Following
CJ CGV’s acquisition of Megastar, which garnered the outfit the largest market share in the growing Southeast film market,
CJ Entertainment quickly announced plans to produce local-language films, with the first of those,
Let Hoi Decide, released in 70 theatres nationwide on December 12th last year. According to CEO
JUNG Tae-sung, CJ Entertainment’s plan is to distribute around 10 films per annum in the market, with two or three of those being local-language productions made specially for Vietnam.
CJ immediately made an impression, as
Let Hoi Decide (
De Mai Tinh 2) became a smash hit, quickly recording USD 3.85 million, which handily beat
Teo Em’s (aka
Brother Teo) USD 3.2 million, the previous all time box office record for a Vietnamese film.
Let Hoi Decide was co-produced with local production company Chanh Phuong Films (also responsible for
Teo Em) and followed the successful romantic comedy
Fool for Love (
De Mai Tinh, 2010). Directed by Charlie NGUYEN and featuring local star Thai HOA (also featured in
Teo Em),
Let Hoi Decide sees Hoi return to Vietnam from America with a big business opportunity, only to lose his focus when he meets a girl called Nam.
Next up for CJ in Vietnam was
3 Girls, a girl comedy which three women who wake up on a deserted island and go in search of a treasure with a mysterious stranger. Meanwhile,
CJ E&M also partnered with Vietnam Television (VTV) to co-produce
Forever Young, the first Korea-Vietnam co-produced TV drama, which premiered on December 17th and ranked first with a 4.41% rating among local prime time TV shows.
Indonesia
In 2015, CJ also made its first steps in Indonesia, partnering with Lo-Fi Flicks to produce
A Copy of My Mind, the very first Indonesia-Korea co-production. Directed by Joko ANWAR, Indonesia’s most notable filmmaker, the film debuted at this year’s Venice International Film Festival, where it screened in the Orizzonti Competition, before going on to screen at the Toronto and
Busan International Film Festival.
The film tells of the unconventional romance that develops between a low-rent beauty salon worker and a private DVD subtitler, played by Tara BASRO and actor Chicco JERIKHO. Things take a turn when they come into possession of a disc with evidence of high-reaching local political corruption. Through the film, ANWAR hoped to show how religion, social inequality, corruption and politics are deeply embedded into daily life in contemporary Indonesia.
A Copy of My Mind was initially introduced as a project at the Asian Project Market of last year’s Busan International Film Festival, where CJ bestowed it its ‘CJ Entertainment Award’.
Thailand
At the beginning of the year, CJ revealed its partnership with Transformation Films, a major Thai production company, and its plans to release Cha-Lui Reboot: Lost in Seoul, their first local-language project in the market.
Directed by Thai film industry veteran Adirek “Uncle” WATTALEELA ,the film stars Nicky NACHAT and Jessi MEKWATTANA alongside
Nichkhun, the Thai member of K-pop boyband 2PM. A musical comedy, the film follows the exploits of Tong and Pong, who dream of becoming Korean pop stars. The film was released in Thailand on June 4th. CJ and Transformation Films have also broached the possibility of developing a Thai version of last year’s Korean Lunar New Year hit
Miss Granny called
Sweet 20s, which has already spawned a successful Chinese remake,
20 Once Again.
In May of this year, CJ Entertainment also announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Major Cineplex Group, one of Thailand’s top film development companies, to pursue joint ventures for film production and investment. The deal is expected to encompass 10 feature Korea-Thailand co-productions over the next three years. Speaking on the occasion of the deal, CEO JUNG mentioned that “for CJ Entertainment, the Korean film market means our root, while the Chinese market represents the present, and the Southeast Asian market, the future.”
Interview with MOON Sung-jo(International Sales & distribution team at CJ Entertainment)
”We’ll try various genres and subjects“
Mr. MOON Sung-joo, a Senior Specialist (SVP, Production & Distribution) for the International Sales & Distribution team at CJ Entertainment, kindly took some time to answer some of our questions about CJ’s advance into Southeast Asia:
How does CJ select projects to produce in Southeast Asian markets?
We (CJ Entertainment) have invested in and produced films which have cinematic and business values in the Southeast Asian film industry, just as we have done in the Korean film market.
Based on our long-term local market research and networking with local partners, we have been selecting outstanding scenarios and working with many talented local film professionals. Also, we have made investment and production decisions for local films after they are carefully selected through our system and process that we’ve built over the past 20 years.
Consequently, the CJ Entertainment-Vietnam co-produced film Let Hoi Decide has become the biggest box office hit in Vietnam and A Copy of My Mind, the first film we jointly produced with Indonesian company Lo-Fi Flicks, has been invited to the Orizzonti Competition section of the 72nd Venice International Film Festival and the ‘Contemporary World Cinema’ section of the 40th Toronto International Film Festival.
Does CJ have any further plans for the region?
As mentioned before, we’ll keep cooperating with local film professionals to produce films which have cinematic and business value. Also, we’ll try various genres and subjects and continue to make numerous co-produced films with them from the beginning stage within collaborative projects.
