Studio Ghibli Producer and Co-Founder Suzuki steps down
Last September, the Japanese animation company Studio Ghibli made headlines when one of its co-founders and world-renowned director Hayao Miyazaki announced that he would be retiring from making feature films, with his Academy Award nominated The Wind Rises being his last feature. Six months later, fellow co-Founder Toshio Suzuki has revealed that he too will be stepping down from his role of producer, instead opting for the new title of “general manager”, with Yoshiaka Nishimura taking over the production seat for all of Studio Ghibli’s features from now on, having already started with Isao Takahata’s The Tale of Princess Kaguya.
The 65 year old Suzuki, who founded Studio Ghibli with Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata in 1985 has denied reports that this decision was influenced by Miyazaki’s, instead stating that he wanted to boost the “new era of Ghibli” with younger talent such as Nishimura and Yonebayashi (Arrietty, When Marnie Was There).
