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| IMAGICA Lab. | |
|---|---|
| Name | IMAGICA Lab. |
| Type | Private |
| Industry | Post-production |
| Founded | 1935 |
| Founder | Hideo Ogawa |
| Headquarters | Tokyo, Japan |
| Key people | Hiroshi Ogawa (CEO), Keiko Tanaka (CTO) |
| Products | Film processing, Color grading, Visual effects, Sound mixing, Digital restoration |
| Revenue | ¥15 billion (2019) |
| Num employees | 1,200 |
IMAGICA Lab. IMAGICA Lab. is a Japanese post-production and media services company notable for film processing, visual effects, and digital restoration. Founded in the early 20th century, IMAGICA Lab. evolved alongside studios and broadcasters in Tokyo, collaborating with major companies in cinema, television, and advertising. The company operates facilities for analog film services and state-of-the-art digital workflows, serving clients across Asia and internationally.
IMAGICA Lab. traces its origins to the prewar film industry and postwar reconstruction efforts involving Toho Company, Shochiku, Nikkatsu, Daiei Film, and Toei Company. During the 1950s and 1960s IMAGICA Lab. provided services to directors associated with Akira Kurosawa, Yasujiro Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Masaki Kobayashi, and Nobuhiro Yamashita. In the 1970s and 1980s the company expanded as television networks NHK, Fuji Television, TBS (Japan), Nippon Television, and TV Asahi increased production, leading to contracts with advertising agencies like Dentsu and Hakuhodo. The 1990s brought digital transition projects with technology firms such as Sony Corporation, Panasonic, Canon Inc., NEC Corporation, and Fujifilm. In the 2000s IMAGICA Lab. undertook restoration programs for classic titles from the catalogs of Shochiku Co., Ltd., Kadokawa Corporation, Ghibli Museum, and independent producers, while collaborating with international companies like Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, Walt Disney Studios, and Netflix. Recent decades saw partnerships with streaming services Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, HBO Max, Paramount+, and technology partners Dolby Laboratories, IMAX Corporation, and Blackmagic Design.
IMAGICA Lab. operates flagship studios and laboratories in Tokyo, with satellite facilities near Yokohama, Osaka, Nagoya, and international service offices in Los Angeles, Seoul, Beijing, and Singapore. Its sound stages and color suites incorporate equipment from Avid Technology, DaVinci Resolve, Autodesk, The Foundry, ARRI, and Panavision. The company maintains film processing machines originally supplied by Gareiss Filmtechnik and newer scanning systems from ScanStation, Kinetta, and Lasergraphics. IMAGICA Lab. also houses audio mixing consoles from Yamaha Corporation, SSL (Solid State Logic), Neve Electronics, Genelec, and Sennheiser, and works with surround formats developed by Dolby Laboratories, DTS, Inc., Auro Technologies, and NHK Science & Technology Research Laboratories. For archival projects the lab uses restoration software from MTI Film, Cintel, Digital Vision, and Prasad Corporation, and collaborates with standards bodies such as Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, International Telecommunication Union, and Japan Media Arts Festival committees.
IMAGICA Lab. has credits across feature films, television dramas, animated works, and commercials, supporting productions from Studio Ghibli, Toei Animation, MAPPA, Production I.G, Bones, Madhouse, Sunrise (studio), Kyoto Animation, and Polygon Pictures. Notable film projects include post-production work for titles associated with Akira Kurosawa-era restorations, contemporary releases by Takashi Miike, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Hayao Miyazaki, Mamoru Hosoda, and collaborations on international co-productions with Guillermo del Toro, Christopher Nolan, Alfonso Cuarón, and Bong Joon-ho. Television credits encompass dramas for NHK Taiga drama, variety programs for Fuji Television, and series for streaming originals by Netflix Japan and Amazon Studios. IMAGICA Lab. has also contributed to commercials for global brands represented by agencies Dentsu and McCann Worldgroup, and music video post-production for artists signed to Sony Music Entertainment (Japan), Avex Group, Universal Music Japan, Warner Music Japan, and JYP Entertainment.
The company maintains partnerships with hardware and software vendors including Sony Corporation, Panasonic, Canon Inc., ARRI Group, Avid Technology, Blackmagic Design, The Foundry, and Autodesk. IMAGICA Lab. partners with cultural institutions such as the National Film Archive of Japan, Tokyo Filmex, Yamagata International Documentary Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, Berlin International Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, and Toronto International Film Festival for restoration programs and festival screenings. Educational collaborations include ties with universities and schools like Waseda University, Keio University, Tokyo University of the Arts, Osaka University of Arts, and vocational institutions tied to Japan Academy Prize mentoring programs. Corporate alliances extend to broadcasters NHK, Fuji Television, Nippon Television, streaming platforms Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and equipment manufacturers Dolby Laboratories and IMAX Corporation for technical certification and workflow integration.
IMAGICA Lab. has received industry awards and honors from organizations such as the Japan Academy Prize, Blue Ribbon Awards, Mainichi Film Awards, Cannes Film Festival technical recognitions, BAFTA technical nominations, Emmy Awards for international post-production contributions, and accolades from the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers for preservation work. The company’s restoration projects have been featured in retrospectives at the National Film Archive of Japan and lauded by critics associated with the Japan Film Critics Association and international critics at Sight & Sound-linked festivals. IMAGICA Lab.’s engineers and supervisors have been individually recognized by bodies such as The Association of Japanese Film Technicians and technical guilds tied to Tokyo International Film Festival panels.
IMAGICA Lab. functions as a privately held company with a corporate board including executives and representatives from media conglomerates and investment firms like Sony Corporation, Nippon Television Holdings, Inc., Kadokawa Corporation, and institutional investors. Governance involves cooperation with trade groups such as Motion Picture Producers Association of Japan, Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association, and regulatory engagement with Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (Japan). Subsidiaries and business units encompass divisions focused on film laboratory services, digital post-production, audio services, and international distribution support, connecting to partners including TOHO Co., Ltd., Shochiku Co., Ltd., Kadokawa Corporation, Asahi Broadcasting Corporation, and TV Asahi Holdings.
Category:Japanese film industry companies Category:Post-production companies