Genki Kawamura

Genki Kawamura? The guy’s everywhere. You’ve got him producing for Paramount with none other than JJ Abrams—yeah, that JJ Abrams—on the Hollywood live-action version of Makoto Shinkai’s “Your Name.”, and they even roped in Eric Heisserer (the brains behind “Arrival”) for the script, with Carlos López Estrada (“Raya and the Last Dragon”) directing. Not exactly small potatoes. But that’s just one slice of his pie. This dude wrote a novel called “If Cats Disappeared from the World” and it’s a legit global hit—translated into 25 languages, over 2 million copies out the door, and repping both the UK (Picador) and US (Flatiron, both Macmillan imprints). Oh, and he’s not just about books and producing. Back in 2018, Kawamura actually directed “Duality,” which got a nod from the Cannes Film Festival for the short film competition. He also produced Mamoru Hosoda’s “Mirai,” which showed at the Director’s Fortnight at Cannes, picked up an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature, and bagged the Best Animated Feature-Independent Award at the Annie Awards. The guy doesn’t slow down. He co-created “The Makanai” with Hirokazu Koreeda—yep, that’s coming to Netflix, global release and all. Then there’s his feature directorial debut, “A Hundred Flowers” (based on his own novel, naturally), which snagged him a Silver Shell for Best Director at San Sebastian. Oh, and he produced Kore-eda’s “Monster,” winner of the Best Screenplay and Queer Palme at Cannes. Honestly, how does he sleep?