Ah, I had heard about that and thought it was just something they were being put partially in charge of. If they're scuttling Funimation's US stuff to make them... some sort of Mexico / EU / whatnot anime publisher, that's certainly a happening. Do we have any information on this other than that article from September?
Doing a search for Funimation Wakanim Madman gets the Funi version of the PR page:
Doing a bit of research for... Madman:
en.wikipedia.org
AnimeLab is a video on demand service that specialises in the online streaming and simulcasting of Japanese anime series, serving the Australian and New Zealand market.[28]
[snip]
On 24 January 2020, Funimation announced that it would be shutting down access to FunimationNow in Australia and New Zealand on 30 March, merging all of Funimation's titles onto AnimeLab.[36]
This is the linked article:
FunimationNow service shuts down in Australia, New Zealand on March 30
www.animenewsnetwork.com
archived 10 Apr 2020 19:11:28 UTC
archive.vn
Which has more information. So Funimation has already been shut down in Australia and NZ, and probably France, but...
Colin Decker, who became Funimation's general manager in May, leads the joint venture. The joint venture operates under Funimation's name and acquires and distributes Japanese anime through the three component companies. Variety reported in September that the joint venture would cover 10 languages in 49 countries with about 300 employees.
But apparently Funimation is in charge of the three companies, ultimately.
Looking further in that article... Apparently Funimation also bought Manga Entertainment (UK / Ireland), too. And through Aniplex, Sony owns A-1 Pictures and Cloverworks.
So yeah, Sony appears to be trying to EA the anime industry -- and Funimation is just being brought along for the ride?
Looking at the job postings for Funimation...
31 Funimation jobs available on Indeed.com. Apply to Product Manager, Back End Developer, Mobile Product Manager and more!
www.indeed.com
archived 10 Apr 2020 19:02:47 UTC
archive.vn
A lot of jobs in Culver City / LA, but still some in Texas. Seems like a lot of software engineers and the like. Makes me wonder if they're aiming for a new mobile app.