Stephen M. Alpert

Steve Alpert is a former senior executive at Studio Ghibli. He traveled with, accepted awards on behalf of, and worked closely with Hayao Miyazaki from 1996 to 2011. Alpert studied Japanese Literature at Columbia University under Donald Keene and Edward Seidensticker. He speaks Japanese and Chinese fluently, having lived in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Taipei for a combined total of over thirty-five years. He worked in Tokyo as a vice president at a major bank, as president of an American TV animation company, and as the head of international sales at Ghibli. He has translated more than a dozen Japanese films and several short works of Japanese fiction. In June 2020, Alpert released a book titled; "Sharing a House with the Never-Ending Man: 15 Years at Studio Ghibli." The book depicts what it was like to work for Ghibli, and its reigning genius Hayao Miyazaki. He describes hauling heavy film canisters of Princess Mononoke to Russia and California, experiencing a screaming Harvey Weinstein, dealing with Disney marketers and triumphantly attending glittering galas celebrating the Oscar-winning Spirited Away. (Source: Stone Bridge Press)