As part of the Korean Film Council’s (KOFIC) ongoing efforts to promote its Foreign Audio-Visual Works Location Incentive within Asia, representatives recently took meetings with industry players in both Thailand and Japan in addition to participating in the 7th Asian Drama Conference in Fukuoka.

 

KOFIC’s Foreign Audio-Visual Works Location Incentive is a unique program that offers a 25% cash rebate to foreign media productions that film in Korea for ten days or more and spend at least KRW 1 billion in production expenses (USD ~$880,000). The incentive program will reimburse qualifying productions for up to KRW 3 billion (roughly USD $2.6 million) in costs. The 25% rebate ranks among the most competitive location-based filming incentives worldwide.

 

In Thailand, KOFIC reps took meetings with major Thai film companies GTH, Kantana and Baa-Ram-Ewe as well as the Thailand Film Office and Korea Thailand Communication Center. GTH, or GMM Tai Hub, was formed via merger after the success of the 2003 Thai film <Fan Chan>, which three different production companies had a hand in making. As producer and domestic distributor of the 2010 Korea-set romantic comedy <Hello Stranger>, GTH was familiar with the possible advantages of again shooting on the peninsula. Kantana is one of Korea’s oldest film studios and also operates Oriental Post, a major Asian hub for post-production work. Baa-Ram-Ewe is the production house of famed Thai director Prachya PINKAEW, director of <Ong-bak> (2003) and the Korea-Thai co-production <The Kick> (2011), which was partially funded by CJ Venture Investments and Showbox/Mediaplex, both major Korean media firms.

 

KOFIC’s recent tour of Japan centered around the Asian TV Drama Conference. Known for five years as the TV Drama Writers Conference of Asia and now in its seventh year as the Asian TV Drama Conference, the event is sponsored by the Korea Foundation for International Cultural Exchange (KOFICE) and organized under the overall goals of charting trends among Asian television dramas, resolving region-wide televised media issues and inspiring co-production. At the conference, KOFIC was able to operate a promotional booth offering consultations and other informative material regarding the Location Incentive program. KOFIC reps also took meetings with a number of significant Japanese film companies and organizations, including TOHAN, Nippon Television, TV Asahi, Japan Film & TV Producer’s Association and Association of All Japan TV Program Production Companies (ATP). KOFIC was also able to make a larger presentation to conference participants explaining in detail the incentive program and other location services available.

 

With more interest in and openness toward co-production across most of Asia, KOFIC looks forward to increased activities overseas to create awareness of the advantages Korea can provide as film or TV shooting location.