Director Kang Yoon-sung, who made a feature film using AI: “It might actually create more jobs.”

Korea’s first AI feature film “Run to the West”: “The goal was to build a foundation for the industry.”

AI director Kwon Han-seul: “We focused on scale… Using AI will become as natural as using smartphones.”

Film “Run to the West” Director Kang Yoon-sung

[Provided by CJ CGV. Redistribution and database storage prohibited.]

 

 As artificial intelligence (AI) rapidly becomes part of everyday life, concerns have grown that it will take away human jobs — replacing work once done by people with greater efficiency and at lower cost.

However, director Kang Yoon-sung, who made “Run to the West” Korea’s first feature film using AI, sees it differently. He believes that in the film industry, at least, AI can actually boost efficiency, revitalize the industry, and ultimately create more jobs than before.

Meeting with reporters at a café in Samcheong-dong, Seoul, on the 14th, Kang said, “AI will bring great efficiency in terms of production time and scale. If the film industry actively embraces AI, more films will be produced — and that means more jobs will be created.”

“Run to the West” tells the story of National Intelligence Service agent Lee Jang-won (played by Byun Yo-han) and police officer Cho Min-young (played by Kim Kang-woo), who, after an unexpected car accident, find themselves in the realm between life and death. The film centers on their pursuit scenes as they are chased by grim reapers sent to take their lives.

The movie has drawn attention as Korea’s first feature film to utilize AI, which was used in scenes involving creatures (monsters), car explosions, and building collapses.

The biggest advantages of using AI are cost and time. The post-production of “Middle World,” which was expected to take about a year with computer graphics (CG), was completed in just three to four months using AI. This allowed the creation of spectacular scenes that would have been impossible to achieve within the same time and budget using traditional CG.

Director Kang said, “I wanted to show that such scenes can be realized even with a smaller budget than what CG requires.”

However, since AI video production technology has not yet reached the level of CG, some parts of the final result appear awkward or unnatural.

Kang emphasized, “It was important to demonstrate the commercial potential of a film led by AI. By showing audiences the results, we could lay the groundwork for future attempts and help build a foundation for the related industry.”

AI director Kwon Han-seul also said, “We know that AI technology isn’t perfect, but we achieved something that couldn’t have been done with CG in this timeframe. Everyone involved was looking toward the future. I believe it’s a work with great meaning.”

Kwon added that he focused on the scale of the project to highlight the significance of using AI.

 AI Director Kwon Han-seul of the film “Run to the West”

Both creators agreed that AI technology is advancing at a tremendous pace and predicted that its use will soon dominate post-production in filmmaking. They added that the awkward or unnatural parts pointed out in “Run to the West” will soon be resolved as technology continues to improve.

Kwon said, “Just a year and a half ago, it was difficult to even make a person lift their foot properly in AI-generated videos, but now people can run and jump. The blurriness people mention will completely disappear—it’s only a matter of time.”

He continued, “AI becoming a major pillar in post-production—editing and other post-shooting processes—is inevitable. Just as no one lives without a smartphone today, using AI will become just as natural.”

Kwon also noted that AI could replace certain stages of film production, such as previsualization videos created for investors or storyboards used during the production process.

 A scene from the film “Run to the West”

Director Kang expressed his hope that the use of AI would breathe new life into the stagnant film market. He predicted that it would enable creators to realize their imaginations at lower costs and produce large-scale works worthy of the big screen.

Kang said, “When CG was first introduced, it greatly expanded the range of imagination. I see AI as a similar tool. In a stagnant film industry, AI can inject new energy into more creators.”

“Run to the West” which will be released exclusively at CGV theaters on October 15, is expected to become a milestone for AI-based filmmaking. Kang added that the decision to produce a sequel will depend on the film’s performance at the box office, and that he has already written the script for the follow-up.

He said, “I made the film with the intention of taking the audience on a rollercoaster ride from start to finish, so that they can have fun and get off together at the end. I hope viewers don’t focus too much on the AI aspect but simply enjoy the movie itself.”

Kwon added, “Viewers will likely find it fascinating to see graphics appearing in everyday spaces they recognize — monsters emerging and buildings collapsing in familiar places.”

 (Photos provided by CJ CGV and 4Entertainment. Redistribution and database storage prohibited.)

By Park Won-hee