Jessica Hung Han: Last News

Naman Ramachandran Netflix and the U.K.’s National Youth Theatre have launch an awareness program after a survey revealed alarming concerns about nepotism in the creative industries. A National Youth Theatre survey of 3,000 young people across the U.K. found that the “nepo-baby” effect extended beyond on screen talent to behind the scenes roles too. Some 79% of young people believed they need connections rather than talent and determination to make it and a further two-thirds (68%) thought they needed to live in a big city to have a career in TV or film. To alleviate these concerns, IGNITE Your Creativity, a free program from Netflix and the National Youth Theatre, aims to help young people build networks and raise awareness about the wide range of behind the scenes careers in film, TV and theatre. The program will support 500 young people aged 14-25 years in South Wales, West Yorkshire and the Northeast of the country.

Naman Ramachandran Executive producer and composer Joe Hisaishi and the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) are readying a stage adaptation of Hayao Miyazaki’s beloved 1988 Studio Ghibli film “My Neighbor Totoro.” It will open at London’s the Barbican this fall in collaboration with Improbable and Nippon TV.Hisaishi was the original composer of the film. Written by playwright Tom Morton-Smith (“Oppenheimer”) and directed by Phelim McDermott with production design by Tom Pye, costumes by Kimie Nakano, lighting by Jessica Hung Han Yun, and movement by You-Ri Yamanaka, the production will feature puppetry created by Basil Twist and music from Hisaishi’s score in a new orchestration by Will Stuart, performed live with sound design by Tony Gayle. Artwork for the adaptation includes a hand drawn title by Toshio Suzuki, producer for Studio Ghibli, who was involved in the planning and production of the original animated film.

Famed Japanese composer Joe Hisaishi has partnered with the U.K.’s Royal Shakespeare Company to create a stage version of Japanese animation legend Hayao Miyazaki’s 1988 hand-drawn classic My Neighbour Totoro, a beloved film that follows the adventures of two young sisters who move from Tokyo city to the countryside.