by Jeroslyn JoVonn
July 2, 2025
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s manufacturing firm is supporting the way forward for anime content material.
Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Westbrook Inc. is becoming a member of forces with a newly fashioned studio that’s seeking to introduce the subsequent wave of anime content material to world audiences.
Westbrook Inc. has teamed up with U.S.-based animation studio Studio Azuki to develop, produce, and globally distribute unique anime and diversifications, Selection reported. The partnership will mix Azuki’s distinct artistic imaginative and prescient with Westbrook’s Hollywood affect to scale and increase the worldwide attain of next-generation anime initiatives.
“At Westbrook, our mission has at all times been to inform tales that join, encourage, and transcend borders,” stated Westbrook CEO Ko Yada.
Partnering with Studio Azuki is a robust step in that route. Their artistic imaginative and prescient and cultural perception align seamlessly with our world technique. Collectively, we’re excited to determine and develop initiatives that resonate deeply with audiences around the globe, mixing genuine storytelling with boundary-pushing innovation.”
Initially launched as an NFT undertaking, Azuki has developed right into a studio working on the intersection of anime manufacturing, expertise, and social media. Its mission is to foster collaboration between world creators and Japanese anime expertise.
The studio’s push for anime content material is in response to the booming world anime fandom, particularly within the U.S., the place the eagerness for the style spans mainstream audiences, Hollywood creatives, celebrities like Megan Thee Stallion, who incorporates anime into her music and visuals, and main manufacturers. Studio Azuki goals to mix world momentum for anime with Japan’s wealthy anime tradition to create revolutionary manufacturing fashions, improve storytelling, encourage fan collaboration, and launch codecs tailor-made for the social media period.
“With a global-first, creator-centric, and social-native method, Studio Azuki is our daring step towards constructing the subsequent era of anime, one which empowers creators and connects instantly with followers,” stated Feb Tea, head of content material at Azuki Labs.
Azuki is bringing its Anime 2.0 imaginative and prescient to life via a number of initiatives, together with the Enter The Backyard anthology sequence, produced in collaboration with Dentsu and Anime.com, and supported as an early contributor to the Animecoin Basis.
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