Quote: Jul. 26, Tue. Main Feature: Japanese Animation Director "Makoto Shinkai" This edition features the up-and-coming and internationally acclaimed anime director Makoto Shinkai. Shinkai gained international acclaim with "Voices of a Distant Star", a 25-minute fully digital SF anime, which is a heart-rending story of two love-struck teenagers separated over the vast expanse of space. It was a solo production which took Shinkai seven months to complete; he was responsible for the scriptwriting, direction, production, animation, art, and editing. It has won numerous awards, including a special prize at the Japan Media Arts Festival. Its quality far surpasses that of other independent solo productions. DVD editions have been released in 17 countries, and sold more than 100,000 copies, which is quite an achievement for a work in this genre. Shinkai was born in Nagano Prefecture in 1973, and produced two animated films working part-time at a video-game company while he was a student at Chuo University. "Other Worlds" received a special award in 1998 for up-and-coming artists. Shinkai shot to centre stage from the time of his debut. Shinkai attracted greater attention with every new work, but at the height of his popularity he decided to take a 2-year break. During that time, he organised workshops for anime students overseas and studied English in the UK. Production of "Children Who Chase Lost Voices from Deep Below" commenced upon his return to Japan in 2009, and was released in May 2011. There are lots of questions people want to ask of Shinkai, e.g. why did he take a break from work? And what other works does he have in mind? We interview Shinkai in our studio and try to get answers to these questions and more. We try to obtain a true picture of this talented director. Creator's Interview takes a rest this week. `<br></br>Dropped video frames<br></br><br></br> Found average frame timing of 32.67 ms<br></br><br></br> Line Duration (ms) Time window<br></br> 32559 100 0:18:05.233 -> 0:18:05.333<br></br><br></br>Total frames: 50398<br></br>` **alternate download: <http://www.fileserve.com/file/jbqV67D> and more shows at <http://www.hellofuntime.com/>**