SESSION SPEAKERS

Kenji Yamada

映画ドラマプロデューサー

The person in question is a film and television drama producer born in 1979. They graduated from the Faculty of Law at Keio University. After joining TV Asahi in 2003, they worked in the news department before transitioning to the role of a producer for films and TV dramas, where they spent over 10 years. They are known for producing the BORDER series, dele, and other works, earning two Excellent Drama Awards at the Tokyo Drama Awards and three Galaxy Awards. In addition, dele won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2019, they moved to Toho, where they worked on the film Hyakka, which won the Best Director Award at the San Sebastián International Film Festival. The film Kaibutsu (Monster) earned the Best Screenplay Award and the Queer Palm Award at the Cannes Film Festival. Their film Godzilla: 1.0 set a record for the highest North American box office earnings for a Japanese film and won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects—the first-ever win in that category for a Japanese film. In the same year, the producer won two Elan d'Or Awards and the Fujimoto Award for Kaibutsu and Godzilla: 1.0. In 2023, they received the "Asia Game Changer Award," presented alongside Grammy-winning artist Anderson .Paak, marking a significant recognition in the global entertainment industry. In 2024, they were inducted as a full member of the Producers Guild of America (PGA).