Crunchyroll to Host Anime Leadership Summit in New York

Crunchyroll, a Sony-owned anime streaming service, on Friday announced plans for an inaugural invite-only industry summit to be held Oct. 7 at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York. The event, called the Crunchyroll Anime Future Forum, will take place adjacent to New York Comic Con and is intended to convene leaders from Japan’s anime sector with executives from Hollywood, technology, gaming and music.

The theme of the summit is “Designing for Anime’s Future,” with sessions organized around fandom, technology, storytelling and IP protection. The company said the gathering aims to bring potential new partners into its anime ecosystem by placing Japanese animation studios, creators, distributors and artists in the same room with international counterparts across multiple entertainment and technology fields.

A company statement described anime as a central part of the global entertainment industry. The summit is positioned as a forum for discussions among industry leaders on the art form of anime. The announcement was made as the company’s parent prepares to report fiscal-year earnings later the same day in Tokyo.

The anime business has become an increasingly prominent part of the parent company’s global growth strategy.

An investment bank has projected the global anime market will reach $60.1 billion by 2030, up from $22 billion in 2023, according to data from the Association of Japanese Animations. Last September, the theatrical release of an anime film grossed more than $740 million worldwide, setting records as the highest-grossing Japanese film of all time and the top-earning anime feature.

The company has operated its annual Crunchyroll Anime Awards since 2017. The 10th anniversary edition is scheduled for May 23 in Tokyo and has previously included participants from Hollywood and music alongside Japanese industry figures. The company was acquired from AT&T in 2020 for $1.18 billion and merged with another anime business purchased in 2017.

Its subscriber base has since grown from roughly 3 million to more than 17 million. The platform has expanded from streaming into theatrical distribution, licensing, merchandising, manga, music, gaming and live events.