“Orbray Studio” is born! An Akita-based Filmmaking Company Founded by Young Entrepreneurs
--Riyako Namiki, President of Orbray
Two young entrepreneurs have founded a filmmaking company, “Outcrop inc.,” in Akita City. Emil Kurihara and Travis Matsumoto renovated a vacant building in the city, and in May opened an office complex named “Atle DELTA,” where their office is located. I share their goal of revitalizing Akita and participated in crowdfunding for the renovation project. In return, Orbray received the right to name the studio in the complex. We dubbed it “Orbray Studio.”
Kurihara and Matusmoto began to shoot films in Akita when they were students at Akita International University. The filmmakers were inspired by local farmers who were attempting to revive the Numayama radish, a regional specialty that went extinct decades ago. Their short documentary film about the farmers has won several awards.
A gift from Numayama
https://outcropstudios.com/documentary/a-gift-from-numayama
Through the production, Kurihara and Matsumoto realized that Akita still has a wealth of buried treasure. They decided to start a company to discover more such hidden value through their own perspective and “outcrop” them – bring them to light for the sustainable enrichment of society. Their quest didn’t stop there. The also opened a movie theater with a dozen seats in Akita City’s downtown, creating a place where residents can watch documentary movies together and have lively discussions. The theater is open only a few days a month currently.
Four years have passed since Kurihara and Matsumoto started the company. Outcrop hired new employees and had to move into a bigger office. A successful entrepreneur, who is a supporter of Outcrop, offered an old four-story building for their use, and Outcrop renovated the facility. The building has space not only for the company’s headquarters but also for rental offices for local businesses, co-working space, as well as a guest house where travelers can stay at reasonable prices. On the first floor, it has a café where residents can meet business people visiting the building.
The office complex “Atle DELTA”
I first met the young filmmakers last November, when I was invited to give a speech at their university. We hit it off, as we shared the goal of relocating to Akita and working to revitalize the region. After that, they came to visit Orbray’s factory in Yuzawa City and observed TRAD. In particular, they became interested in our company’s theater. I introduced to them Hajime Sakaki, who designed our theater. Outcrop asked Sakaki to design a theater in the guest house’s special room so that visitors could enjoy movies with high-quality sound as if they were in a theater.
Theater Room in Atle DELTA
https://deltahostel.booking.chillnn.com/magazine?resourceType=room&resourceID=18eea9582dc269
Mr.Hajime Sakaki
Outcrop earns profits by making promotional videos for Akita-based companies and the city government of Akita. In addition, the filmmakers are creating documentary movies on their favorite themes as part of their long-term project to revitalize society by uncovering hidden stories.
One of Matsumoto’s current projects is to film nursing care that enables the elderly to maintain a high quality of life. He is following Satoko Nakamukae, who runs a care facility in Kagoshima Prefecture. Caregivers at her facility help the elderly continue to live in their own homes as long as possible. When clients become incapable of managing their own life at home, they become residents of Nakamukae’s facility, named Iroha, which assists them in maintaining their life style. One elderly woman wakes up in the middle of the night and suddenly starts singing. She might be regarded as troublesome at other nursing homes. At Iroha, in contrast, the caregivers respond with empathy and sometimes even sing along. By filming their lives, Matsumoto wants to widely publicize Iroha’s approach to nursing care and promote better care for the elderly.
You may think it’s better to work in Tokyo if you want to build a career in the filmmaking industry. However, Kurihara and Matsumoto founded their company in Akita because they intend to continue to discover the hidden gems of Akita and share them with the world. They want to express their gratitude and do something for the region where they have received support from many people since their college years. The region’s decline, triggered by a rapid population decrease, also prompted them to open Atle DELTA as a place to draw people together. The complex symbolizes the two young creators’ determination to help revitalize the region over the next 20 to 30 years.
Their filmmaking sensitivity and capability have been highly regarded by well-known professional creators and urban planners, proving that it doesn’t matter where a company is located. I expect Kurihara and Matsumoto to produce excellent work in Akita for the benefit of viewers around the world. And I hope their activities will attract successors, making Akita an incubator for the filmmaking industry.
https://atledelta.com
https://outcropstudios.com
