Person: Maruyama Masao

Maruyama Masao was born June 19, 1941 in Shiogama, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Being a film producer, he is a 40-plus year veteran of the animation business and the co-founder of Studio Madhouse, one of the leading animation production companies in the world. He also served as the president for Madhouse, then board of directors member and chief creative officer until moving on to Mappa.

Maruyama graduated Hosei University in 1963, and soon after, he found work at Mushi Production as an animator, in 1965. It was here that he met many of Madhouse's future staff members. In October 1972, this core group of artists (who included (Rintarou, Dezaki Osamu, Kawajiri Yoshiaki) left the company and founded Studio Madhouse, with Maruyama becoming the studio's president from 1980 to 2000. After that Maruyama focused mainly on producing and planning Madhouse's upcoming projects. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he also did production design on several films. In 2002, Maruyama was awarded the "Special/Lifetime Achievement" Award at the 7th Animation Kobe in recognition and honor of his contributions to the industry. He was the first producer to be given the award.

Thanks in large part to his frequent attendance at anime conventions, he has become well-known in America among Madhouse's fanbase. Not simply wanting to emulate past successes, Maruyama frequently says at these events that his goal as a producer is to seek out new challenges that will allow the production staff to keep experimenting. This attitude in part has been the reason why he has encouraged the studio to take on projects that may not seem like sure-fire commercial hits. In addition, Maruyama has long been a supporter of bringing new talents into the animation business, and continues to encourage young people to work in anime.

At his numerous convention appearances, he has joked that he hopes he will live long enough to see Madhouse's latest project through to completion.