Stu Levy

Stuart J. "Stu" Levy (born August 24, 1967 in Northridge, Los Angeles, California ) is the founder, CEO and Chief Creative Officer of the manga media company Tokyopop. Levy also produces, directs, and writes for graphic novels, film and television.

Credentials
Levy holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics/Business from UCLA and a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center. He studied at Tokyo University and Keio University in Japan and is a California attorney. Currently, Levy chairs the Producer Guild of America's International Committee and was previously a Board Member of its New Media Council.

Early projects
Levy designed and produced JapanOnline.com in 1995, for which he won the New Media Invision Award for "Best Design on the Web." From 1994 to 1997, he produced and distributed CD-ROM multimedia edutainment titles in Tokyo. Receiving investment from Mitsui Ventures, NVCC and angels, Levy moved back to the U.S. to form Tokyopop (formerly Mixx Entertainment) in 1997, a business venture designed to introduce the Western world to manga entertainment of all forms.

Tokyopop
Stu Levy founded Tokyopop in 1997. The company has offices in Los Angeles, California; Tokyo, Japan; Hamburg, Germany; and London, United Kingdom, as well as distribution and licensing arrangements with over 40 countries worldwide.

Tokyopop's first manga graphic novel release was Sailor Moon. Tokyopop engineered prominent book distribution via retail stores, standardized book trim size, created a basic industry-wide rating system, developed the first-ever retail manga displays and introduced the world of graphic novels to a previously untapped audience—teenage girls. In 2002, Tokyopop launched its line of 100% Authentic Manga (printed right-to-left). Tokyopop launched their Global Manga publishing program in 2003 via the introduction of its "Rising Stars of Manga" talent competition.

Tokyopop helped to pioneer the Cine-Manga format, a blend of cinematic properties and manga that uses imagery from movies and television series. Levy secured licenses to publish Cine-Manga with major entertainment brands including Disney, Nickelodeon, Dreamworks, Paramount, Universal, and the NBA.

In 2006, the company launched an international line of teen fiction and began syndicating manga to U.S. newspapers and teen fashion magazine CosmoGIRL!. That same year, Tokyopop entered into a publishing agreement with HarperCollins Publishing to distribute Tokyopop manga and to co-publish manga based on HarperCollins' top youth novels.

Levy also expanded Tokyopop's property reach beyond publishing into television series and DVD distribution, with many of its shows broadcast in the United States on Cartoon Network, Showtime and G4techTV and released on DVD.

In 2007, Levy formed Tokyopop Media to focus on digital, film and television adaptations of Tokyopop's licensed manga content. Tokyopop Media chose William Morris to represent Tokyopop and Levy as writer, director, and producer of entertainment content. Under Levy's guidance, Tokyopop Media began producing a number of animated web shows based on Tokyopop properties including I Luv Halloween, by Ben Roman and Keith Giffen; Bizenghast, by M. Alice LeGrow; Riding Shotgun, by Nate Bowden and Tracy Yardley, and A Midnight Opera, by Hans Steinbach, which were launched in conjunction with MySpace.

In 2008, Tokyopop announced a major restructuring that will create two separate divisions—the Tokyopop Inc. publishing unit and Tokyopop Media, a digital and comics-to-films unit—under the Tokyopop Group’s holding company. The moves will result in the layoffs of about 79 Tokyopop staffers.

Executive producer, feature film and TV
From 2000 to 2004, Stu Levy served as Executive Producer for multiple film, television and DVD projects. His TV credits include Street Fury, which he created, GTO (English version for Showtime TV), Rave Master (English version for Cartoon Network), and Reign: The Conqueror (English version for Showtime TV.) His DVD credits include the English versions of: Initial D, Marmalade Boy, Saint Tail, Samurai Girl: Real Bout High School, Vampire Princess, Brigadoon, Spring & Chaos, FMW, High School Ghostbusters, and Anime: Concept to Reality.

Levy is an Executive Producer on the forthcoming feature film Priest, based on the Tokyopop manga series and which will be produced by Screen Gems, a Sony Pictures company.

Producer, feature film
In 2007, Levy began to serve as Producer on a number of live-action and animated film and television adaptations of Tokyopop manga, including Battle Vixens, by Yugi Shiozaki; Gyakushu, by Dan Hipp; Love Like Blood (based on Lament of the Lamb by Kei Toume) ; Mail Order Ninja by Josh Elder; My Dead Girlfriend, by Eric Wight; Poison Candy, by David Hine and Hans Steinbach; Princess Ai, by D.J. Milky, Misaho Kujiradou and Courtney Love; Riding Shotgun, by Nate Bowden and Tracy Yardley and Van Von Hunter, by Mike Schwark and Ron Kaulfersch.

Writer and director, feature film
Levy is currently prepping as co-writer (with Greg Lemkin) and co-director (with Takahiko Akiyama) for Love Like Blood—a live-action adaptation of the Tokyopop manga series Lament of the Lamb. Levy directed the anime music video Broken Leash for Princess Ai and is working on an upcoming animated feature film for the series. Also, he is co-writing and co-directing (with Steven Calcote) the upcoming mockumentary about Van Von Hunter, the evil-vanquisher from Mike Schwark and Ron Kaulfersch's manga series by the same name.

Author
Under the pen-name D.J. Milky, Levy has written both manga graphic novels and children's books. His writings include: Princess Ai, Juror 13, Karma Club, Kung Fu Klutz & Karate Cool, the novel adaptation of Sailor Moon, Stray Sheep and CD-ROM Best Selection '96. Current projects include Fright Elevator, Street Fury, Treasure Chess, and the upcoming sequel to Princess Ai, Prism of the Midnight Dawn.

Music composer
Levy composed lyrics and songs for Tokyopop projects, including the theme songs for Initial D, Reign the Conqueror, Rave Master, GTO, and the soundtrack for Tokyopop's Princess Ai franchise.

Producer, broadband and mobile programming
Levy has produced a number of Web- and Mobile-based shows, distributed through MySpace, YouTube and Verizon's VCast. Web shows include I Luv Halloween, Riding Shotgun, A Midnight Opera, and Bizenghast. Two new shows—Gyakushu and Sokora Refugees—will launch in Spring 2008. A series of Princess Ai-based music videos will launch later in 2008.

Producer, Internet
In 1995, Levy launched Japan Online for which he won the New Media Invision Award for "Best Design on the Web." In 2007, Levy produced and launched a comprehensive social networking and UGC manga lifestyle website at www.Tokyopop.com.

Philanthropy
Levy has volunteered his time to the Asian Pacific American Legal Center (APALC), a group that helps immigrant women who were taken advantage of by their husbands and did not know their own rights. He also supports the Make-a-Wish Foundation, a charity dedicated to granting the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions.

Additionally, Levy regularly donates Tokyopop manga to libraries across the U.S. as well as to The Kids' Wish Network, a non-profit foundation that deploys toys and books to hospital emergency rooms across the nation.