‘Tokyo Vice’ Producer, Netflix Executive Urge Changes to Japan’s Production Incentive at MPA Seminar as Government Readies Unified Content Body

“Tokyo Vice” producer Alex Boden and Netflix production policy director Deb Richards urged changes to Japan’s international production incentive at the Motion Picture Association’s annual seminar at the Tokyo International Film Festival, as the government prepares a new body to bring its scattered content-industry support under one roof.

Boden, the London-based producer who spent almost two years in Japan making two seasons of HBO Max’s “Tokyo Vice,” traced the scheme from a 2020 research program, which “Tokyo Vice” supported, to the 2023 J-LOD incentive and today’s IP360, which offers 50% against Japanese spend.

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He said the minimum spend, raised to JPY800 million ($5.1 million), shut out independent films and co-productions, since most Japanese films cost between $1.5 million and $3 million. He also called for an automatic approval system in place of panel-based selection, which he said made Japan one of the few territories with a subjective incentive, at a time when projects can take three to five years to come together.

“So how does a producer know that they can count on the Japan incentive in advance? That’s the question, and we need a solution,” Boden said.