Tokyo Artists Skills Operation is attempting to catalog the expertise of potential movie and television performers nationwide.
The objective of the nonprofit organization's "skills bank" is to be a bridge between those who want to demonstrate their talent but don't know how to sell themselves, and producers seeking new faces.
The talent registration business is operated by Japan Entertainment Archives Organization, an NPO set up in July primarily to catalog and preserve information on entertainers' past movie and TV appearances.
Ryuichi Hirose, who retired from the program publicity section at Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc., is chief director of the archive NPO.
He said there are about 100,000 "talents," either self-proclaimed or described as such by others, nationwide.
However, he added that only a mere handful come to the limelight and that gifted people do not necessarily gain a place in the sun because performers appearing on TV programs are chosen from those belonging to major production companies.
Regardless of whether they are amateur or pro, people aged 15 to 75 can register with the skills bank for a 10,000 yen fee and 5,000 yen in yearly dues.
"I think there should be more mechanisms for nurturing and helping entertainers," Hirose said.
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