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Madman Entertainment is an Australian company which specialises in the distribution of Japanese anime and manga in Australia and New Zealand. The company is owned by the ASX listed Funtastic Limited and Madman Entertainment is one of the major entertainment companies in Australia, along with Warner Bros. Australia, Buena Vista Entertainment Australia, 20th Century Fox South Pacific, The Weinstein Company Australian Productions, and Paramount/Universal Tasmania (aka United International Pictures). It employs 130 people and has an annual turnover of around $AU50 million.^[1]

During the past 10 years, Madman has secured the local release rights to a number of very popular titles including One Piece, Dragon Ball Z, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Akira, and almost all of Studio Ghibli's catalogue. In addition to DVD sales, Madman also manages the theatrical release of some of their titles, particularly the Studio Ghibli movies. According to current market research, Madman accounts for 97% of the total anime DVD market in Australia.

Contents 1 History 2 Merchandise 3 References 4 External links

[edit] History

Madman Entertainment was founded in 1996 solely to distribute anime from Manga Entertainment Australia along with Polygram and Siren Entertainment. Later on in 1997, Madman started to distribute anime from ADV Films along with Siren Entertainment. Madman now sub license anime from ADV Films, Funimation, Harmony Gold, Viz Media, Bandai Entertainment and formerly Geneon. Madman has always acted as the distributor for Manga's products until 2003 when Manga Entertainment Australia Ltd merged with Madman. This happened so if Manga lost a license in Australia, Madman would pick it up. If Madman Entertainment lost the license for anime from American companies, Manga UK would sub-license anime to Madman. As of 2008, only some of Manga Entertainment Australia's titles from the 90s have been distributed by Madman. Battle Angel Alita was to be released in Australia by Manga and Madman in 2001, but this was canceled because ADV Films had the rights to the OVA's in North America and tried to market it in Australia with a brand new dub.

Some of their DVD releases have been jointly mastered with Britain's MVM Films or Revelation Films to save costs, and are therefore dual-region (Region 2 and Region 4). A few DVD titles from Madman, such as the Oh My Goddess! OVAs, are all-region or multi-region DVDs in the NTSC format, imported from the US and repackaged for sale in Australia and New Zealand (which normally use PAL colour).

A growing selection of manga titles translated by TOKYOPOP in the United States and Chuang Yi in Singapore are being imported and distributed through Madman Entertainment. In February 2008, Madman announced that they would also be distributing manga titles from Viz Media.^[2]

Madman launched in 1996 solely as an anime distribution company, but has since expanded exponentially. They manage the distribution of live-action titles through their labels Madman Films, Directors Suite, Madman Sports, Madman Laughs, Madman Television, Bollywood Masala and Eastern Eye and also children's entertainment through their Planet Mad and Mad4Kids labels. Madman also has a theatrical distribution arm called Madman Cinema. In addition, Madman distributes original series produced by Australia's Special Broadcasting Service on DVD.^[3]

In 2007, Madman began a licensing agreement to release original Cartoon Network and Adult Swim series on DVD in Australia and New Zealand.^[4] Madman also programmed Adult Swim's anime block in the two countries^[5] until Cartoon Network Australia dropped its entire Adult Swim lineup on 1 January 2008.^[6] Madman Entertainment released the complete series of M.A.S.K. over two DVD collections for the first time in Australia and New Zealand. Collection One was released in November 2006 and contains episodes 1 - 38, Collection Two was released in March 2007 and contains episodes 39 - 65 as well as episodes 1 - 10 of the racing series.[1] ] At the 2008 Supanova Pop Culture Expo, Madman announced plans to explore new distribution methods. The company now offers online streaming of selected anime episodes, beginning with the first episode of School Rumble.^[7] Madman has also begun releasing Blu-ray Disc titles, starting with The Transformers: The Movie in June 2009.^[8]

In April 2008, Madman announced "a collaboration" with British company Warp Films. Warp and Madman plan to make "at least 2 films together over the next 3 years."^[9]

[edit] Merchandise

Madman Entertainment has its own apparel and merchandise that utilises features of popular anime series, such as the Hidden Leaf Sign from Naruto, as well as Madman's own logo.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official website
• Madman Entertainment New Zealand home page