Each week in "Future Hits" we seek out the latest person who will change the world of entertainment and the Internet. Today we talk about a young Frenchman, Cedric Biscay; at just 36 he has set a record for Internet crowdfunding at 6 million dollars for the revival of a cult Japanese video game: Shenmue. It has been 15 years since Shenmue disappeared from consoles, and now Reza Pounewatchy meets the Frenchman who resurrected one of gaming's greatest icons.
Cannes: at the beginning of the month, the red carpet is laid out on the Croisette for Mipcom, an international conference of TV shows. 12,000 participants representing 100 countries, and out of them all this man: Cedric Biscay, a young producer somewhat lost in the corridors of the Palais des Festivals, who now has a meeting with a Japanese producer of a cult Japanese animé. A clue [as to the exact nature of the show] can be found on the table:
"He travels with me all the time"
"He brings you luck? <laughs>"
"<laughs> It's the only figurine I have"
"We have to come up with new Astro Boy figurines"
The figurines are being prepared, but the true purpose of this meeting is the new TV series adaptation of Astro Boy. Biscay will co-produce 26 episodes.
"So we have the screenplays, we have a teaser trailer. Now the next step is to announce the TV channels which will collaborate with us on this venture."
Biscay is not content to merely bring back a single Japanese animation icon to the mainstream. A few months ago, he made a sensation by being part of a record-breaking funding campaign for the creation of a video game. This great achievement, launched on the crowdfunding website Kickstarter, came about with Biscay and Yu Suzuki, a legend among Japanese gaming visionaries.
To better understand, let's go back a few months. 15th June, the LA Convention Center was host to E3, one of the largest gaming expos in the world. Among the most anticipated moments, the Sony press conference. Biscay was not far, waiting in the wings. In the middle of the show, Yu Suzuki walked timidly onstage. In front of a captive audience of 10,000, with the aid of a video the auteur announced the launch of a crowdfunding event.
It's official: the third entry in the Shenmue series is coming. A cult video game, the Shenmue saga was launched 16 years ago on the Dreamcast, a relic of the Sega brand.
The news stunned the crowd. Some were close to tears, others who were following the show on their PCs were similarly hysterical. In 24 hours, $2 million was raised, a record! Thanks in great part to Cedric Biscay, official producer of Shenmue III when he's not posing next to Yoda.
Monaco: a few minutes from the Casino in the quiet streets of Rocher, we have a meeting in the offices of a man who is quite pleased with himself.
"Welcome to Shibuya Productions!"
"Why are you based in Monaco?"
"Monaco has an agreeable living environment and we are the only Animation and Video Game Production company here. It's always a nice feeling to have a "mini monopoly" in a little place such as this."
We're here at Shibuya Productions, a company founded a little over a year ago, where its employees are busy at work on the marketing for Shenmue III. Part of the team is in Japan, and this team is somewhat cautious in front of our cameras.
"Anything new?"
"I'm picking up a new, bigger table tomorrow. It's gonna be a large office."
"Perfect. We can have large meetings there!"
Apart from the acquisition of a new table, we learn that Biscay first met Suzuki 5 years ago, the amount of time it took for him to convince the creator that a crowdfunding campaign could restart the development of the sequel to a much-anticipated game like Shenmue.
"We succeeded in putting in place a system with the possibility of having a mix of traditional investors on one side and crowdfunding on the other. When we launched the crowdfunding campaign in June of this year, we knew that it would do well, but its success exceeded our expectations."
In total, more than $6 million was raised by Shenmue III, a never-before-seen amount. A communications [and marketing] success. Cedric Biscay and his production company were unheard of in this field until now. But the Japanese quest of this entrepreneur had started long before, in 2002.
"When I made my first visit to Japan, I knocked on a lot of doors and there was the President of a company called IG Production, a studio well known for making "Ghost in the Shell", who then really opened the door for me. Then I started working with him, and he gave me a little TV programme [to work on]."
What followed were 12 years of TV shows, or rather lessons learned for this Professor of video games. Cedric Biscay has since lost his fringe, but his address book is filled with the cream of the crop of the Japanese animation industry.
"I have my friend Yoshitaka Amano, who is the creator of some of the characters for Final Fantasy. I've met Reiji Matsumoto who is the creator of Albator. Go Nagai, the creator of GOldorak. Akira Toriyama, the creator of Dragon Ball..."
A large network which certainly will help him bring about the revival of other cult Japanese video games and animés. In the meantime, Shenmue III is set to be released for Christmas 2017.