Film Industry Dips into Other Pools

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NEWS & REPORTS

Film Industry Dips into Other Pools

Nov 10, 2014

Writer by June KIM
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New Ventures and New Launches

No matter what they looked like when they were founded, many film related companies and organizations are now looking to expand into other parts of the industry. Here are some changes on the horizon that are taking shape this fall, starting with new developments discussed during the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF).

BIFF launched a distribution branch called CAC Entertainment (Center of Asian Culture) in March of 2013. Their activity has been minimal until now, but is expected to go into high gear soon. Their line-up will be composed of films presented at BIFF or Asia Cinema Fund titles.

The Asian Film Academy, which is run by the Busan Film Commission during BIFF, used to be an 18-day long experience where Asian filmmakers were given the chance to meet with big names in the industry while they made a short film. The Busan Film Commission’s Director, OH Seok-geun, announced that starting in 2015 the Academy will transform into a year-round school.

On the sales side, LA’s Arclight Films joined hands with Joyncontents Group to launch a Korea-specific sales company, handling international sales of all of Joyncontents’ films. This joint venture is called Joylight and is the 4th region-specific sublabel from Arclight. It will focus on co-productions between Korea and China, and Korea and Australia, following the recent co-production MOUs signed by these industries, as well as handle remake rights.

Finecut, another company involved in international sales, has decided to broaden its territory into talent management. Finecut Entertainment’s roster will feature actors or actresses in international co-productions or who have plans to work in global projects. Currently, SEO Young-joo and CHO Dong-in have signed with them.

One of the Korea’s major studios, Showbox, looks forward to reaching out to the mainland with its new division Showbox China early next year. This division will produce contents for Chinese audiences including remakes of Korean films and co-productions. As seen during BIFF, China’s interest in the Korean film industry has grown immensely, owing in part to the recent popularity of TV dramas, reality shows and pop stars.

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