Frazier was the first foreigner to work in the production department of a Japanese animation studio.
Anime industry veteran Jan Scott Frazier launched a GoFundMe crowdfunding campaign Friday to help her move into assisted living. Frazier wrote that she had been in the hospital all summer. She was no longer able to live in her townhouse, so she had to move into assisted living and needed help moving in, renting a truck and movers, and preparing to live on her own.
Image via GoFundMe
As of writing, the campaign has raised $10,000 of its $12,000 goal. She posted an update on Saturday saying, “Wow! A huge thank you to everyone who has donated so far. You are making my life possible.”
Voice actress Amanda Winn Lee (Rei from Neon Genesis Evangelion, Yukiko from Persona 4) previously launched a crowdfunding campaign on behalf of Frazier in January 2022. On the GoFundMe page, Winn Lee wrote that Frazier has medical issues, noting that she has been removed from the kidney donor list. Because of this, she is dependent on an oxygen concentrator and needs money to fix or replace it. She is also a caregiver for her elderly mother and needs help with other miscellaneous expenses. Winn Lee wrote, “Please help someone who has helped so many people.”
The campaign raised $14,130 of its $10,000 goal. Frazier later posted an update thanking donors and announcing that she had purchased a new oxygen concentrator.
Frazier has worked in the anime industry in Japan for 13 years in a number of different roles, including as a producer. She joined the production department of Artland in 1989, becoming the first foreigner to work in the production department of a Japanese animation studio. In 1992, she founded her own full-fledged production company, TAO Corporation Ltd., in Bangkok, Thailand. In 1994, she co-founded GENESIS Digital Publishing Company with Izumi Matsumoto (Kimagure Orange Road), where they created Comic ON, the first digital comic.
She became president of Production IG USA in 1995 and served as production and technical director on the Japanese side. She was the animation technical director for the Grandstream Saga, Madou Monogatari, and Kyoushin Senki games, as well as working on the Panzer Dragoon OAV. As a freelance director, Frazier directed episodes of Susie-chan & Marvy and worked on developing original television projects. After returning to the United States, she founded the non-profit voice actor project Voices For.
Source: GoFundMe
