Mamoru Hosoda

Mamoru Hosoda is an Academy Award-Nominated Japanese film director and animator. Hosoda was born September 19, 1967 in Toyama prefecture. In 1991, he joined Toei Doga (now Toei Animation). He was an animator there before becoming a director. In 2003, he directed "SUPERFLAT MONOGRAM," a video for Louis Vuitton's spring/summer collection. He turned freelance thereafter, and in 2006, he released feature animation "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time," which, despite its small-scale release, turned out to be a long-running box office hit supported by young viewers. It was also the first winner of the newly established Japan Academy Prize Best Animation as well as numerous other awards.

In 2009, he released "Summer Wars" based on a story he wrote himself, and it also became a smash hit grossing 1.65 billion yen in box office sales and drawing an audience of 1.26 million. Like his previous film, it swept the animation awards in Japan, and it moreover received a formal invitation to the 2010 Berlin International Film Festival and gave Hosoda a nomination for the 2011 Annie Award Best Director, thrusting him to the top echelon of Japanese animation directors. In 2011, he and producer Yuichiro Saito co-established animation studio Studio Chizu. "Wolf Children," which he directed and whose screenplay and story he wrote, became a mega hit that drew an audience of 3.44 million and grossed 4.22 billion yen in box office sales. He also directed 2018's "Mirai" and 2021's "Belle." "Mirai" was nominated for Best Animated Feature for the 2019 Oscars.