TBS’s The Seven strikes ‘historic’ co-development deal with Disney in Japan

L-R: Katsuaki Setoguchi, Akira Morii and Gaku Narita, exec director of content production at Disney Japan

The Seven, the international production studio run by Japan’s Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS), has forged a co-development deal with Disney in Japan.

Under the multi-year deal, the companies will develop live-action dramas intended for Disney+, with a focus on projects with global resonance. This marks the first time that Disney has struck an ongoing content development partnership with a Japanese production company.

The companies said the intention is for the projects to be “primarily” in Japanese and filmed in the country, with the teams taking a “medium- to long-term perspective” when building a development slate.

For each year of the deal, TBS added that it would “propose multiple compelling projects, including original IPs, adaptations of published works and unique independent development projects.”

The Seven, led by Akira Morii, was launched in early 2022 and has gone on to produce hits including Netflix’s Alice in Borderland. This is the latest of several internationally focused moves from TBS as it looks to grow revenues outside Japan.

In January, TBS made a US$150m investment in American studio Legendary Entertainment, which included a non-exclusive strategic partnership that will see Legendary helping to adapt Japanese IP for the global market.

For its part, Disney’s US cablenet FX landed a major hit with Shogun, a historical epic primarily in Japanese but commissioned out of LA.

Katsuaki Setoguchi, The Seven’s president and CEO, said the deal was a “vital step” in reinforcing the company’s global ambitions for Japanese storytelling.

“I am confident that by unleashing the refined creativity of The Seven through Disney’s extensive network and expertise, we can evolve Japanese stories into the ‘next craze’ that people truly fall in love with,” he said.

Carol Choi, executive VP of original content strategy for Disney in the Asia-Pacific region, added: “What excites us the most is the opportunity to work even more closely with Japan’s vibrant creative community, to develop stories that capture the country’s unique voice and imagination.

“Since the launch of Disney+ in Japan, general entertainment and local originals have become an increasingly important part of our content offering, making this collaboration a natural evolution in accelerating our content investment.”