuya and Shinjuku.

Yet, the days I put on my work boots to shoot in those areas, I’m made to feel like a criminal,” Pope said. “There isn’t a proper location permit system in place.