Sayo Yamamoto
Animation Director
Japan
Biography:
Ms. Sayo Yamamoto was born 1977 in Tokyo, Japan. After graduating from Art School, she joined anime studio Madhouse. Ms. Yamamoto was soon creating storyboards for numerous shows and she had her first experience with episode directing at age 25.
Ms. Yamamoto continued to storyboard and episode direct on a variety of series, including several episodes of Shinichiro Watanabe's Samurai Champloo (storyboards and episode director), Ergo Proxy (storyboards and episode director), Psalm's of Planets: Eureka Seven (storyboards and episode director), High School of the Dead (storyboard), and Space Dandy (storyboard and episode director), just to name a few..
Ms. Yamamoto's full directorial debut came in 2008, with the adventurous Michiko and Hatchin television series, and in 2012, Ms. Yamamoto directed her second television series which was titled Lupin III: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine. She directed a figure skating short, Endless Night, that was featured in Japan Animator's Expo in 2015. In 2016, director Yamamoto co-created and directed the incredibly popular ice skating anime Yuri!!! on Ice.
Ms. Yamamoto is also prolific in directing the openings and endings of anime shows. She has been involved in Attack on Titan (ending storyboards and directing), Space Dandy (storyboarded the ending and directed Yasuyuki Okamura's Viva Namida music clip), Tiger & Bunny: The Rising (storyboards), Evangelion 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance (storyboard), and the game Persona 5 (directed the opening).
Anime Convention Guest Appearances
- AnimeFest 2017 - August 17-20, 2017 in Dallas, TX
- Japan Expo 2017 - July 6-9, 2017 in Paris, France
- AnimeNEXT 2013 - June 7-9, 2013 in Somerset, NJ
- AnimeFest 2012 - August 31 - September 3, 2012 in Dallas, TX