Annmarie Sairrino is an American film producer, development executive, and CEO of AMMO Entertainment. She is known for developing and producing film projects based on existing Japanese intellectual properties, including the horror film adaptation ''

Room 203 ''Room 203'' is a 2022 American horror film directed by Ben Jagger, starring Francesca Xuereb and Viktoria Vinyarska, which centers on two best friends, who have recently moved in together as roommates, and realize that their new apartment is ha ...

'' and the dramatic thriller ''

Root Letter ''Root Letter'', stylized as ''√Letter'', is a 2016 visual novel adventure video game developed and published by Kadokawa Games for PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Microsoft Windows, Android, and iOS. It is the first entry in the ''Kadokaw ...

''. Sairrino began her career in the entertainment industry in 2003 working with film producer and consultant

Sandy Climan Sanford (Sandy) Climan is an Americans, American film producer, best known for Martin Scorsese, Martin Scorsese's The Aviator (2004 film), ''The Aviator'' and the film ''U2 3D''. He is the Founder and President of Entertainment Media Ventures, a ...

at his firm Entertainment Media Ventures. In 2012, she joined All Nippon Entertainment Works (ANEW) and served as senior vice president of development and production. In 2017, with her colleague Moeko Suzuki, she established Akatsuki Entertainment, a division of Japanese mobile game developer Akatsuki Inc., and ran the company's American branch in Los Angeles while serving as CEO and as a board member of Akatsuki. In November 2018, she announced her first produced project, the video game adaptation ''Root Letter'', which was produced in 2019, completed in 2020, and acquired for distribution by Entertainment Squad and released in 2022. She followed this with a second feature, the horror film ''Room 203'', which was produced in 2020, acquired for international sales by

Voltage Pictures Voltage Pictures is an American film production and distribution company founded by Nicolas Chartier in 2005. It has assembled over 180 motion pictures, earning the company a total of two Golden Globe Awards and nine Academy Awards. Recent fil ...

and for domestic distribution by Vertical Entertainment, and released in 2022. In September 2020, Sairrino established AMMO Entertainment, a production company which has assumed responsibility for Akatsuki Entertainment's completed films, and which will continue to develop film and television projects adapted from Japanese-originated sources, intellectual properties from other Asian territories, and original concepts and true stories in the horror and thriller genres.

Early life and education

Annmarie Sairrino was born in

Poughkeepsie, New York Poughkeepsie ( ), officially the City of Poughkeepsie, separate from the Town of Poughkeepsie around it) is a city in the U.S. state of New York. It is the county seat of Dutchess County, with a 2020 census population of 31,577. Poughkeepsi ...

and raised in the town of

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

. She is a graduate of

State University of New York at New Paltz The State University of New York at New Paltz (SUNY New Paltz or New Paltz) is a public university in New Paltz, New York. It traces its origins to the New Paltz Classical School, a secondary institution founded in 1828 and reorganized as an a ...

Career

After moving to Los Angeles in the early 2000s, Sairrino joined the entertainment industry as an assistant to

Golden Globe The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

-winning producer

('' The Aviator''); she later transitioned to serve as Climan's director of development and vice president of creative affairs, and worked with his consultancy firm Entertainment Media Ventures and its associated companies, including

3ality Digital 3ality Technica, formerly 3ality Digital, was a Burbank, California based company that specialized in high-definition, live-action stereoscopic digital 3-D film, 3D. The company developed production systems, image processing software and other ...

(''

U2 3D ''U2 3D'' is a 2008 American-produced 3D concert film featuring rock band U2 performing during the Vertigo Tour in 2006. The film contains performances of 14 songs, including tracks from ''How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb'' (2004), the album supp ...

''). In 2012, Sairrino joined All Nippon Entertainment Works (ANEW), a firm which sought to develop Hollywood film projects based upon Japanese-originated properties. She served as senior vice president of development and production, and during this time developed expertise in the clearance of intellectual property

chain of title A chain of title is the sequence of historical transfers of title to a property. It is a valuable tool to identify and document past owners of a property and serves as a property's historical ownership timeline. The "chain" runs from the present o ...

, a complex but necessary aspect of rights clearance in the adaptation process. During her time at ANEW, Sairrino developed adaptation projects based on the anime series ''

Tiger & Bunny ''Tiger & Bunny'' (stylized as ''TIGER & BUNNY'') is a 2011 Japanese anime superhero television series produced by Sunrise and directed by Keiichi Sato. The screenplay was written by Masafumi Nishida with original character design by Ma ...

'' and '' Gaiking'', the novel and live-action film ''

Shield of Straw is a 2013 Japanese spy film, spy thriller film directed by Takashi Miike. It was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and it was released on 26 April 2013. Plot Ninagawa was a powerful man in Japanese politics and with ...

'', the live-action films '' Ghost Train'' (with a screenplay by

Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers mo ...

writers Patrick Casey and

Josh Miller Joshua or Josh Miller may refer to: Musicians *Joshua Miller, American musician with duo Nemesis also featured in '' Jacob and Joshua: Nemesis Rising'' *Josh Miller, musician with The Pappy Johns Band Sportsmen * Josh Miller (field hockey) in ...

) and ''

Birthright Birthright is the concept of things being due to a person upon or by fact of their birth, or due to the order of their birth. These may include rights of citizenship based on the place where the person was born or the citizenship of their paren ...

'', and the manga series ''SOUL ReVIVER'' and ''6000''. Partners for these projects included

Ron Howard Ronald William Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He first came to prominence as a child actor, guest-starring in several television series, including an episode of ''The Twilight Zone''. He ...

and Brian Grazer's Imagine Entertainment,

Edward Zwick Edward M. Zwick (born October 8, 1952) is an American filmmaker and producer of film and television. He has worked primarily in the comedy drama and historical drama, epic historical film genres, including ''About Last Night (1986 film), About L ...

and Marshall Herskovitz's

The Bedford Falls Company Bedford Falls Productions (or The Bedford Falls Company) is the production company of Marshall Herskovitz and Edward Zwick, the creators of the television series ''Thirtysomething'' and '' Once and Again'', and producers of '' Legends of the Fall ...

, Mike Medavoy's Phoenix Pictures, Chris and Paul Weitz's company Depth of Field, and Gale Anne Hurd's

Valhalla Entertainment Valhalla Entertainment Productions, Inc. is an American film and television production company. Their productions include AMC's ''The Walking Dead'' television series, its companion series, '' Fear the Walking Dead,'' and the spin-off, '' The W ...

. Following a change of ownership, a corporate realignment of ANEW in 2017 led to many of these projects remaining unrealized. However, ANEW's effort marked the accomplishment of the largest slate of Japanese properties in development in Hollywood to that time. In 2017, Sairrino established a new film production company, Akatsuki Entertainment USA, as a division of leading Japanese mobile game developer Akatsuki. Sairrino served as the CEO of Akatsuki Entertainment and as a board member of the parent company. Akatsuki Entertainment's business model focused on the adaptation of Japanese-originated intellectual properties into live-action Hollywood films. Akatsuki Entertainment's film activities included project development, financing, and production. In 2018, the company announced their first film, an adaptation of the best-selling

Kadokawa Games Kadokawa may refer to: * Kadokawa Corporation, the holding company of the Kadokawa Group **Kadokawa Content Gate and Kadokawa Mobile, both former names for BookWalker **Kadokawa Future Publishing, a subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation and the publ ...

visual novel A , often abbreviated as VN, is a form of digital semi-interactive fiction. Visual novels are often associated with and used in the medium of video games, but are not always labeled as such themselves. They combine a textual narrative with sta ...

''. Directed by

Sonja O'Hara Sonja O'Hara (born Sonja Kristiansen;) is an Emmy-nominated Canadian writer, director and actress who is represented by Verve and Gotham Group. She is originally from Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, and resides in Los Angeles, California. Her digita ...

, written by David Ebeltoft, and starring

Danny Ramirez Danny Ramirez (born September 17, 1992) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Wes in '' The Gifted'', Mario Martinez in ''On My Block'', Joaquin Torres in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Lt. Mickey "Fanboy" Garcia in '' To ...

, Keana Marie, and

Lydia Hearst Lydia Marie Hearst-Shaw (born September 19, 1984) is an American fashion model, actress, socialite, and lifestyle blogger. She is a great-granddaughter of newspaper publisher and politician William Randolph Hearst and a daughter of the author an ...

, the film entered production in 2019, was completed in 2020, was acquired for US distribution by Entertainment Squad, and was released on September 1, 2022. Sairrino developed and produced the film. Also in 2020, Sairrino developed and produced Akatsuki Entertainment's second project, the supernatural horror film ''

''. Adapted from the novel of the same name written by Nanami Kamon and published by

Kobunsha Kobunsha ( ja, 光文社 ''Kōbunsha'') is a Japanese publishing company. It publishes literature, manga novels, and women's magazines. Company history Kobunsha was established on October 1, 1945, and belongs to the Kodansha group. The company h ...

, ''Room 203'' was directed by Ben Jagger, written by

John Poliquin John "JP" Poliquin (born August 24, 1986) is a Canadian music video, commercial and feature film director. He has directed music videos for bands such as Hedley, Finger Eleven, Mother Mother, and Carly Rae Jepsen, and his music video work has b ...

, Nick Richey, and Jagger, and starred Francesca Xuereb, Viktoria Vinyarska, and Eric Wiegand. The film was fully-financed and produced by Akatsuki Entertainment and was filmed in

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...

in the fall of 2020, with post-production completed in 2021. In June 2021,

acquired worldwide sales rights for ''Room 203'' ahead of presenting its sales slate at the

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

virtual film market, with Voltage citing the robust market for J-horror-derived projects among international buyers. The film was subsequently acquired for domestic theatrical and

video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos without a traditional video playback device and the constraints of a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of o ...

distribution by Vertical Entertainment, and was released on April 15, 2022. In September 2020, Sairrino established AMMO Entertainment, a new production company which has assumed responsibility for completion of the distribution arrangements for ''Root Letter'' and ''Room 203'', as well as the production of Akatsuki Entertainment's development slate. AMMO Entertainment's corporate mission broadens the mandate of Akatsuki Entertainment, expanding to include the production of film and television productions based on true stories and original concepts, in addition to a continuing focus on Japanese content adaptations. In October 2022, Sairrino announced the formation of the new specialty label AMMO Select, as well as the imprint's initial project, a feature-length documentary following the careers and romance of astrologer-artist couple Amy Zerner and Monte Farber.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sairrino, Annmarie Living people Film producers from New York (state) People from Poughkeepsie, New York Year of birth missing (living people)