Nippon Direct Marketing Announces 'Short Drama Project Contest' at International Short Film Festival SSFF & ASIA 2026

Nippon Direct Marketing Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President and Representative Director: Akiyoshi Mizutani; hereinafter 'Nippon Direct Marketing'), as part of its initiative to evolve into a 'comprehensive service (WEB3.0)' company centered on 'Entertainment, Global, and DX', will implement a 'Short Drama Project Contest' targeting video creators worldwide, in collaboration with the international short film festival 'Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia (hereinafter SSFF & ASIA)'. This initiative is a measure implemented as part of the AYET Project, for which Nippon Direct Marketing serves as a business promotion partner, aiming to discover and nurture creators, create original IP, and disseminate content globally. The company will provide a production fund of 10 million yen, and plans to offer credit notation and royalties based on commercial profits to the original project planner. The initiative will be announced at the 'SSFF & ASIA 2026 Award Ceremony' to be held on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, at LINE CUBE SHIBUYA. ■ Background AYET Project and Creator Support Nippon Direct Marketing is exploring new member experiences and content support methods in the WEB3.0 era. This contest is not merely a video contest; it is an initiative that looks ahead from the creator's project as a starting point, through production, presentation, IP development, and commercial returns. By combining the 'power to deliver products' cultivated through traditional mail-order sales with entertainment and digital mechanisms, the company aims to create a new distribution model that delivers stories created by creators to consumers, fans, and the global market. ■ Announcement at 'SSFF & ASIA 2026 Award Ceremony' At the 'SSFF & ASIA 2026 Award Ceremony' to be held on Wednesday, June 10, 2026, at LINE CUBE SHIBUYA, Akiyoshi Mizutani, President and Representative Director of Nippon Direct Marketing, is scheduled to take the stage and announce the details of this contest. On the day, Kumi Sasaki, former member of Hinatazaka46, as the AYET Project Ambassador, and Jun Aoyama and Masami Shioda from the Showa Kayo & Pop group 'SHOW-WA', as official ambassadors of Nippon Direct Marketing, are also scheduled to appear. Akiyoshi Mizutani President and Representative Director, Nippon Direct Marketing Kumi Sasaki Former member of Hinatazaka46 Jun Aoyama SHOW-WA Masami Shioda SHOW-WA [Award Ceremony Overview] Date & Time: Wednesday, June 10, 2026, Doors open 16:30 / Event ends 19:30 (scheduled) Venue: LINE CUBE SHIBUYA Official Page: https://www.shortshorts.org/2026/award-ceremony/ *Speakers and content are subject to change without notice. ■ Comments Tetsuya Bessho, Representative of the Short Shorts Executive Committee As an Academy Award®-qualifying international short film festival, with the George Lucas Award at its pinnacle, we have gathered short films from around the world here in Japan and exhibited the future map of cinema. We are very pleased to be able to start the Short Drama Project Contest, which will contribute to the career development of video creators, through this new project with Nippon Direct Marketing. In particular, by utilizing innovative mechanisms such as WEB3, blockchain, and tokens, and collaborating with our LIFE LOG BOX platform, we will expand the possibilities for video creators. We look forward to the world gathering in Japan through short films in this contest supervised by Yasushi Akimoto and the globally expanding AYET. Akiyoshi Mizutani, President and Representative Director, Nippon Direct Marketing Co., Ltd. This Short Drama Project Contest is a new challenge to materialize the ideas of promising video creators, disseminate them globally, and connect them to commercial returns. We aim not just to solicit works, but to discover talent from the planning stage, sublimate it into content that reaches the world together with general producer Yasushi Akimoto, and ultimately nurture it as original IP. By combining the knowledge of the international film festival SSFF & ASIA and the WEB3.0 creator platform 'LIFE LOG BOX' with the AYET Project, we will work to create a system where creators can continue to take on challenges. The AYET Project is a plan to issue 'AYET', a cryptocurrency specialized for entertainment. It aims to issue a utility token that is not just a fan token but also provides means for purchasing products on Nippon Direct Marketing's e-commerce site, event benefits, participation rights, etc., and furthermore, aims to build a global economic zone. Actor Tetsuya Bessho, also a member of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), founded the American Short Short Film Festival in 1999 with the desire to introduce 'short films' he encountered in the United States to Japan as a new film genre. In 2001, the name was changed to 'Short Shorts Film Festival (SSFF)', and in 2004 it was certified as an Academy Award®-qualifying festival. In the same year, with the aim of disseminating new film culture originating from Asia and fostering emerging young filmmakers, the 'Short Shorts Film Festival Asia (SSFF ASIA, co-hosted by Tokyo Metropolitan Government)' was born, and the festival is now held under the collective name 'SSFF & ASIA'. To commemorate the festival's 20th anniversary in 2018, the Grand Prix award was named the 'George Lucas Award' after director George Lucas. In January 2019, the 'Short Shorts Film Festival in Hollywood' was held as a 20th-anniversary commemorative event. Since the 2019 festival, four winning works from the International, Asia International, Japan, and Non-Fiction categories, and since 2022, five works including the Animation category winner, have earned the right to be considered for nomination in the following year's Academy Awards® Short Film category. SSFF & ASIA will continue to support young creators through its festival. https://www.shortshorts.org ■ Nippon Direct Marketing Co., Ltd. Location: Ito Yu Building Toranomon 3F, 3-20-5 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo Representative: Akiyoshi Mizutani, President and Representative Director Established: October 1977 (Start of Nippon Direct Marketing brand) Business: Comprehensive services (mail-order sales / content planning / advertising and sales promotion support, etc.) URL: https://corporate.666-666.jp