GKIDS is an American

film distributor A film distributor is responsible for the marketing of a film. The distribution company may be the same with, or different from, the production company. Distribution deals are an important part of financing a film. The distributor may set the ...

based in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

with, according to the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the ...

'', a focus on "sophisticated, indie" animation. GKIDS releases critically acclaimed, mostly hand-drawn, international films—such as the works of the independent Japanese anime studio Studio Ghibli—to North American audiences. GKIDS also distributes

computer animated Computer animation is the process used for digitally generating animations. The more general term computer-generated imagery (CGI) encompasses both static scenes (still images) and dynamic images (moving images), while computer animation refer ...

and stop-motion films in addition to hand-drawn ones, as well as American films by independent filmmakers. The name is said to be an acronym for "Guerrilla Kids International Distribution Syndicate".

History

GKIDS was founded in 2008 by Eric Beckman, who previously co-founded and ran the

New York International Children's Film Festival New York International Children's Film Festival (NYICFF) Established in 1997, NYICFF’s mission is rooted in the belief of film as a path for young people to understand themselves and others. All programs are designed to celebrate the beauty and po ...

with his partner, Emily Shapiro. Their first general release was '' Azur & Asmar'', a French film dubbed in English for British and Irish audiences. The company attained national recognition with the 2010 release of '' The Secret of Kells'', the debut film by Irish animator Tomm Moore, which received a nomination for

Best Animated Feature This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the

82nd Academy Awards The 82nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2009 and took place on March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p. ...

. This surprise nomination was followed by two more Best Animated Feature nominations at the 84th Academy Awards, Spanish-language '' Chico and Rita'' and French-language '' A Cat in Paris''. Both nominations were considered highly surprising by film insiders, beating out such notables as ''

The Adventures of Tintin ''The Adventures of Tintin'' (french: Les Aventures de Tintin ) is a series of 24 bande dessinée#Formats, ''bande dessinée'' albums created by Belgians, Belgian cartoonist Georges Remi, who wrote under the pen name Hergé. The series was one ...

'' and ''

Cars 2 ''Cars 2'' is a 2011 American computer-animated spy comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It is the sequel to '' Cars'' (2006), the second film in the ''Cars'' franchise, and the 12th animated film from ...

''—the first eligible

Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californ ...

film not to be nominated since the category's founding. This marked the first time that an independent distributor had two films in the Best Animated Feature category in the same year, a decision which '' Puss in Boots'' director Chris Miller said indicated the Academy's "respect for diversity." In September 2011, GKIDS announced the acquisition of the North American theatrical distribution rights to the Studio Ghibli library, that were previously held by

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, formerly known as Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, Inc. until 2007, is an American film distribution studio within the Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. It h ...

Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment Buena Vista Home Entertainment, Inc., doing business as Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, is the home entertainment distribution arm of The Walt Disney Company. The division handles the distribution of Disney's films, television series, a ...

, however, retained the home media distribution rights in Asia (including Southeast Asia such as China and Taiwan, and

Pony Canyon , also known by the shorthand form , is a Japanese mass media publishing company founded on October 1, 1966. The company publishes mainly physical home media on compact discs, including music, films and TV shows and video games. It is affi ...

's subsidiary in Japan). GKIDS has since also managed the North American distribution of three new Studio Ghibli films, '' From Up on Poppy Hill'' in 2013'', The Tale of the Princess Kaguya'' in 2014, and '' When Marnie Was There'' in 2015 as well as the first-time North American releases of '' Only Yesterday'' and '' Ocean Waves'' in 2016. On July 17, 2017, it was announced that the North American home media rights to the Ghibli library (with the exception of '' Grave of the Fireflies'' and ''

The Wind Rises is a 2013 Japanese animated historical drama film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki, animated by Studio Ghibli for the Nippon Television Network, Dentsu, Hakuhodo DY Media Partners, Walt Disney Japan, Mitsubishi, Toho and KDDI. It was rel ...

'') had transitioned from Disney to GKIDS (''The Wind Rises'' being reissued on September 22, 2020), with the distributor announcing plans to begin re-issuing the films beginning in October. Beginning with these releases,

Shout! Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...

became GKIDS' new home video distributor, taking over from

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (formerly Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Video, MCA/Universal Home Video, MCA Home Video, MCA Videodisc and MCA Videocassette, Inc.) is the home video distribution division of Am ...

(whose contract with GKIDS expired in late-2018) and

Cinedigm Cinedigm Corp. is an American entertainment company headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Cinedigm's businesses encompass digital cinema, streaming channels, content marketing, and distribution. History Early years Cinedigm Corp was founde ...

(whose contract with GKIDS expired in late-2013). Founder Eric Beckman received the Mifa & ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' Animation Personality of the Year Award at

Annecy Annecy ( , ; frp, Èneci or ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy, south of Geneva, Switzerland. Nickname ...

in June 2017. In 2020, partnering with

TMS Entertainment , formerly known as the , also known as or , is a Japanese animation studio established on October 22, 1946. TMS is one of the oldest and most famous anime studios in Japan, best known for numerous anime franchises such as '' Lupin the Third' ...

, GKIDS will be handling the American and Canadian release of '' Lupin III: The First'', a 3DCG film adaptation of Monkey Punch's (Kazuhiko Kato) '' Lupin the Third'' franchise. In October 2020, GKIDS announced their license to the ''

Neon Genesis Evangelion , also known simply as ''Evangelion'' or ''Eva'', is a Japanese mecha anime television series produced by Gainax and animated by Tatsunoko, directed by Hideaki Anno and broadcast on TV Tokyo from October 1995 to March 1996. ''Evangelion ...

'' TV series, as well as the films, '' Death (True)²'' and '' The End of Evangelion'' for a release in 2021. This marks the first Blu-ray release of the anime in North America. In February 2022, GKIDS and Tubi announced that they had entered a content partnership deal, while the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary fi ...

and

Crunchyroll Crunchyroll is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Sony through a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex. The service primarily distributes films and t ...

(

Funimation Crunchyroll, LLC, previously known as Funimation from 1994 to 2022, is an American entertainment company owned by Japanese conglomerate Sony as a joint venture between Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment Japan's Aniplex that specializes ...

's successor after rebranding, for example ''

Human Lost is a 2019 Japanese 3D animated science fiction film based on Osamu Dazai's 1948 novel ''No Longer Human'' and it is the first ever Polygon Pictures production not to be streamed on Netflix. Plot In the year 2036, breakthroughs in medical technol ...

'', '' Deep Insanity: The Lost Child'' and ''

Josee, the Tiger and the Fish is a 1984 Japanese short story by author Seiko Tanabe. It was first published in the June 1984 issue of ''Monthly Kadokawa''. It was later included alongside various stories in the short story collection ''Josee, the Tiger and the Fish'', wh ...

'', whose contract with GKIDS expired in late-2021) signed its distribution and a partnership deal, after a six-month negotiations. In March 2022, GKIDS announced their license to Makoto Shinkai's earlier works, ''

Voices of a Distant Star is a Japanese science fiction original video animation (OVA) short film created and animated by Makoto Shinkai. It follows the lives of two close childhood friends, a boy and a girl, who get separated once the girl is sent into space to f ...

'', ''

The Place Promised in Our Early Days is a 2004 Japanese anime film written, produced, cinematographed, directed and edited by Makoto Shinkai in his feature film debut. Set over several years in an alternate history where the Soviet Union occupies half of Japan, it follows two c ...

'', '' 5 Centimeters per Second'', and '' Children Who Chase Lost Voices'', and will release them on home video in later 2022.

Style and reception

While films distributed by GKIDS span a wide range of nationalities, languages, and animation styles, the distributor focuses almost exclusively on "handmade, mostly auteur-driven animated movies" created by individual animators working with small teams. Founder Eric Beckman has described the animated market in the U.S. as "dominated by expensive-to-produce, expensive-to-distribute movies". To this end, the company relies heavily on critical reception and accolades to attract audiences, rather than big-budget marketing campaigns. Beckman has said of the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

, "The Oscars are the great equalizer. You don't have to spend millions to reach millions, you look to a smaller group of people who know and like film … But you've got to start with something super." As a result of this focus on artful, stylistically distinct animation, GKIDS has been hailed by critics and animation insiders as a welcome complement to the standard Hollywood fare, being referred to variously as "the saints of independent animation," "one of the most notable independent distribution companies in the US," and "the country's best distributor ortraditional hand-drawn animation." Industry magazine '' Film Journal International'' said of the company's track record, "The reason GKIDS films keep getting nominated despite the company's low (relative to Disney, DreamWorks, et al.) profile is that, simply put, their films tend to be ''really'' good." Ten feature films released by GKIDS have a perfect, 100% "Fresh" rating on

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

: ''

Sita Sings the Blues ''Sita Sings the Blues'' is a 2008 American animated musical romantic comedy-drama film written, directed, produced and animated by American artist Nina Paley. It intersperses events from the '' Ramayana'', light-hearted but knowledgeable disc ...

'', '' Only Yesterday'', '' Approved for Adoption'', '' The Tale of the Princess Kaguya'', '' Mind Game'', ''This Magnificent Cake!'', ''

Okko's Inn is a series of Japanese children's novels, written by Hiroko Reijō and illustrated by Asami. Kodansha released twenty volumes between 2003 and 2013 under the imprint of Aoi Tori Bunko. A manga adaptation with art by Eiko Ōuchi was seriali ...

'', '' On-Gaku: Our Sound'', '' Evangelion: 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time'', and '' Goodbye, Don Glees!''. ''Sita Sings the Blues'', combining stylistic elements of Rajput painting,

shadow puppetry Shadow play, also known as shadow puppetry, is an ancient form of storytelling and entertainment which uses flat articulated cut-out figures (shadow puppets) which are held between a source of light and a translucent screen or scrim. The cut-ou ...

, vector graphic animation, and Squigglevision, was selected by ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the '' Chicago ...

'' reviewer

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

for his annual

Ebertfest Ebertfest is an annual film festival held every April in Champaign, Illinois, United States, organized by the College of Media at the University of Illinois. Roger Ebert, the TV and ''Chicago Sun-Times'' film critic, was a native of the adjoin ...

, calling it "one of the year's best films". Not all have been broadly successful with critics, though: '' Mia and the Migoo'' (distributed in theaters by GKIDS and on home video by

Entertainment One Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television s ...

) (38%), ''

Fireworks Fireworks are a class of low explosive pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large number of devices ...

'' (43%), '' The Deer King'' (58%), ''

MFKZ is a 2017 French-Japanese adult animated science fiction film based on the comic series and the short film of the same name. The film was a French-Japanese co-production between Ankama Animations and Studio 4°C and is directed by Shōjirō Ni ...

'' (39%), and ''

Earwig and the Witch is a 2020 Japanese computer-animated fantasy film directed by Gorō Miyazaki and with a screenplay by Keiko Niwa and Emi Gunji. It is based on the novel of the same name by Diana Wynne Jones. The original voice cast includes Shinobu Terajima, ...

'' (29%) are, as of September 2022, the only five with "Rotten" ratings.

Films distributed by GKIDS

Some Studio Ghibli films currently theatrically distributed by GKIDS were distributed by

for DVD and

Blu-ray Disc The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...

. However, on July 17, 2017, GKIDS announced that they have acquired the home video rights for the entire Studio Ghibli catalog except '' Grave of the Fireflies'', which Sentai Filmworks continues to license the US home video rights to, although GKIDS does own the US theatrical rights to the film, and ''

'', which GKIDS would eventually release digitally on September 1, 2020, and on Blu-ray and DVD on September 22, 2020. The company also tours selections of short and feature films screened at NYICFF across the country. In mid-2009, the live-action features '' Tahaan'' and ''West of Pluto'' (''À l'ouest de Pluton'') were licensed for potential general releases but plans for both were dropped by late 2011 in favor of a focus on animation.

Studio Ghibli Fest

Since 2017, GKIDS has partnered with Fathom Events to host an annual event called Studio Ghibli Fest, which features limited theatrical screenings of select Studio Ghibli films in select AMC,

CineMark Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (stylized as CineMark from 1998 to 2022 and CINEMARK since 2022) is an American movie theater chain that started operations in 1984 and since then it has operated theaters with hundreds of locations throughout the America ...

, Regal,

Cineplex Entertainment Cineplex Inc. (formerly Cineplex Galaxy) is a Canadian movie theatre and family entertainment centre chain headquartered in Toronto. The company was formed in 2003 via the acquisition of Loews Cineplex's Canadian operations (which included t ...

and other theaters. The only year thus far to not have Studio Ghibli Fest occur was 2020, presumably due to the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

TV shows distributed by GKIDS

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

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Song of the Sea The Song of the Sea ( he, שירת הים, ''Shirat HaYam'', also known as ''Az Yashir Moshe'' and Song of Moses, or ''Mi Chamocha'') is a poem that appears in the Book of Exodus of the Hebrew Bible, at . It is followed in verses 20 and 21 b ...

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Boy and the World ''Boy and the World'' ( pt, O Menino e o Mundo) is a 2013 Brazilian animated adventure film written and directed by Alê Abreu. It was nominated at the 88th Academy Awards for Best Animated Feature. The film was created using a mix of both draw ...

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2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

, '' The Breadwinner'' , , style="text-align:center", , - , ''

Revolting Rhymes ''Revolting Rhymes'' is a 1982 collection of Roald Dahl poems first published in 1982 originally under the title ''Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes''. A parody of traditional folk tales in verse, Dahl gives a re-interpretation of six well-known f ...

'' ,

Best Animated Short Film The Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film is an award given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) as part of the annual Academy Awards, or Oscars, since the 5th Academy Awards (with different names), covering the year 1 ...

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2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

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Annie Award The Annie Awards are accolades which the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood, has presented each year since 1972 to recognize excellence in animation shown in cinema and television. Originally de ...

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A Letter to Momo is a 2011 Japanese anime drama film produced by Production I.G and distributed by Kadokawa Pictures. The film was written and directed by Hiroyuki Okiura and stars an ensemble cast featuring Karen Miyama, Yuka, Toshiyuki Nishida, Chō and Kōich ...

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Miss Hokusai is a Japanese historical manga series written and illustrated by Hinako Sugiura, telling the story of Katsushika Ōi who worked in the shadow of her father Hokusai. It was adapted into an anime film directed by Keiichi Hara, that was relea ...

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Weathering with You is a 2019 Japanese animated romantic fantasy film produced by CoMix Wave Films and distributed by Toho. It depicts a high school boy who runs away from his rural home to Tokyo and befriends an orphan girl who has the ability to control th ...

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Ride Your Wave is a 2019 Japanese animated film produced by Science Saru and directed by Masaaki Yuasa. The film premiered at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival on June 10, 2019 and was released in Japan on June 21, 2019. Plot 19-year-old Hinako ...

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References

External links

* * {{anime News Network, company, 9638 2008 establishments in New York City American companies established in 2008 Anime companies Entertainment companies based in New York City Entertainment companies established in 2008 Film distributors of the United States Home video companies of the United States Mass media companies established in 2008 Privately held companies based in New York City