Creative Loafing Interviews Studio Happy Chicken Pink’s Maib

LOS ANGELES—Japanese adult production company Studio Happy Chicken Pink’s director Charlie Maib was interviewed by Tampa, Florida’s third largest news source, Creative Loafing, covering topics that ran the gamut from Maib’s time spent in the Army as a journalist to his foray into erotic and gravure Japanese films. "The questions Shawn asked me were great,” said Maib. “I can talk all day about filmmaking and he really allowed me to open up about a lot of technical things that I don't get the chance to expound that much on. I don’t think people realize how much thought and work goes into these films.”  Continuing, Maib added, “Before this interview, I hadn't really advertised my military experience so much. I think it's pretty great that when I came into the service I had never done anything much with cameras or video editing, and now here I am 9 years later with six commercially released videos. I think a majority of our success comes from refusing to quit when it seemed like all the doors had been shut. Originally, companies refused to handle our videos in Japan because we were foreigners, but we just kept on plugging away.  It took nearly two years to get to where we are today, but there's still a lot of growth to be had and a lot of educating the public about our product.  Notice I don't say promoting. Sure, promotion has to be done, but the misconceptions people have about the kind of films I make are our biggest hurdle.” Delving a bit more into being a foreigner establishing a revenue stream in Japan, Maib commented, “I was a little wary going into the difficulties of doing business in Japan because it's such a touchy subject, but the fact of the matter is, it is quite black and white.  It can be tough in a very proud foreign country to show that you're not there trying to show people what's what, but rather to help.  I've always had the attitude that I would rather succeed as a group that rise as a single star, and the gravure industry in Japan really needs to rise right now.” Reflecting on Studio Happy Chicken Pink and the gravure genre that Maib specializes, in, he said, “I'd love the opportunity to be able to talk more about what we do and how we do it. I even welcome criticism about the kind of films these are. Open debate is always healthy, and people are going to always have opinions. But what makes me mad is when people make judgments about our idols (models) or me or the people associated with the company based on pre-conceived notions and bias. One example of this is the anime industry and anime fans in America. We've approached a number of conventions that have in the past welcomed singers, actors, actresses, artists and the like from Japan to appear and meet their fans; but the minute they see that we make gravure videos, the conversation ends. Really, is there much of a difference between animated breasts bouncing around a screen, and a real girl in a bikini? I don't think so. But it's the perception that we're trying to push porn on their audience that closes the door, when in actuality most anime, even the mainstream stuff, is much more perverted than our videos.” In closing, Maib praised Creative Loafing, “I'm very pleased that Creative Loafing allowed me to present a case for my films, and I hope other media would allow me to do so in the future with all the grace and fairness that Creative Loafing has.  And even if they don't, I'm more than willing to take them on too." The full interview from Creative Loafing can be found here.   For more information on Charlie and Studio Happy Chicken Pink and a listing of their DVD titles, please visit www.hckpink.com.