Prolonged COVID-19 Pandemic forced major film markets to improve their online and contactless systems. 

Due to the Pandemic, the global film industry has faced a major improvement in its systems. Compared to the situation in which film festivals and film markets around the world, including the Cannes Film Festival 2020, were ‘temporarily paused,’ the film industry in 2021, entering its second year of the Pandemic, is seeking a new way through hybrid methods of ‘offline’ and ‘online.’

Not only Cannes but also major film markets are striving to overcome the COVID-19 Pandemic crisis through contactless and online platforms beyond time and space constraints. Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM), which will be held during the Busan International Film Festival in October, will also be operated as an online market, while American Film Market (AFM), the world's largest film market, will also be held online from November 1st to 5th. With the massive transition of online platforms in major markets, Korean film sales companies are also focusing on contactless and online platform sales.

Providing One-Stop Meeting Solution with Korean Film Sales Companies

While the ‘online & contactless sales platforms’ have become important, Korean Film Council (KOFIC, Chairman Kim Youngjin) has established an ONLINE BIZ MATCHING PLATFORM to support contactless sales of Korean films. The ONLINE BIZ MATCHING PLATFORM for overseas expansion of Korean films, which will be built and opened on the KOBIZ site on September 16 (Thursday), is expected to provide a ‘one-stop solution’ to global buyers looking for new Korean films.

Under the circumstance that film markets have become online and the overall sales business has turned contactless, having a regular biz matching platform is an essential solution not only for Korean film sales companies but also for global buyers. KOFIC's ONLINE BIZ MATCHING PLATFORM introduces the latest Korean movie lineup to overseas buyers the fastest and is designed to lead to online meetings and counseling. First of all, ‘KOFIC SUPPORTS’ provides information, contact points, and introduction of the latest lineup of Korean film sales companies, as well as a list of directors and actors of the latest Korean films at a glance. By September 16, 18 sales companies have participated in the ONLINE BIZ MATCHING PLATFORM, introducing the information of 80 latest Korean film lineups.

This year, the online biz matching platform will be run only for the Korean film sales companies that applied for the KOFIC participation activities in overseas film markets, but from 2022, it will receive regular applications from general companies to accelerate support for a wide range of Korean film sales. 

Under the situation where the release schedules of films are flexible, overseas sales must respond quickly to such changes. Even though it is not necessarily a market period, maintaining a sales network is always needed to enhance the performance of the business. For overseas buyers looking for a new Korean movie, the ‘Meeting Request’ function of the ONLINE BIZ MATCHING PLATFORM is noteworthy because it allows them to freely hold meetings with Korean movie sales companies without any constraints of time and space. This is how the ‘One-Stop Meeting’ is held; an overseas buyer selects a sales company they want to have a meeting with first, and then they also select the purpose of the meeting, the meeting schedule, and the preferred meeting method.

You can find the ONLINE BIZ MATCHING PLATFORM on September 16 on the English website of the Korean Film Overseas Advancement Platform (KoBiz, www.koreanfilm.or.kr).

Fast & Accurate Information by Subscribing ‘KOFIC SUPPORTS’  Newsletter 

In addition, with the opening of the ONLINE BIZ MATCHING PLATFORM, the ‘KOFIC SUPPORTS’ ’newsletter will be published to provide fast and accurate information on new Korean films. The ‘KOFIC SUPPORTS’  newsletter, which will be first published on September 16 (Thursday), contains information from Korean film sales companies, as well as the ‘Q&A’ content in which each sales company introduces its sales points and introduction of its flagship lineup in the future. The ‘KOFIC SUPPORTS’ newsletter will be published every other week and will introduce all sales companies that participate in the biz matching platform to overseas buyers by the end of this year.

Also, the ‘KOFIC's CHOICE’ section will be operated in the ONLINE BIZ MATCHING PLATFORM to introduce a variety of content about Korean films that are about to be released. Through the section, you can meet ‘KOFIC’s CHOICE Film,’ a review that delivers in-depth information on new Korean films to overseas buyers, ‘KOFIC’s CHOICE People,’ which induces interest in the new lineup through Korean actors and directors well known to the world, ‘KOFIC’s CHOICE Company,’ which introduces key capabilities of Korean film sales companies, and ‘KOFIC’s CHOICE Issue,’ which introduces various materials from the Korean film industry through visual infographics.

The contactless sales system triggered by the Pandemic is rather becoming an alternative to revitalizing the sales business on a regular basis regardless of time and space. Even when the Pandemic is over, the ‘hybrid sales platform’ online and offline will be accelerated further. The KOFIC ONLINE BIZ MATCHING PLATFORM is expected to provide easier and more convenient business solutions to overseas buyers who are looking for new Korean films.