A.D. Vision
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A.D. Vision (commonly referred to as ADV) is an American international multimedia entertainment company based in Houston, Texas, active in home video production and distribution, broadcast television, theatrical film distribution, merchandising, original productions, magazine and comic book publishing. It is the largest anime company in North America.[citation needed]
It was founded in 1992 by anime fans John Ledford and Matt Greenfield. Since then, the company has grown immensely in size and diversified with several subsidiary companies, handling an array of properties and original content. Perhaps their most popular[citation needed] property is the Gainax anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion, originally released by ADV in the U.S. in 1997 and rereleased several times since. The company maintains offices in North America, Europe and Asia.
Company representatives have claimed, beginning in the mid-1990s, that the meaning of "A.D." is a closely guarded secret. In fact, it stands for "Animation Dubbing", as can be seen on some of their earliest titles, such as The Girl From Phantasia. David L. Williams often jokes at some conventions that ADV stands for "Army of Darkness Video" (stated at Anime Expo New York).
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[edit] A.D. Vision subsidiaries
[edit] ADV Films
ADV Films is the original core of the company. ADV Films is the home video publication arm of A.D. Vision based in Houston, Texas, specializing in publishing anime and tokusatsu videos, and other live-action material.[1] The company distributes anime in both North America and Europe.
Founded in 1992 by film fans John Ledford and Matt Greenfield, they started out by licensing and releasing the Devil Hunter Yohko series on video, and were the first North American anime licensor to use all-digital video mastering and transfer (specifically D2 digital video tape), and soon began acquiring an extensive library, including the controversial television series Neon Genesis Evangelion. In 1996, ADV Films had opened its U.K. division, and diversified into the realm of live-action with series such as Andromeda and Japanese films in the Gamera series.
The name ADV comes from parent company A.D. Vision; the A.D. refers to the company's trade in animation dubbing.
When ADV first started back in 1992, they released videos in the original Japanese language with English subtitles. A few years later, they decided to begin dubbing, releasing anime with the Japanese dialogue recorded over with that of English, using their own voice actors. ADV started out using a nearby production studio as their recording facility, which put many restraints on them. For example, to use the studio, ADV's producers had to pay an hourly fee. If a certain actor didn't show up, someone else had to fill the role, which explains why Matt Greenfield appeared as minor and/or secondary characters in many of the early dubs, such as Gunsmith Cats, Bubblegum Crisis and, most notably, Neon Genesis Evangelion, although some of these roles were taken on by Greenfield because it wasn't worth getting someone else to do a bit part or he wanted to play the role. All roles played by Greenfield were credited with the alias Brian Granveldt[citation needed].
After a few years, ADV was able to open up their own production and recording facility in Houston, and also opened a second studio in Austin, Texas. The studios were named Industrial Smoke & Mirrors (IS&M) and Monster Island, respectively. Over the years, ADV amassed a huge backlog of titles they didn't deem important enough to dub right away[citation needed]. With Monster Island, any shows not being dubbed by IS&M could be done by them (for example, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water and the Rurouni Kenshin OVA, Samurai X). With the completion of backlog dubbing, Monster Island closed down permanently in early 2005 and IS&M became known simply as ADV Studios. In more recent years, ADV has also produced dubs of live action films such as the Japanese version of Dark Water as well as some work with the video game industry, assisting in the English language version of Unlimited Saga.
In keeping touch with their Houston roots, ADV Films is planning a joint project with Swishahouse for an Anime Screwed & Chopped Megamix series[citation needed]. ADV also holds anime screenings Tuesday nights at 7:30 at the Alamo Drafthouse in Houston and Friday nights at 7:30 in San Antonio.
- Further information: List of ADV releases
[edit] Soft Cel Pictures
Soft Cel Pictures is the arm of the company that specializes in H anime titles. Usually, these titles are not dubbed in English. It is now a defunct label, with most of its titles having been acquired by Critical Mass, a label of The Right Stuf International.
[edit] Newtype USA
Newtype USA is the US edition of Japan's Newtype magazine.[2]
[edit] Anime Network
Anime Network is a cable channel in North America dedicated to anime. The network launched in North America in late 2002 and is marketed to multi-system operators (MSOs) as both a stand-alone 24-hour linear network and as a VOD programming service. The Anime Network is the United States' first all-anime cable TV network.
Following is a selected list of providers that either carry the Linear feed or distribute the VOD content.
[edit] ADV Manga
ADV Manga publishes Japanese manga. ADV Manga also publishes manhwa.
ADV Manga launched in 2003, with a strong list of titles and an ambitious plan for growth within the U.S. manga market. Unfortunately, it seems that quite a few of their titles, such as Aria and Gunslinger Girl, have been placed on "permanent hold" with no indication of when, or if, they will ever return. This has resulted in some complaints [1] and even some fans claiming that a series on "permanent hold" might as well be considered as unlicensed to avoid a second occurrence of what happened with the anime license of Pichi Pichi Pitch: Mermaid Melody (The article in question gets licensed, all fan translation stops and nothing is heard of it for two years before the license is relinquished and the fan translation continues).
Recently, at Anime Expo 2006, manga publisher Tokyopop announced that it had obtained the licenses for Aria, Tactics, and Peacemaker Kurogane and intend to continue publishing from the first volume of the three series rather than where ADV left off. [2]
[edit] ADV Music
ADV Music is the music publishing division which focuses on distributing anime and movie soundtracks. Launched in 2003 after ending their partnership with The Right Stuf International in AnimeTrax, their initial releases include the soundtracks for Super Atragon, Cat Girl Nuku Nuku and Onimusha 2: Samurai's Destiny.
[edit] ADV Pro
ADV Pro is the company's anime production studio.
[edit] ADV Toys
ADV Toys is the merchandising and character licensing division.
[edit] Developments
Japan's Sojitz Corporation announced that Japan Content Investments (JCI), an investment group run by Sojitz, Development Bank of Japan, and film distribution company KlockWorx, will contribute money to AD Vision, in return for equity in the company. ADV founder John Ledford will remain the majority shareholder and CEO. JCI subsidiary ARM will also contribute money for ADV to use in acquiring new distribution licenses. The investment will allow ADV Films to raise its output of new anime titles, which had dropped in 2006, back to previous levels or above. In return, ADV will assist Sojitz with the acquisition of North American and European content for importation into Japan. According to ADV, they also reportedly have "big plans" for its manga line.[3]
