Yesterday, Tsuburaya Productions announced and introduced a new award in honor of playwright/ screenwriter, Tetsuo Kinjo, with the motto of “Ultra wo Coero” (“To Go Beyond Ultra”). For those who may not know the man or company, Tetsuo Kinjo was primarily the spearhead in writing Ultra Q, Ultraman, and UltraSeven, the series which launched the franchise. Sadly Mr. Kinjo passed away in 1976 due to a freak accident, he was only 37. Yet, luckily his legacy continued on inspiring generations of writers, and writers worldwide even to this day.
Now, as for the Tsuburaya Productions’ Tetsuo Kinjo Creative Award it is to foster new writers with talent similar Kinjo, and the contest that houses the award offers a grand prize of 1 million yen (nearly $10K USD) with “honorable mention prizes” of 100K yen (nearly $1K USD). Along with Award and Cash Prizes there is the possibility for the winners seeing an adaption of their work into programs produced by the company. For contestants seeking to enter the ‘contest’ they must submit a treatment and first episode script for an original TV series, with no restrictions on genre. The entries will then be judged by director Keishi Otomo (Ruroni Kenshin Live-Action Trilogy), playwright/ director Hiroshi Takahashi (Ringu series), novelist Yoshiki Tanaka (The Heroic Legend of Arslan), playwright/ screenwriter Kazuki Nakashima (Gurren Lagan, Kamen Rider Fourze, Kill La Kill) and president of Tsuburaya Productions Shin’ichi Ôoka. The last day for entrants to submit their work is on November 30, 2016, and the awards will announced/presented on February 26, 2017 for the anniversary of Mr. Tetsuo Kinjo’s death.
Source: Crunchyroll, Tetsuo Kinjo Creative Award Page
