Los Angeles-based OZLA Pictures, Inc. was established in 1992 by a Japanese veteran film producer Taka Ichise.  Since its establishment OZLA has been targeting the worldwide market as an independent production company.  Striving for high quality content and controlled budgets, as well as creating unique films helmed by filmmakers from all over the world, OZLA started its early work with eight films under its banner including: the action film AMERICAN YAKUZA, starring Viggo Mortensen, which became a huge video success in the UK and Australia; the action thriller NO WAY BACK, starring Russell Crowe and distributed by Columbia TriStar; and Christophe Gans-helmed action thriller CRYING FREEMAN, starring Mark Dacascos, which reached number one at the box office in both France and South Korea.

Often referred to as the “Horror King,” Ichise produced the worldwide hit RINGU (“Ring”) in 1997, followed by RINGU 2 (“Ring 2”) and RINGU 0: BASUDEI (“Ring 0: Birthday”).  DreamWorks released a stylish Hollywood English-language remake THE RING in 2002 and its sequel THE RING 2 in 2005, which were directed by Gore Verbinski and Hideo Nakata respectively.  Later, Disney’s partner Pandemonium picked up the remake rights for Ichise’s multi-award-winning horror film HONOGURAI MIZU NO SOKO KARA (“Dark Water”).  The English-language remake, DARK WATER, was released in the U.S. in July of 2005 by Buena Vista, who holds the worldwide rights.

In 2003, the international horror thriller hits and festival favorites JUON (“JU-ON: The Grudge”) and JUON 2 (“JU-ON: The Grudge 2”), both of which were produced by Ichise, were picked up for the English-language remake rights by Mandate Pictures (formerly Senator International) and Ghost House Pictures. The English-language remake, THE GRUDGE, was produced by Ichise and Sam Raimi, and was directed by Takashi Shimizu who directed both Japanese versions. OZLA played a significant role in the entire process. The film was released by Columbia Pictures in the U.S. in 2004, and ruled the US box office with an unprecedented 39 million USD in its opening weekend, going on to gross over 187 million USD worldwide.

More recently, Ichise produced an English-language horror film SHUTTER, which starred Joshua Jackson and Rachel Taylor, and the film was widely released by New Regency in March of 2008.

OZLA has continued to add muscle to its operations in the U.S. and the word is spreading within the industry regarding its quality products and its ability to effectively control budgets and schedules.  Projects that OZLA is currently developing include UNDERGROUND which will be directed by Neil Marshall, as well as Takashi Shimizu-helmed PARASYTE based on the popular Japanese comic book.

For General Comments and Questions, please contact:  ozla@ozla.com