The Subjectivity Problem Show
The development story
During my time at my first creative studio in Japan, I secured support and a small budget to develop this animation project. The deal was: while I worked on client projects (projection mapping and large-format display animations), I could develop the script and gradually tackle other pre-production aspects. During the first stage, I developed the core idea. When I found the opportunity to create the story, I was, and still am curious about our subjective nature, our inner conscious spectator of life. That curiosity led me to develop a high-concept idea: “What if surviving a crazy TV show taught us more about humanity than any classroom ever could?” So I got busy at work writing it.
Since I love movies, I decided to make it a kind of fan love letter to some of my favorite film tropes. The story revolves around a high-stakes TV show where participants must face all kinds of cinematic inspired dangers. Beyond the spectacle, the narrative explores human subjectivity: knowing who we are, understanding others, and recognizing the subtle nuances that distinguish each individual. This process requires time, patience, and empathy, a topic that feels even more important today amid the widespread circulation of misinformation online.
While converting the screenplay into a proper Japanese-format script, I also designed the characters and created the pre-layout for the first episode. Once the first draft was complete, we cast voice actors and recorded the layouts. I pushed the project far enough to produce a couple of small teasers and the first two minutes of Episode 1 as a proof of concept.
Ultimately, the studio decided not to pursue narrative animation. I continued refining the project for a while but shelved it in 2019. I still own the concept and the material, believing it remains a fun, relevant, and much-needed piece of narrative animation entertainment, something I would love to return in the future.
