Local filmmaker Nik Shaw has made his own live-action take on Death Note. Samera Entertainment sat down with him to talk about the 11-minute short, which opens his new Re: Anime series. The idea behind the series is simple. These are live-action anime films made by fans, for fans.
The story follows Light Yagami, who finds the Death Note. Whoever writes a name in the book while picturing that person’s face can kill them. Kento Matsunami plays Light. Shaw produced the film, wrote the script and shot it himself, while Scott Carper served as executive producer.
Shaw said his aim was to build support among anime fans and to show Hollywood that there is a real market for faithful adaptations. He also said the project would not have happened without help. He, Carper and a few other anime lovers paid for it out of their own pockets. Because Shaw has worked on more than 200 productions, he could bring in a skilled crew.
For a long time, fans saw live-action anime as a fantasy. Shaw ran into doubts as well, since Hollywood’s past treatment of anime, including Ghost in the Shell, left many people wary. So he had to work on a small budget and convince people to give the film a chance.
The short is the first upload on Re: Anime, a YouTube page Shaw launched to share live-action anime with fans around the world. His long-term goal is a feature-length film. Before that, he plans more shorts to grow his fan base.
Many fans believe producers overthink how to adapt Japanese culture for American viewers. Shaw pointed out that the U.S. has about 20 million fans of Japanese anime.
The film was shot in two days on a sound stage in North Hollywood with a crew of 15. In all, 33 people worked on it, counting post-production. Kurt Merrill plays L, Jordan Nistico plays Ryuk, Jim Scharf plays the Judge and Emily Killian plays Emily. Shaw said he wanted to prove the idea could work, and now he needs support to keep going.
