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In 2014, there was a small change in Korean cinema. The biggest multiplex chain CGV’s 10-year-old art movie distribution network CGV Movie Collage switched into a new brand name: CGV ARTHOUSE. And it is not just the name that has changed.

 

In the past, their focus used to be distribution, but CGV ARTHOUSE has expanded its scope to investment, production and distribution. It is the first case that a multiplex cinema company goes into production and investment. The response was mixed and controversial. The fact that the nation’s biggest exhibitor is entering the art film and independent film market was criticized. At the same time, however, some suggested that it could also have a positive effect of further stimulating production of high-quality low-budget movies. 2015 is the year CGV ARTHOUSE products have frequently appeared. The fruit has been so far so good as Coin Locker Girl, The Shameless, and FATAL INTUITION seem to have reached the break-even point.

 

Simon LEE is the managing director of CGV ARTHOUSE. He began his film career in 1998 as the manager of CGV Gangbyeon, the first multiplex in Korea. He then moved to marketing, investment, and planning units in CJ Entertainment, led Filament Pictures, the low-budget movie production unit in CJ. Then, since 2013, he has been working as a leader of CGV Movie Collage and CGV ARTHOUSE. He distributed low-budget movies such as INGtoogi: The Battle of Internet Trolls, Lazy Hitchhikers' Tour De Europe, and Thread of Lies in 2013, then HAN Gong-ju, A Girl at My Door, and My Love, Don't Cross That River in 2014.

 

The moment I began my film career coincided with the moment where Korean film industry started its explosive growth, and I feel as though I grew up along with the industry. It is true that Korean cinema went through a lot of pain in the process of industrialization, but it has now grown into a great market with wonderful directors and competitive films.

 

We have worked hard to create sustainable film industry with endurance and healthy base. Therefore, we could not help but care about independent and art films, as they are the very basic condition of the entire industry. All the past CEOs in CJ have also considered it as something indispensable, rather than something good but extra.

 

 

First of all, the theater network has expanded nationwide and now the number of screens has reached 22. We also opened Cine Library, and are working hard to expand the audience base through diverse lectures and live talks. We have also focused on investment and distribution, making box office success with good quality independent films including Han Gong-ju, A Girl at My Door and Socialphobia, and films like Coin Locker Girl and The Shameless of our direct investment did well and were invited to the Cannes Film Festival.

 

Hollywood specialty divisions began in the early 1990s when artistic films became monetarily successful through Oscar, which created a new market. In Korea, such market is almost nonexistent. So I’d rather say that we’re pioneering such market.

 

Currently the viability for such market is pretty low. Imported foreign art films have a stable audience group, which Korean low-budget independent films lack. However, if you keep up with support and investment, the demand for such market will also increase. And it is a great platform for new cineastes to be discovered as well.

 

If there are criteria by which we choose our films, they would be “new experiment and cinematic value.” We focus on promising newcomers’ works when we are making low-budget films, trying to reach our standard with movies that have budgets between USD 1.8-2.7 million, which is the minimum size for a commercial film.

 

 

 

It was the “novelty” that the film had. This film is a noir featuring a female main character, set in the hell-like Chinatown, through all of which I saw the possibility of a new market. HAN Jun-hee made a film debut with this movie and his confidence was a big plus, too.

 

 

OH Seung-uk’s The Shameless does not have a strong commercial plot, but we expected the great director to depict the leads’ love story with depth. JEON Do-yeon and KIM Nam-gil’s performances were really impressive, and it has once been praised as “a film that knows the depth of life.” It did not make a big profit, but I don’t regret my choice. CGV ARTHOUSE is proud of this film. Such attempt should continue.

 

 

We wanted to play a variation within the thriller genre. This film attempted to blend Korean shamanism within a genre movie. The budget was USD 2.5 million which was close to the average budget of mainstream Korean films (USD 3.5 million), but it was an attempt to expand the genre’s realm in Korean cinema.

 

 

I guess that happened to be that way as we selected serious movies within a limited budget. I, however, don’t think that follows the recent trend in Korean cinema. In the future, we are up for more diversity in selecting films.

 

 

 

Korean film industry is a mature market that produces three movies with 10-million-admissions record in one year. The competition is still fierce and somewhat unreasonable sometimes, but it keeps discovering good directors and ideas. I think current stability will continue for a while.

 

 

Our films are distinctively different from other companies. We have tried hard, even with those films that did not seem to be able to make much profit, trying diverse marketing and distribution strategies to show them to as many audiences as possible. We have been somewhat successful in that area.

 

CGV ARTHOUSE aims to have its screens built in most CGV theaters nationwide, and become a world-class distribution network, through which world’s best directors would want to show their Korean premieres. Also we want to become a meaningful investor-distributor that can bring 20% of the total local audience to CGV ARTHOUSE-distributed films. And, I hope such performance could be remembered as a significant deed in the Korean film history. In that aspect, we’re still at a very early, minor stage of our grand plan, although our releases made it to the Cannes Film Festival and also made some box office success. Our priority is to secure more of high-quality films.