Bandai Namco Filmworks
One of Bandai Namco Filmworks' headquarters in Ogikubo, dubbed "White Base" | |
Native name | 株式会社バンダイナムコフィルムワークス |
|---|---|
Romanized name | Kabushiki gaisha Bandai Namuko Firumuwākusu |
| Formerly | Shoeisha (1972–1976) Nippon Sunrise Inc. (1976–1987) Sunrise Inc. (1987–2022) |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
| Industry | Anime |
| Founded | September 1972 (as Sunrise) April 1, 2022 (as Bandai Namco Filmworks) |
| Headquarters | Ogikubo, , Japan |
Key people | Makoto Asanuma (president and CEO) Satoshi Kawano (executive vice-president) Yoshitaka Tao (managing director) |
Number of employees | 646 (as of April 1, 2024) |
| Parent | Bandai (1994–2005) Bandai Namco Holdings (2005–present) |
| Divisions | Sunrise (IP Production Group) Bandai Visual Emotion Bandai Channel |
| Subsidiaries | Bandai Namco Pictures Actas Sotsu Evolving GUNDAM Eight Bit |
| Website | bnfw.co.jp (BNF) sunrise-inc.co.jp (Sunrise) |
| Footnotes / references | |
Bandai Namco Filmworks Inc. is a Japanese entertainment company owned by Bandai Namco Holdings with its business focused on production, planning, and management of anime. It was founded in September 1972 by former Mushi Production staff as Sunrise Studio, Limited, the animation studio branch of Shoeisha Co., Ltd.. In 1977, it gained independence from Shoeisha and Tohokushinsha and rebranded itself to Nippon Sunrise Inc. In 1987, the studio rebranded to Sunrise Inc., a name which would remain in use for over 35 years. In 1994, the company was acquired by toy and entertainment company Bandai and was integrated into Namco Bandai Holdings in 2005.
In 2022, as part of a major group restructuring of the Bandai Namco Group, the company would merge with the home video division of Bandai Namco Arts and Bandai Namco Rights Marketing to form Bandai Namco Filmworks. As part of this restructuring, Sunrise would continue to operate as a division within the company with the changes taking effect on April 1, 2022.