Village Gamer

Two-time Emmy award recipient Toon Boom Animation Inc. has announced that HeARTBIT Digital Creation, one of Japan’s promising animation studios, has signed a memorandum of understanding formalizing their intention to use the Toon Boom pipeline, namely Toon Boom^® Storyboard Pro™ and Harmony™, in their upcoming production titled Francesca, which is based on a highly popular Manga icon, which has already ramped up a great fan base on Facebook and YouTube.

In addition to Steven Chu, Toon Boom’s Chief Operating Officer, and Hitoshi Kumagai, HeARBIT’s Chief Executive Officer, The Honourable Edward Fast, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway; The Honourable Christian Paradis, Minister for Industry; His Excellency the Ambassador of Canada to Japan, Mackenzie Clugston attended the signing ceremony which took place on April 11, at the Canadian Embassy.

“I feel extremely honoured to use Toon Boom technology. I find it far superior, providing users with unlimited functionality and efficiency while creating projects. I’m sure Toon Boom will bring the Japanese animation industry to a new level unattainable before. I’m hoping that lots of Japanese animators will find as much excitement in using Toon Boom’s first-class tool as I did,” states Mr. Hitoshi Kumagai, chief executive officer of  HeARTBIT Digital Creation.

“We are delighted to welcome HeARTBIT Digital Creation in the Toon Boom family. Their property will be a great opportunity for Toon Boom technology to demonstrate its efficiency at producing Manga according to the unique production style of Japan,” says Joan Vogelesang, president and chief executive officer of Toon Boom.