Yoshiaki Nishimura founded Studio Ponoc on April 15, 2015, and gained the support of several animators previously working under
Studio Ghibli, including director
Hiromasa Yonebayashi. The name of the studio comes from the
Serbo-Croatian word , for "midnight", meant to signify "the beginning of a new day". The studio worked on an advertisement for
JR West for its 2015 summer campaign. Studio Ponoc produced an animated short film titled ''
Tomorrow's Leaves'', written by Yoshiaki Nishimura and directed by Yoshiyuki Momose, in collaboration with the International Olympic Committee's Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage, timed to coincide with the opening of the
Tokyo Olympic Games and inspired by Olympic values of "Excellence, Friendship and Respect". Production on the film started in June 2019. Its release was postponed along with the 2020 Summer Olympic Games, and the film had its world premiere at the
Annecy International Animation Film Festival during its opening ceremony on June 14, 2021. The animated short film screened at the
Tokyo Skytree from July 12 until September 5. The animated short film officially premiered when it was made available on
YouTube by the
International Olympic Committee and on Studio Ponoc's official website at ponoc.jp on July 23, the opening date of the 2020 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. On January 25, 2024,
Netflix announced that they had acquired worldwide streaming rights to
The Imaginary, which would be added to the platform later in the year. The deal also included global streaming rights to the studio's future feature projects. ==Works==