Production I.G and Wit Studio to Host Panels at MAL Expo Lite 2022

As part of MyAnimeList's "MAL x Japan" initiative to connect anime fans and creators, the MAL Anime Academy at MAL Expo Lite 2022—MyAnimeList's first online exposition—will feature panels from studios Production I.G and Wit Studio, with industry experts seeking to shed light on the processes behind making an anime.

Mikio Gunji (Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu: Die Neue These - Kaikou executive producer) will host the Production I.G panel featuring one of the company's co-founders, Takayuki Gotou (Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu: Die Neue These chief animation director). The two will discuss various stages of anime production and will answer questions submitted by fans, three of whom will win copies of Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Die Neue These Official Design Works artbooks signed by Gunji and Gotou.

George Wada (Ousama Ranking, Vinland Saga executive producer), president of Wit Studio and executive vice president of Production I.G, will look back on the Wit Studio's first ten years, introduce some of its latest titles, and also answer fan-submitted questions. Fans whose questions are read will receive copies of the 2022 Wit Studio calendar signed by Wada, co-founder Tetsuya Nakatake, and animator Kyouji Asano (Shingeki no Kyojin character designer, chief animation director). Both panels will feature English translation via a live interpreter.

More information about the panels can be found here, including a link to submit questions for the participants. The MAL Expo Lite 2022 livestream will take place on February 25 from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. Pacific Time (PT) on the official MyAnimeList YouTube channel. The Production I.G and Wit Studio panels at MAL Anime Academy begin at 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., respectively.

Production I.G was established as I.G Tatsunoko, Ltd. in December 1987 by Akai Koudan Zillion (Zillion) producer Mitsuhisa Ishikawa and character designer/animation director Takayuki Gotou, with assistance from Kyoto Animation co-founders Hideaki and Youko Hatta, among others. Ishikawa was impressed with the group producing Akai Koudan Zillian at Tatsunoko Production and founded the new studio under the I.G (Ishikawa and Gotou) name to keep the team together.

I.G Tatsunoko cut ties with Tatsunoko Production (11.2% of which is now owned by Production I.G) in 1993 and became Production I.G. It produced Mamoru Oshii's Koukaku Kidoutai (Ghost in the Shell) shortly thereafter, and the success of the 1995 film domestically and overseas led to the studio's rapid expansion.

Production I.G became the holding company IG Port, Inc. (IG Port) in December 2007, one month prior to a merger with manga publisher Mag Garden. Anime production was transferred to a new subsidiary bearing IG Port's former "Production I.G" name.

George Wada and then-Production I.G producer Tetsuya Nakatake founded Wit Studio in June 2012 as a subsidiary under IG Port, with roughly one third of the capital invested in the new studio coming from their own funds. The company initially sought to develop marketable ideas and expand orders for productions, as well as to partner with a wide range of companies and creators.

Wit Studio received its first prime contract for a television anime—an adaptation of Hajime Isayama's Shingeki no Kyojin (Attack on Titan) shounen manga series—in 2013. The studio went on to produce 59 TV episodes, six OVA episodes, and four recap films for the series, winning numerous awards for its work.

Source: MAL x Japan