Selling the final version is not enough. In recent years, the Korean film industry has embreced very meaningful changes. They started to sell ‘well-making’ technologies instead of selling ‘well-made’ films. Let’s examine what kinds of technologies have gone abroad and take a look at the market trends.

 

 

On July 16th,  Bunshinsaba, directed by AN Byung-ki, took the fourth place at the Chinese box office by selling tickets worth CNY 30 million (KRW 5.6 billion, USD 4.7million) during the first week of its release. It was the biggest hit ever among Chinese horror films. Bunshinsaba was directed by AN Byung-ki, but it is a Chinese film purely made with Chinese capital.

 

Dangerous Liaisons, another film directed by a Korean director HUR Jin-ho and with Chinese capital, was invited to the Toronto International Film Festival. KIM Jee-woon and PARK Chan-wook are working on  The Last Stand and  Stoker respectively in Hollywood.

 

There are also Korean actors performing in the world. LEE Byung-hun, starring in  G. I. Joe series, will also be in  Red 2. BAE Doo-na went to Toronto as a leading actress in  Cloud Atlas, directed by the Wachowski Ignore.

From an industrial point of view, individual achievement in foreign countries certainly is not as influential as overseas promotion of whole production teams. Considering that international promotion of technical service providers lies on the direct extension of domestic industry, it has more advantages because it has long-term influences and it requires more manpower from a wider domain. It complements the portfolio of the Korean film industry rather than personal careers.

 

Table 1. Statistics for order acquisition of technical service for foreign films during 2010~2011

 

Table 2. Statistics for order acquisition of technical service and production staff in 2011 by nation

 

 

* Data were collected from 15 companies that have obtained orders from foreign countries for 8 domains of technical services (VFX, DI, Sound Mixing, SFX, Special Make-up, Action/Stunt, 3D and 3D Conversion). (It was a sample survey, so the numbers might be different from the actual gross sum.)

 

‘Technical Service’ is a concept that covers intra-production processes like action/stunt and SFX/special make-up as well post-production processes like VFX and sound effects. According to a representative of the industry, 4 companies specialized in VFX obtained orders for foreign films during the first half of this year. As for sound, 3 companies have finished or are working for 4 films. 2 stunt companies finished 5 films during the first half, which is almost equal to last year. It is widely known that JUNG Doo-hong worked as the action director of  G. I. Joe 2. Last year, the income from VFX/DI, which took 85.64% of the entire technical service providers, was USD 10,125,071.

 

This is a meaningful achievement worth 2/3 of the gross sale of complete films in 2011, USD 15,828,662. The Widening of the technical service domain is also encouraging. Although VFX/DI still dominates by percentage, post-production processes including sound mixing and intra-production processes such as action/stunt and SFX/Special Make-up are finding their ways in the market.

 

Nevertheless, 80% of the order makers are from nations in the Great China Region, so the nationalities need to be diversified. Most of the orders from the region are VFX because action films with SFX are very popular in China and they are quite dependent on the computer graphic technology of Korea to satisfy the standards that audiences ask for. Large investment have recently been made in the Chinese film industry and the technical level has nearly equalized, so we need to find appropriate provisions for that, as expectations from Korean cineastes have grown.

 

People in the industry believe that this is the right chance to see the reality and secure firm base for the future of Korean film. Some even claim that the ‘Technology R&D System’ should be founded as soon as possible. They say it is important to think deep about the future as much as it is to keep the production deadline. They share the idea that a practical measure such as governmental incentive or tax reduction will be also a good solution to establish the ‘Technology R&D System’ so that orders for foreign films can increase.

 

It is common sense in most fields that effort and will of a company and support from a public organization should be well harmonized for an industry to develop. Exportation of technical services based on this can fertilize the field of Korean film.