Updating the entertainment business. Dentsu Inc. BX team partners with Lepro's transformation.

In 2024, the number of entertainment agency bankruptcies reached a record high. Amidst this major turning point for the entire industry, Lepro Entertainment is challenging the transformation of the entertainment business without being swept away by the tide. Moving beyond traditional talent management and production, the company is expanding its business domains into content production and PR agency services. It is also undertaking wide-ranging updates, including fair contract structures with performers and reforms to employee work styles and evaluation systems.

As part of this transformation, the company conducted its first new graduate recruitment in four years during fiscal 2023. They sought individuals with the will to confront the changing entertainment business and a deep "love for the work."

This time, we spoke with Ryuhei Honma, Head of Corporate Planning at Lepro Entertainment, and Taiki Kawase of the Dentsu BX team, who supported the recruitment creative, about their efforts to shape the "next Lepro" that transcends the boundaries of the entertainment world.

From Entertainment Management Company to "Entertainment General Trading Company that Loves Entertainment"

Kawase: First, could you tell us about your background, Mr. Honma?

Honma: Sure. I was formerly an employee at Dentsu Inc. After joining in 2010, I worked in the division handling radio and television. Alongside traditional media business, I was heavily involved in content-related work such as anime production committee operations, character production, and drama production. I spent about nine years at Dentsu Inc. After that, I worked at a venture company focused on content business before joining Lepro Entertainment in 2021.

At Lepro, I initially handled content production for films and dramas for about two years. Currently, I'm involved in corporate planning, human resources, and also handle PR agency work. I continue to be involved in video production and have handled a wide range of duties beyond just being an artist manager. Recently, I've also started taking on manager duties.

Kawase: You're practically a "jack-of-all-trades" now, aren't you?

Honma: No, no, I'm just a jack-of-all-trades (laughs). But it's not like I've been completely immersed in the entertainment world; I feel like I've built my career within the context of content production and content business.

Kawase: That perspective is precisely what I feel is driving Repro's current transformation. Many readers probably still strongly associate "Repro" with just being a talent agency, but the current Repro is much more than that, right?

Honma: That's right. Today's Lepro aims to be a comprehensive entertainment conglomerate centered around talent, but driven by a love for entertainment. Our "Star Production Business," which manages and produces performers, is essentially our origin and remains a pillar of Lepro. Added to that is our Content Production Business, creating entertainment like films, dramas, and stage productions. And then there's our "PR & Communications Business," which includes not only our own PR but also acting as a PR agency for other companies. We operate these three areas independently.

Many talent agencies handle content production, but I don't think many agencies originating as talent agencies also handle PR agency work end-to-end.

Kawase: What's also interesting about Lepro is how flexibly they handle casting and PR, not just for their own talent but also for talent from other agencies. Moreover, because they have extensive experience and know-how in talent management, they deeply understand how to communicate with performers to enhance output quality and create excellent work. I believe this directly translates into their strengths in content production and PR.

Honma: Thank you. Ideally, we want to create a state where these three businesses support Lepro in a balanced, self-sustaining yet interconnected way. Therefore, we aim to consistently provide optimal value not just through services centered on our affiliated performers, but also through a work-first, client-first mindset.

Kawase: That mindset itself feels like it transcends the boundaries of traditional entertainment business. Could you also share the underlying challenges that led Repro to focus on updating the entertainment business?

Honma: To be honest, I don't think Repro's public image is entirely positive. If you search our company name online, articles and reports about past controversies often appear high in the results. Rather than denying this, we strongly felt we must confront what requires reflection and change, and actively pursue updates.

For instance, we've revised our contracts with performers; now, they're basically all one-year contracts. This allows us to design contract terms flexibly according to changes in the environment and career aspirations, building a relationship that is always fair and optimal for both parties. This conclusion came precisely because we experienced failures in the past.

Kawase: In 2024, there was also news about the highest number of talent agency bankruptcies on record. I feel the entire industry is approaching a major turning point for sustaining business going forward.

Honma: That's right. It's said that the power of television has relatively weakened due to the development of the internet and social media. Traditional talent agencies have relied on their bargaining power with mass media as a key asset, but that alone is no longer sustainable. That's precisely why we felt we needed the ability to create stars ourselves, without relying solely on television. To achieve this, we must hone both the ability to produce quality content ourselves and the PR power to deliver it to the world. This realization that we needed to build a new business model was one of the catalysts for diversifying our operations.

However, all of us at Lepro, myself included, still hold deep respect and gratitude for mass media. We all truly love television. The environment that nurtured Lepro, our origins as an entertainment agency, and our relationship with mass media – we want to cherish this history while updating our entertainment business to suit the current era. I believe this sentiment lies at the core of Lepro.

Kawase: While respecting mass media, expanding the business foundation to suit the times, and reevaluating the organization's structure. I feel that precisely this kind of "corporate strength" is what is demanded of talent agencies right now.

Honma: Exactly. I strongly feel that what entertainment agencies need today is to "become more corporate." Rather than relying on the personal management style of a charismatic leader, we must build sustainable management systems. Lepro has been consciously working on this transformation. For example, we've established attendance management and evaluation systems, introducing performance-based assessments instead of seniority-based ones. Manager positions also support full-flexible work arrangements to accommodate different work styles. We actually implemented remote work and free-address seating even before the pandemic.

Kawase: So you've been updating your work styles and evaluation systems ahead of the times.

Updating the entertainment business. The reason behind resuming new graduate hiring after a four-year hiatus

Kawase: Hearing about your business transformation, I sense a need for change in your internal organization and talent management as well. You conducted new graduate hiring for the first time in four years in fiscal 2023. Could you share the background behind that decision?

Honma: First, regarding our origins: we started as a modeling agency and expanded into television and variety shows. This history likely contributed to the persistent image of Lepro as an agency strong in modeling. However, we are now also focusing on managing and producing actors active in films and dramas. We aim to contribute to creating "performers who can thrive long-term" and "content that endures over time."

Of course, "content that captures a moment," like events and variety shows, remains important. But beyond that, we now want to create "content that becomes an asset," something that endures on platforms like Netflix. To achieve this, we needed new talent capable of working effectively on production sets.

Kawase: Does this new talent profile require different skills than traditional managers?

Honma: Yes. For example, traditional managers needed negotiation skills with TV stations and communication abilities on set. But if we're focusing on acting careers, those managers need to be able to have deep conversations with directors and screenwriters and possess a deep understanding of the work. In other words, they need knowledge they can discuss on set and the ability to analyze works. With that in mind, we decided to conduct new graduate hiring for the first time in four years.

Kawase: What was the reason for deliberately choosing new graduates over mid-career hires?

Honma: Mid-career hires were an option. However, what we were seeking was "passion." The stamina to keep watching works, the habit of constantly engaging with creativity. These traits are largely driven by the mindset of "I can keep doing this because I love it." In the mid-career hiring market, skills and experience are visible, but passion is harder to gauge. Therefore, we reasoned that new graduates offered the best chance to meet people who are absolutely passionate about works.

That's precisely why we didn't want our recruitment visuals and copy to be bland or generic. We needed sophisticated output that would resonate with people who have a deep love for the work and a genuine appreciation for creativity. We felt we should entrust this to professionals in that field.

Kawase: That's why you approached us.

Honma: Yes. The main reason we asked Kawase-san was because she understood Repro's "present" better than anyone. Actually, we weren't acquainted during our time at Dentsu Inc. I met Kawase-san in the Iriyama Seminar at Waseda University's Graduate School of Business, where I was pursuing my MBA starting in 2021. Over those two years, especially the latter year, we worked together on seminar activities almost every night. Naturally, we talked a lot about Repro. I trusted that he deeply understood the context of how we wanted to change Repro today.

Kawase: With work during the day and seminars at night, we saw each other almost daily, didn't we? I myself graduated from an art university and worked as an art director across several departments at Dentsu Inc. Gradually, I took on more roles involving direct interaction with executives, which made me want to systematically study management, leading me to pursue my MBA.

Honma: That's precisely why I felt I could rely on you not just as a trusted creative professional, but as a partner with a business perspective and deep understanding of operations. Someone who wouldn't be constrained by Repro's past image, but could truly align with our current phase. And above all, from our shared MBA experience, I was confident we could build a relationship that transcends the client-vendor framework, allowing us to run alongside each other on equal footing. That was the biggest deciding factor.

The Co-Creation Approach to Recruitment Creative

Kawase: Looking back, what approach did you take when creating the creative assets for the new graduate recruitment campaign?

Honma: First, we shared Repro's current position and our desired direction with Mr. Kawase, copywriter Teruha Hasegawa, and producer Kensuke Suzuki. Based on that, they proposed an incredibly large number of copy concepts.

Kawase: It was quite a lot, indeed (laughs). There's so much recruitment advertising these days. I felt that unless Repro clearly defined "where they could differentiate themselves," it would be difficult to stand out. That's precisely why we were so thorough during the initial discussions. We delved deep into what kind of people they wanted to hire, why they needed those specific individuals, and the underlying philosophy behind it.

What really caught our attention was the step in your hiring process where candidates watch a film and write a critique. Not just their impressions, but a critique. We thought this was a highly unique process within recruitment. It symbolizes the love for films and deep understanding that Repro seeks, and above all, it sends a powerful message: "This company truly values its work."

So we proposed, "What if we built our message around this film critique process?" and immediately generated ideas for copy and visuals to bring it to life. Rather than narrowing down to a few final concepts, we adopted a "co-creation style" approach: laying out numerous prototypes on the table and working with Mr. Honma and his team to evaluate each one step by step.

Honma: We were also grateful to receive feedback on our input. For example, hearing that "the film review process is interesting" offered a perspective we wouldn't have noticed on our own. Even though it's a routine flow for us, it can be appealing to an outsider. The copy we ultimately arrived at was "Love for the Work." Using this as our theme also made it fit incredibly well with the visuals. As a result, I believe we created something that accurately conveys the type of person Repro is seeking.

Kawase: It was a short-term project, but the content was incredibly rich, wasn't it?

Honma: That's right. The deadline was actually quite tight, so we faced various constraints. Despite that, we were truly grateful you managed to deliver such high-resolution output.

Over 500 applicants. Why "passion for the work" led to meeting high-quality talent

Kawase: What kind of response did you get after actually releasing the creative?

Honma: Both the number of applicants and the overall response were quite positive. We ultimately received applications from about 500 people. Since this was our first new graduate hiring in four years, we were feeling our way in terms of what a reasonable number would be. However, the representative from the job information site gave us feedback saying, "Compared to other companies in the same industry, the response was exceptionally good."

We also feel that the employees who joined through this new graduate recruitment truly match the profile we were seeking. We believe we achieved excellent recruitment not only in terms of "quantity" of applicants but also in "quality." It really confirms that our initial creative approach was spot on.

Kawase: Our initial target was 200 applicants, right? Exceeding 500 is truly remarkable.

Honma: That's right. We closed this year's recruitment in April, and this time we received over 700 applications. Since we've seen this approach resonate to a certain extent, we want to continue refining it.

Kawase: But the selection process must be incredibly labor-intensive. The film critique process seems quite demanding.

Honma: Oh, absolutely (laughs). We ask them to watch a film and write a critique on the spot, but they don't know the film until the day of the event. We screen the film, and then they have one hour to write their critique. The selection committee also has to read every single critique, so it's incredibly labor-intensive.

Kawase: But that's incredibly effective for discerning the applicant's true essence, isn't it? How much they've seen, what perspective they observe from—it all seeps into their writing. I think this format works precisely because it assumes they keep watching precisely because they love it.

Honma: Exactly. People with analytical and observational skills notice different things in the same film. You get surprising perspectives, like "They focused on that performance?" Conversely, those who haven't watched much tend to stick to superficial impressions.

Kawase: That "power to see" and "power to think" is precisely what's crucial for Repro's work. Collaborating with you to explore the values guiding your talent acquisition through your recruitment creatives was hugely stimulating for us too. Subsequently, to further clarify your organizational core, you embarked on formulating your MVV (Mission, Vision, Values), and we had the privilege of accompanying you through that process.

Next time, I hope to focus on why you chose this particular timing to define your MVV, and the background and challenges that led to that decision.

(To be continued in Part 2)