Interview with Frogman, Director, Producer and Writer of EAGLE TALON THE MOVIE: THE CHANCELLOR ONLY LIVES TWICE

Claus Mueller:
Can you just briefly comment about your background?

Frogman:
I have been involved in television productions and drama for fifteen years. About four years ago I started with flash animation

CM:     What kind of films have you done before EAGLE TALON?

F:        It is actually my first film but I have produced many TV series

CM:     What prompted you to use flash animation?

F:        When I moved to the countryside in Japan I wanted to get engaged in a one man production where I could do everything by myself. Flash animation was the only kind of tool allowing that. That animation also has the advantage that you can broadcast it, that you can use the internet, on mobile [phones] and that you market it in different media

CM:     Is that style of animation very popular in Japan?

F:        It is still rather new to Japanese markets

CM:     But you have shown this film already in some Japanese theaters?

F:         Yes it was shown, but still the style has not yet been accepted. In the United States it is more popular. People use it there for web design and all kind of other ways.

CM:     What was the budget for the film?

F:         Including everything that is production promotion, marketing, and so on, it amounts to about $600.000.

CM:     How was the film funded?

F:        Basically by corporate sponsors and production partners

CM:     What accounts for your critique of the media culture?

F:        The film is certainly a criticism of mass culture, but not only the mass culture, you need to add the critique of the politics of Japan. There is actually a short content TV series for news broadcasting channels every Friday [handled by Frogman] that tries to penetrate what is talked about in the preceding week. That [series] sketches current politics and opinions as expressions of mass culture.

CM:    Can you provide a comment about the reaction of the audience to EAGLE TALON and the kind of audience the film attracted?

F:         The film was targeted for a general audience. Usually when speaking about Japanese animation or anime, people usually think of it as ‘otako', like animation maniacs, but in this film I wanted to reach a general audience, thus having a cross over film. It has worked out and we have scored already fifty thousand at the box office, thus the film reaches more than young people, more than the ‘animation crowd' and attracts every generation.

CM:     What do you think of the reaction of the New York audience?

F:         A lot of people were laughing and I am actually surprised that the punch lines the Japanese people laugh about are actually the same or very similar to what the American audience laughed about. I was afraid that nobody would laugh.

CM:     Have you found a distributor for the film?

F:         Not yet, but we are definitely trying to get EAGLE TALON into distribution here.

CM:     What is your next project?

F:         The sequel to EAGLE TALON I am working on is actually in production right now and will be finished this summer.

CM:    Any title?

F:         Still not definite but probably it will be called EAGLE TALON 2 THE MOVIE with a new subtitle.

CM:     Thank you for talking with us.                

Claus Mueller
New York Correspondent
filmexchange@gmail.com