©Courtesy of Toei Company, LTD. The film, “The Blood of Wolves”
UTA, a top U.S. talent agency which represents artists, athletes and storytellers, has signed a contract with Japanese director Kazuya Shiraishi, who is known for films like “The Devil’s Path”, “Sunny”, “The Blood of Wolves”, “Bushido” and TV series, “The Queen of Villains.” The director will strive to produce films overseas in the future.
He also terminated his contract with Flamingo which served as his agent in the past, and signed an agent contract with K2 Pictures Inc. which is located Meguro-ku, Tokyo as of March 31.
Director Shiraishi commented, “I was honored to be approached by UTA and felt that if I had the potential myself, I would take on the challenge of creating a worldwide production. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to producer Akagi of Flamingo for his support and to K2 Pictures, who will be my agent and support in Japan. I will devote the rest of my life to making films with sincerity and devote myself to creating films that many people will enjoy. I look forward to working with you.”
Muneyuki Kii, a head of K2 Pictures, which has produced films such as “Shin Kamen Rider” (directed by Hideaki Anno) in 2023, “Revolver Lily” (directed by Isao Yukisada) in 2023, and “Kirie no Uta” (directed by Shunji Iwai) in 2023. In May 2024, K2 Film Fund1 was launched with the goal of creating a new ecosystem for Japanese films, and director Shiraishi was a supporter. K2 Film Fund1 developed the film with Yuriyan Retriever, a lead actress of TV series, “The Queen of Villains”, she received support from the company for her untitled directorial debut film.
Kazuya Shiraishi was born on December 17, 1974 in Asahikawa, Hokkaido. He studied under Koji Wakamatsu and made his feature film directing debut in 2010 with “Lost Paradise in Tokyo”. 13 years later, he won various film awards including the 37th Japan Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Screenplay for “The Devil’s Path”. His latest film, “11 Rebels” which selected as the opening night film for the Tokyo International Film Festival last year.