Fanny — Feature Film Production Services, Tokyo
Alphabet Productions provided local production services in Tokyo for “Fanny”, a feature film directed by Québec filmmaker Yan England and produced by Téléfiction. We handled everything the Canadian team needed to shoot in Japan: location scouting and permits, Japanese casting, visa support, a bilingual local crew and all ground logistics. The result was two shoot days across Tokyo for a film that opened in cinemas in Canada in May 2025.
The brief
Fanny is adapted from Stéphanie Lapointe's Fanny Cloutier novels. It follows a teenager who discovers that her late mother's family has been kept from her, and sets out to uncover a long-buried secret. Part of the story takes place in Japan. Téléfiction needed a production partner in Tokyo who could turn a list of scenes into a tight, fully permitted two-day shoot, working in English with the Canadian team and in Japanese on the ground.
How we produced it
We scouted Tokyo with director Yan England and director of photography Jérôme Sabourin over two days. Our locations manager then secured the locations: the Sumida Aquarium for a night scene, Senso-ji in Asakusa with the Taito City Film Commission, a traditional dango shop on Togoshi Ginza shopping street, and Shibuya Parco.
We cast the Japanese roles through self-tape auditions, including Hiroshi Sogabe and Asuka Kiryu. Alphabet acted as the inviting company for the Canadian cast and crew's Certificates of Eligibility for their Japanese visas, and we translated every actor and location release into Japanese. On the shoot, a bilingual local crew of camera assistants, hair and make-up and a sound recordist worked alongside the Canadian department heads, while our team ran airport transfers, production vans and insurance.
What we delivered
The Japan scenes were filmed over two days, on 6 and 7 November 2024, and appear in the finished film. Téléfiction Distribution released Fanny in Canadian cinemas on 9 May 2025, and the film was selected in competition at the Angoulême Francophone Film Festival in August 2025.
"Filming in Japan can feel daunting from abroad, but Alphabet Productions made it feel easy and inspiring. Their team was not only highly professional, but also generous and deeply attentive to the needs of our production. Thanks to them, we were able to focus on telling our story instead of worrying about logistics. They were a true partner in bringing our project to life."
— Annie Blais, Producer, Téléfiction
Planning a feature film, series or documentary shoot in Japan? See our production support in Japan.
Film: Fanny (2025), feature film
Director: Yan England
Production company: Téléfiction (Québec, Canada)
Producers: Annie Blais, Claude Veillet, Lucie Veillet
Director of photography: Jérôme Sabourin
Japan production services: Alphabet Productions
Local producer: Andrew Goldie
Local production manager: Angie Tachibana
Local locations manager: Aaron Berman
Location: Tokyo, Japan (Asakusa, Sumida, Togoshi Ginza, Shibuya)
Services: Location scouting, filming permits, Japanese casting, visa support (Certificates of Eligibility), translation, local crew, transport, insurance
