TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--100 year-old Japanese production entity and management firm, Yoshimoto Kogyo, has partnered with YouTube sensation NextTime Productions, the production entity behind EpicMealTime (www.youtube.com/epicmealtime), to produce EpicMealTime Japan digital episodes in the Japanese market for domestic and global distribution. Additionally, Yoshimoto Kogyo has entered into a development agreement with NextTime Productions to create original concepts and formats for the domestic Japanese and international markets.
Yoshimoto Kogyo U.S. CEO Aki Yorihiro states, “We are thrilled to be developing content with Harley and Darren and the crew from NextTime Productions. Clearly they have their finger on the pulse of next generation creative, and we feel this collaboration will generate both unique and textured Japan-centric EpicMealTime digital episodes and new shows and formats for their and our audiences to enjoy.”
Yoshimoto Kogyo has been quite active in the television co-production arena over the past two years. They have successfully put deals in place with and are producing shows with Craig Piligian’s Pilgrim Studios, Howard Schultz’s Lighthearted Entertainment and IAC’s Notional. Additionally, Yoshimoto Kogyo serves as a producer on the imported version of Broadway Video Entertainment’s iconic Saturday Night Live.
“It is an honor to have the opportunity to work with Yoshimoto. They are obviously masters at what they do, and we are looking forward to collaborating on international comedy and culinary delicacies,” states NextTime Productions principal and EpicMealTime front man Harley Morenstein.
Yoshimoto Kogyo is no stranger to the international online video arena as it is a shareholder in the cross-platform content creator, Nerdist Industries. Nerdist Industries, which recently received one of the YouTube financed premium channels named the Nerdist Channel (www.youtube.com/nerdist), is producing at least one of its YouTube channel shows in Japan called Weird S#!t From Japan. Yoshimoto Kogyo will produce Weird S#!t From Japan with Nerdist Productions. Additionally, Yoshimoto Kogyo will help to promote in Japan the Nerdist Industries, Lucasfilm, Machinima and Octagon-produced pre-San Diego Comic Con International lightsaber relay COURSE OF THE FORCE (www.courseoftheforce.com).
Todd Christopher from The Gersh Agency represented NextTime Productions in this transaction. Peter Levin, executive advisor to Yoshimoto Kogyo and CEO of Nerdist Industries, represented Yoshimoto Kogyo.
About Yoshimoto Entertainment U.S.A./Yoshimoto Kogyo:
Yoshimoto Kogyo, a 100-year-old entertainment empire headquartered in Tokyo and Osaka, is the largest independent television production and talent management company in Japan. Taken private in 2009 in a transaction led by former Sony Chairman Nobuyuki Idei, its shareholders include major Japanese television broadcasters (Fuji TV, Nippon Television, TV Asahi, Tokyo Broadcasting System, TV Tokyo, Asahi Broadcasting), advertisement agencies (Dentsu, Hakuhodo), major mobile and Internet providers (Yahoo! Japan, KDDI, Softbank), motion picture studios (Toho, Kadokawa, Shochiku) and financial institutions (Sumitomo Mitsui, Mizuho). Yoshimoto Entertainment U.S.A. is a wholly-owned US subsidiary of Yoshimoto Kogyo.
About NextTime Productions:
NextTime Productions Ltd. was founded in February of 2011. The production company is headquartered in Montreal, Quebec and managed by brothers Harley and Darren Morenstein. NextTime Productions Ltd. is the creator and owner of the globally successful YouTube series, EpicMealTime. EpicMealTime is the fastest YouTube channel to gain over one million subscribers, garnering this amount in less than 10 months, and then besting that performance for their second million. NextTime Productions Ltd. has aligned themselves with agent Todd Christopher of Gersh Agency and Lee Kernis of Brillstein Entertainment Partners as they continue to produce original content in all forms of media, with a specialization in digital format.
(http://www.youtube.com/epicmealtime)