Masao Maruyama (film producer)


Masao Maruyama is a Japanese anime producer, the co-founder, and board of directors member of animation studio Madhouse, one of the leading animation production companies in the world. Born in Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture, he is a 40-plus year veteran of the animation business.

Early life

Maruyama graduated Hosei University in 1963, and soon after, he found work at Mushi Production as an animator. It was here that he met many of Madhouse's future staff members.

Career

In October 1972, this core group of artists left Mushi Production and founded Madhouse. From that time onward, Maruyama focused mainly on producing and planning Madhouse's upcoming projects. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he also did production design on several films. In 2002, Maruyama was awarded the "Special/Lifetime Achievement" Award at the 7th Animation Kobe in recognition and honor of his contributions to the industry. He was the first producer to be given the award.
As the main producer and studio head of Madhouse, Maruyama was personally responsible for green-lighting new projects. As a result, projects were often directly pitched to him by outside interests or brought to him by creators within the company. He also had a significant amount of influence in determining the staff of these new projects, particularly in the assignment of directorial duties. In addition, he was frequently involved in the planning phase of major studio productions at Mathouse.
In 2010, Maruyama served as the executive producer for an anime project based on the TV show Supernatural, entitled Supernatural The Animation, and is the world's first animated project from a Japanese anime studio based on an overseas drama series.
In 2011, Maruyama left Madhouse and established MAPPA. Then in April 2016, he resigned his position at MAPPA and established a new studio, Studio M2.
Maruyama is a regular guest at Otakon, having attended or been confirmed to attend 15 times since 2001. In 2009, the convention named him an honorary staff member.