The Worlds of Miyazaki: A Studio Ghibli Insider's Look at the Master's Work

Ghibli is the legendary Japanese animation studio—the birthplace of such anime as “Princess Mononoke,” “Spirited Away,” and “Howl’s Moving Castle,” which, even while their creator—the Great Hayao Miyazaki—was still alive, became classics of animation cinema.

But what happens inside the studio? How are films made? And, most importantly, who helps them achieve worldwide fame? Steve Alpert is the person who has the answers.

For 15 years, Steve Alpert was the senior executive director of Ghibli. The only gaijin (foreigner) in Japan’s “very traditional” company, Alpert was responsible for international sales and worked closely with Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki—the producer of almost all the studio’s films. Alpert received the “Golden Bear” at the Berlin Film Festival and witnessed the triumph at the Oscars. He can confidently be called the man responsible for Hayao Miyazaki’s and the Ghibli studio’s success around the world.