Before I came up with the questions for the interview, I had to do research on Levy. Plus, I did not want to ask questions that have already been answered. There were quite a few articles on this man, and some of the information caused a stir of questions in my mind.
For some reason, Levy calls himself “weird.” Now why in the world would someone call themselves that? It is because he has been told by many that he is weird. “Maybe everyone is weird in their own way.” Levy has a variety of “inconsistent interests.” Because of this, he believes that it will be difficult “to put me in a box” and might be different from others. “Hence “weird.” I’m an entrepreneur but also an artist. I am emotional but logical. I’m good at math but love creative writing. Basically, I’m one an oxymoron – or perhaps schizophrenic is a more appropriate term ☺”
From my research, I noticed that Levy has a lot of insights on the industry. This is not about what he knows or what he does not know, but how he thinks and views it. The man sounds philosophical or maybe even plain old realistic when it comes to understanding the manga industry. “I think both, probably because that’s my general outlook on life – philosophical and realistic…Cynical optimist describes me overall.” In regards to the industry, Levy does not “consider” himself or his company to the limitations of what others may consider as the manga industry. According to Levy, “manga are a subset of graphic novels which are a subset of books which is a subset of the media and entertainment industry.” Keeping this in mind, he thinks of TOKYOPOP and himself as part of said subsets. He believes that it will help him achieve his dreams, either personally or for the company. “We have to keep building the depth and reach of the characters we introduce and the stories we tell. An audience today is fluent in a plethora of mediums so our stories must reach them with the same degree of fluency. It’s a big challenge but only those characters and stories that translate across mediums are able to truly resonate with our society. This is not limited to America (or Hollywood) – it’s true in Japan and worldwide.”
Now here is an interesting aspect about Levy’s identity: his alternative name is DJ Milky. Yes, that is his pen name and fans of Princess Ai may recognize that name from reading the books. Out of all names to choose from, where did this come from?? It originally dates back to his youth when he used to rap for fun, seriously: MC Milk Bone. Yes, he agrees that it is a “dorky name,” but it is to pay “homage” to his old rapper name. The word “milk” comes from vitiligo, which causes the skin to lose pigmentation or have white patches. “So, I have “milky” spots on my hands, feet, face, etc.” The word “D.J.” is because Levy produces and composes music as a hobby. Another aspect to the word is that he considers what he does for a living to be a “cultural DJ.” “In the sense that I sometimes “play music” by licensing manga or other entertainment that I like and introducing it to an audience, and other times I “create music” by collaborating with other creative people.”
© 2010 Linda Thai
Stay tune for Part 3 of the Stuart Levy interview!
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