KANAKO SHIRASAKI
As head of production, Kanako is responsible for producing Qubic Pictures’ growing animation lineup with the talented Qubic team and our international partners. Her journey with Qubic started in fall 2017 with one text message from Justin, which eventually bore fruit as Netflix’s original anime series EDEN.
Her current projects include Star Wars: Visions, an animated anthology series. Her passion for arts led her to move to NY to complete a master’s degree in public relations and corporate communications from NYU. As a program administrator at Japan Foundation, New York, she facilitated numerous cultural events such as film retrospectives for director Seijun Suzuki across 15 cities in partnership with the Smithsonian’s Freer and Sackler Galleries and screening events with legendary actor Tatsuya Nakadai at the Museum of Moving Image.
With her lifelong interest in film and her meticulous attention to detail, Kanako is excited to help introduce the rich tradition and artistry of Japanese animation to broader audiences around the world. Beyond the silver screen, she enjoys exploring food from different cultures.
ABOUT QUBIC PICTURES
Qubic Pictures is a Tokyo-based production company focused on delivering original anime content to the global streaming market. Qubic is uniquely positioned to utilize strategic relationships with top industry creators based in Japan, Europe, and North America. Our mission is to create renowned original properties, as well as bring high-profile western properties into the anime space, and in doing so, growing the market reach for anime.
One of Qubic’s strengths is a tenacity for pioneering new ideas and approaches. In 2013, Qubic was the first company to successfully introduce crowdfunding to the anime industry with Masaaki Yuasa’s Kick-Heart at Production I.G. Kick-Heart was well received on the festival circuit, having competed in the world’s top animation festivals. Shortly after that, Qubic helped introduce Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time to Masaki Yuasa’s new animation studio, Science SARU, which led to the creation of a special Adventure Time short film called “Food Chain”.
In May of 2018, Qubic closed a deal with Netflix to make a new anime series called Eden’. Eden is Netflix’s first wholly-owned anime original title based on Qubic’s original pitch. Working closely with the creative team at Netflix, Qubic managed the production and assembled an international group of anime industry all-stars to help contribute to the project, such as Yasuhiro Irie (Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood), Toshihiro Kawamoto (Cowboy Bebop), Kimiko Ueno (Little Witch Academia, Space Dandy), Atsushi Takeuchi (Ghost in the Shell), Kevin Penkin (Made in Abyss). In addition, Clover Xie (Wolsmoke), Nice Boat, and CGCG (Star Wars: Clone Wars, Trollhunters) joined the production. Eden was released on May 27th, 2021.
AT THE CON
Kanako will appear at Anime NYC to speak about Qubic Pictures and her career in animation.