The Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA) announced that they hired Michael Lattanzio as the company's president and CEO. Lattanzio has a Master's in Executive Management from Pepperdine University, and served as a general manager at Westfield from 2005 to 2009. In addition, he worked for a number of companies under the NBC Universal banner from 1985 to 2005.

The SPJA was without a permenant CEO since March 27, when former CEO Trulee Karahashi was terminated. Karahashi served as CEO from August 2007 until her date of termination. SPJA Board Chairman Marc Perez served as an interim CEO until Lattanzio's hiring.

The SPJA is the parent company of Anime Expo. The company was formed in 1992 to promote arts and culture related to Japanese animation. Anime Expo is the United States's largest anime convention, attracting over 44,000 attendees at this year's event.