American & Japanese anime collaberations

Time Warner and Itochu Corp have announced a US/Japanese partnership which should see them producing, broadcasting and marketing anime for both the US and Japanese markets simultaneously. By April 2006, this venture is expected to be producing weekly episodes for three shows, at a budget of £100,000 per episode (with the majority of this money being spent on higher quality animation than the standard anime TV series).

This partnership is set to begin in June 2005 with an initial investment of £15 million and will then seek further investment from toy companies and other marketing outlets.

Given the size and influence of Time Warner and Itochu Corp, the anime they produce is guaranteed a place on relevant TV stations in the US and Japan. They also expect to market these shows to European and other Asian countries.
Source: Anime News Network