Film funds could offer Japan’s movie industry ways to attract capital and rethink payments to creators, speakers at TIFFCOM said as they examined alternatives to the country’s production committee model. The discussion at the Tokyo International Film Festival’s content market focused on whether new financing structures could work within the Japanese market.
Production committees bring together companies that jointly finance a film and divide its rights, spreading the financial risk. That arrangement can also restrict budgets to the money participating businesses can raise, complicate investment from abroad and delay decisions that require agreement from all rights holders.
The panel included Kii Muneyuki, CEO and producer of K2 Pictures; Ibe Tomonobu, CEO of Tokyo startup Questry; Nakagawa Keita, managing director at MUFG Bank; and Motoyanagi Yusuke, a partner at Nishimura & Asahi. K2 Pictures works with directors including Kore-eda Hirokazu, Miike Takashi and Nishikawa Miwa, while Questry uses digital securities to finance anime and other Japanese content.
Kii outlined K2P Film Fund I, which closed in February at roughly JPY5 billion ($32 million). It plans to support about 50 films over seven years. Investors commit capital before individual films are selected, an arrangement known as a blind pool, and a greenlight committee handles project approvals. Backers include MUFG, the Development Bank of Japan and other financial institutions and companies. Kii said five films had reached theaters in 2026.
For Kii, a key issue is how funds channel revenue back to creators, including streaming income and receipts from other release windows following theatrical exhibition. He also cautioned that overseas box office is difficult to depend on and said Japanese companies need to develop businesses beyond distribution.
Speakers examined approaches used in the United States and South Korea. American producers use presales alongside completion guarantees to help obtain bank loans. Those guarantees cover a film’s delivery within its budget and schedule, rather than its commercial results. South Korea’s approach combines public and private support, including government-backed guarantees that help projects access bank financing.
Nakagawa described a feasibility study commissioned by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, with MUFG selected on March 31 to conduct it. Scheduled to run through February 2027, the study will draw on real-world data to develop valuation and completion-guarantee models. It will also test procedures spanning applications, reviews and contract preparation. The work does not assure that financing or completion guarantees will ultimately be offered.
The panel concluded by identifying regulation, capital, creators and cross-border business as priorities. Speakers called for clarity on which regulations should be expanded and when, explored combining debt with subsidies and completion guarantees, and highlighted creator returns in fund design. Language and tax barriers also featured, including permanent establishment rules that can expose international investors to Japanese tax liability.
