KIM Jae-min, Executive Vice President of CONTENTS PANDA

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KIM Jae-min, Executive Vice President of CONTENTS PANDA
by Pierce Conran / Feb 10, 2017

A Man who Sells Korean Films to the Entire World

Despite having been on the scene for only a few years, CONTENTS PANDA, the distribution wing of Korean film studio Next Entertainment World (NEW), has become one of the major players in the industry and is making waves around the globe. KoBiz sat down with CONTENTS PANDA’s Executive Vice President KIM Jae-min to talk about handling the most successful Korean film of all time overseas last year and the future of Korean film distribution.

As we’d like to introduce both you and CONTENTS PANDA to our readers, could you tell us a little about the career path that led you to NEW and CONTENTS PANDA?

Starting in 2002, I worked at Cinema Service, where I handled domestic distribution. After that, I moved on to a new company in 2008 and following that I was one of the establishing partners of NEW, where I handled distribution and contents business from 2010. In 2013 we established CONTENTS PANDA in order to focus on the contents business as well as international distribution.

As a relatively new player in the entertainment industry in Korea, what differentiates NEW and CONTENTS PANDA from your competitors?

NEW has a horizontal communication structure which leads to a fast decision-making process compared to other companies. We are also very flexible in our decision-making which allows us to choose the best option as we try to find a solution. Similar to NEW, at CONTENTS PANDA we adopted the same work culture which gives us a similar process when it comes to decision-making.

Given your recent sale of Pandora (2016) to Netflix, do you think global online streaming companies represent an effective opportunity to introduce Korean films to new viewers around the world?

I think this has been a great opportunity, not to mention adventure for us, as it allows us to measure our titles up against other films on Netflix. It’s a good way for us to experiment and measure our stance and audience reaction on a global platform. Ultimately, it will allow us to deliver higher quality titles. Just to be able to show our titles in 190 countries around the world to over 80 million viewers is a great opportunity for us.

Beyond the locally made films that you represent, will CONTENTS PANDA be overseeing the international business of other projects? Perhaps hailing from NEW partnership with Huace?

Beyond the titles made directly within NEW, we are working on two projects right now. First is TRAIN TO BUSAN (2016), which was recently sold to the French production house Gaumont in a remake deal and since it will be in English we’re not only looking at European territories but a wider potential audience, which would include America. Secondly, in China, we have some ongoing projects for which we are currently developing the scenarios, including a remake of The Beauty Inside (2015) and an adaptation of the webtoon The Witch.

Concerning the Gaumont remake of TRAIN TO BUSAN, exactly what kind of a role will your company play?

We are functioning as a licensor on the project. Compared to previous similar contracts we will be more actively involved.

Are you also working on a remake of The Phone (2015)?

Yes, this is another project on the horizon but is a little further down the development pipeline.

Many firms have been affected by the recent slowdown of Korean-Chinese activity. Is this a situation you are able to work around or do you need to wait for it to change?

Many people in the industry, not just us, are wondering about what the reasons or solutions might be to the current situation. At the moment, we’re hopeful that it’s a temporary situation that will resolve itself.

Within your existing library, can we expect foreign language versions of NEW films beyond China?

First of all, also in China, we previously worked on the Blind (2011) remake called The Witness and in India we remade Montage (2013). Now we’re trying to find appropriate titles for various territories depending on their cultural circumstances and taste.

Concerning the previous titles we weren’t an international distributor as CONTENTS PANDA had yet to be established by then, so we acted solely as a licensor but through that experience we came to learn about the remake business. The first case for use of a more hands-on remake will be TRAIN TO BUSAN with Gaumont.

What upcoming titles do you expect to generate the most interest from foreign buyers?

Among many other titles, there are three that I think will stand out for international buyers. The first is Ak-nyeo (The Villainess - WT). It’s a female action film starring KIM Ok-vin of Thirst (2009). Think of Charlize Theron’s Imperator Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road. The director is JUNG Byung-gil of Confession of Murder (2012). Since he is very action-driven, you’ll be able to see lots of new and stylish action sequences.

Second is The Mimic, which is the second film by Hide and Seek (2013) director HUH Jung. There’s this old legend in Korea about a tiger spirit who attracts its victims by mimicking the sound of their loved ones. It’s a new style of horror based on hearing that is very genre-driven.

The third one is Gang-cheol-bi (Steel Rain - WT). The film is base on the webcomic Steel Rain by director YANG Woo-suk, which has attracted attention by its bold story that foresaw KIM Jong-il’s death, the late leader of North Korea. The most remarkable things about this scenario are its dynamic plot and the extreme reality that this story can happen in Korea in the near future. So we decided to work with director YANG once again after The Attorney (2013) because we thought he is the best director to filmize the original story. He is expected to portray an audacious and unconventional plot which is about ‘South Korea just before a change of government and North Korea where the coup takes place’, and it might be true in Korea in the near future.

There seems to be a resurgence of North Korea-themed films this year. Would you say this is a new trend for the Korean market?

Films depict the common interests of the public. No one is pushing to make a trend, it’s just a representation of the current thoughts in society. For example, yesterday I saw on the news that films based on true stories are a new trend but as this is normally the case, this label seems like nothing more than a construction by the media.

Among the various film markets that CONTENTS PANDA attends on the annual calendar, which ones generate the most positive outcomes?

Cannes Film Market is the most special one for us because of the success of TRAIN TO BUSAN. However, while we sold TRAIN TO BUSAN in Cannes, we also sold Pandora in American Film Market, so every market is special of course. The European Film Market, Cannes, the American Film Market, the Asian Film Market and the HK International Film and TV Market are the ones we attend every year but if we see an opportunity to attend other markets, we look forward to those as well. Since we also do acquisitions and sales, there could also be opportunities for us elsewhere.

How about other, less-explored regions for Korean films such as South America? Recently a few films from there have been remade in Korea, such as All About My Wife (2012) and Casa Amor; Exclusive for Ladies (2015).

Beyond the ones you’ve mentioned, there are other remakes underway. I’m personally very interested in the South American market and look forward to doing more business there. Aside from remakes, TRAIN TO BUSAN recently opened in the region, in markets such as Chile, Peru and further north in Mexico. The film achieved rankings in the third to fifth range in those markets so we see great potential in the region.

If we look at Pantelion Films, a sub-division of Lionsgate, they have been remaking films for Latin America and beyond, so we are taking notice of that model. They made the Mexican film Instructions Not Included, which made over USD 40 million in both Mexico and the US and is now being remade in France. Another example is the Canadian comedy Starbucks, which was remade as Delivery Man in the US and also has versions in France and India.

At what point did you realize you had something special on your hands with TRAIN TO BUSAN, and how did you strategize to maximize its impact in the global marketplace?

I believe our best strategy was our time management. For instance, for the domestic distribution, we chose the busy moviegoing season in late summer but we also wanted to go to Cannes to show the film’s high quality, especially as we realized the film, is a new genre, might be a little difficult to promote at first back home. In order to do this, we prepared all the materials for the film, including the necessary translations, four months ahead of the film’s release and we physically brought the DCP to Paris to show the film to the festival. Luckily we secured the midnight screening section and at that point, we really started to promote the film. After its release in July, we held back the film’s IPTV debut as we were aiming for international releases in other territories.

After our screenings at Cannes, we immediately received many strong reviews and a lot of interest, with several people dropping by our booth in the market. Because of the foreign release plan, our department cooperated closely with the contents business team in order to prevent an illegal leak of the film.

TRAIN TO BUSAN has performed well around the world, but its US results, though strong, were among the few not to break records. Have you thought about how to crack that market?

Up until now, we’ve believed that there was a limit to the box office results a Korean film could achieve in America. But after seeing the success of TRAIN TO BUSAN we see a new opportunity. If we want to target the US, we shouldn’t only aim to feature Korean directors and actors. We can use a Korean style of storytelling, but we could do so with an international crew. If you look at the American box office there are limits for certain kinds of films, such as Indian films or Korean ones, and we shouldn’t only aim for Korean residents in America. For TRAIN TO BUSAN, people didn’t watch it because it was a Korean film, they did so because it was a new type of zombie film.

On a personal note, may I ask what are some of your favorite Korean films?

For Korean films, my favorite would have to be Miracle in Cell No.7 (2013) as it’s the one that made me cry the most and it is never boring even after watching it multiple times. No one expected it to go over ten million viewers and it’s the biggest film we’ve distributed. No matter how many times I see I still find it touching.

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