KOFIC Enables Korean-American Co-Productions

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NEWS & REPORTS

KOFIC Enables Korean-American Co-Productions

Oct 31, 2012

Writerby Ji Yung-jin
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Ko-Production held in LA

The Korean Film Council (KOFIC, chairman: KIM Eui-suk) held ‘Ko-Production in LA’ in Los Angeles, USA, for 3 days from October 19th to 21st. There, they clinched over 90 cases of local investment and business matching with production companies for 5 Korean-American co-produced projects.

‘Ko-Production in LA’ is a program that was set up to connect international co-production projects and local companies, beginning as a part of the ‘Supportive Program for Planning and Development of International Co-production 2012’. 5 projects, selected through the program's twofold evaluation process, went through a one-on-one doctoring process for 6 months with local scenario writers before the business matching took place.

KOFIC cooperated with ‘Film Independent’, a representative organization for indie films in the US, to conduct business matching and connect the participants with producers actively working in Hollywood. Kin KOKIN, the producer of The Usual Suspects, Chris Wyatt, the producer of Napoleon Dynamite, and Tony Safford from Fox Searchlight, the investor for The Yellow Sea met Korean producers. 18 companies including CBS Films (Winnie KEMP) participated in the program.

Participants had a rare chance to meet figures from companies they used to have very little access to. They said that the mentoring program with professional screenwriters helped them to understand what to focus on when making films that will fit into the American market. American companies were pleased with the Korean projects as well. They said there were many projects with interesting materials and stories whose productions they hoped to contribute to.

On an ongoing basis, KOFIC is seeking to support co-productions between Hollywood, leading the global film market, and Korean film, which has been receiving attention at international film festivals, so that the Korean film market can take one further step onto world film's global stage.