Sy Huq (Sayem Huq), the Norwegian-born Bangladeshi-American film director, screenwriter, and producer, becomes the very first Bangladeshi-American creative executive in Japan’s anime industry as he recently joined D’ART Shtajio, the first major African American-owned anime studio in Japanese history.
This was featured recently in Animation Magazine, a globally renowned US-based animation-centric publication, and this is also the first time a Bangladeshi-American creative personality has been featured in this magazine.
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A four-time Oscar-qualified, Norwegian-born Bangladeshi-American film personality, Sy Huq’s films, including Things That Fall (2019), Boys (2021), and Oh, Mighty Ocean (2022), have won an AT&T Film Award, a Stage 32 Film Award, an ISA Fellowship, and an Imagine Impact Creators Network Screenwriting Staff Pick, Animation Magazine reports.
He also produced The Journey (2022) with Toei Animation and Manga Productions, the first-ever animated feature film collaboration between Japanese and Saudi studios, according to the magazine’s report.
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It was also reported that as the new lead executive producer, Huq will spearhead the studio’s creative and strategic initiatives, acting as a bridge between anime production in the East and the West and helping lead the production as it moves into its next phase of growth.
Regarding his appointment, Arthell Isom, CEO of D’ART Shtajio, told Animation Magazine, “D’ART is entering its ninth year, and we are seeking to adapt our business approach to align with the evolving landscape of anime and the wider entertainment industry. With that in mind, we are thrilled to welcome Sy to our team as our lead executive producer.”
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“Collaborating with him in the past, we believe Sy’s creative approach to storytelling and production fully aligns with D’ART’s objectives, and we look forward to continuing to create with him. We all share a belief in the importance of multifaceted storytelling in enriching the human experience, and we see anime as an ideal and globalised medium with the potential to do this effectively. We’ve already started putting our heads together on some big developments and can’t wait to share them in the future,” he added.
Expressing his gratitude, Sy Huq wrote on his Facebook page, “Many thanks to @animationmagazine for this wonderful feature. To be joining @dartshtajio, the first black-owned anime studio in Japan’s history, as the lead executive producer and the first Bangladeshi-American creative exec in anime history, it’s such an honor. To be able to create, write, develop, and help grow such a platform to inspire generations of multi-faceted storytellers from around the world has been such a voyage and an exploration of what values matter when trying to make an impact.”
While expressing gratitude to Animation Magazine, he wrote: “A personal note, and a bit of a full circle moment for me, but I used to read Animation Magazine as a kid at the public library, when they used to bind the new issues in a plastic binder and you couldn’t take it home, so you had to just sit and read through the whole thing. I remember it inspiring me endlessly; so for Animation Magazine to give us such a platform to inspire others, that’s incredible, and again, I’m deeply grateful.”
Regarding Sy Huq's journey in the industry, renowned writer, producer, director, and VFX production manager, Wahid Ibn Reza, known for working on "Spiderman: No Way Home," "Game of Thrones," "Batman v Superman," "Captain America: Civil War," "Guardians of the Galaxy 2" and many others, wrote on his Facebook, “This is such wonderful news in this challenging times of the worldwide animation and VFX industry, as our Sayem Huq from Bangladesh became the first person got featured on the front page of the Animation Magazine, for joining D’ART Shtajio as the very first Bangladeshi-American creative executive in Japan’s anime industry. We hope that Sayem will inspire us more with his future works.”
Sy Huq was born on February 5, 1992, in Trondheim, Norway. He is a graduate of UCLA's Professionals Programme in Producing, and his films, notably "Things That Fall" (2019), "Boys" (2021), and two short films: "The Stranger" and "Panorama," were qualified for the 92nd, 94th, and 95th Academy Awards for Best Live Action Short Film, respectively, according to IMDB.