Studio Elle

The company's predecessor, Leo Productions, founded by Leo Nishimura in 1961, was primarily involved with TV and film production. They very briefly entered the anime cel-photography business in 1970 before closing that department in 1973. In 1975, the company's name was changed to the current Studio Elle and a cel-painting department was established. In 1988, the company officially registered as a yūgen gaisha. In 1999, the company shifted all cel-painting production to digital and did the same with its photography department in 2001. In 2005, the studio opened an animation department and merged with animation studio Jec E. The different departments were located in different buildings until 2007 when Studio Elle purchased a building in Kamisaginomiya and reorganized all of its departments into it. The studio opened a 3DCG department in 2012, but it was disbanded in 2017. The company had a second merger with another animation studio, Masami Abe's Anime Spot, in 2012 and Abe subsequently became the head of Studio Elle's animation department; and in 2018 they opened an overseas department.^[1]