In January 2012, the Korean Film Council started planning and developing co-production projects with China. The goal was to induce international co-production, support films under planning and development. establish a base for exchange between the two nations and attract investment. Let's take a look at the current status of each film to see how the project is faring.

 

Filmmakers behind the co-production projects with China entered Beijing, China, in March 2012 to begin their work at the Film Business Center. A ‘Ko-production in Beijing’ event was held to begin these co-productions along with the opening ceremony of the business center. By March 14th, five teams have been picked and they will start staying at the center on April 1st.

The project also features a crucioal education program. Business matching for the activation of Korean-Chinese co-production, understanding of the Chinese film industry, understanding the Korean style of shooting, mentoring & doctoring, training for professional translation/interpretation between Koreans and Chineses and a Korean-Chinese film exchange forum are all available. In 2012, 12 Korean companies, 17 films and 190 business matching meetings took advantage of these programs. One of them was Seven Star Villa, a feature film ready to be released in China.

There were several projects chosen for long-term stays this year. All by Chance (project title), a comedy melodrama and Happiness Added Garden (project title), a horror project directed by AN Byung-ki, will be extended for another year. Three new projects will join the service. They are Love on Valentine Day, a romantic melodrama, Shanghai Swing: The Final Face-Off, an action comedy, and The Last Wish. These five films will be co-produced at the Film Business Center in China from April to June.

 

All by Chance is to be directed by TANG Gao Peng (China) and produced by AHN Deok-kyu (Korea). Shooting starts in October and it will be made in Chinese. They are currently working on the 4th draft of the scenario. It is a love story of a woman wanting to kill herself and a man falling for her as soon as he sees her in a train traveling between Beijing and Kunming.

A Korean writer and a Chinese director met for this film and brought their respective strengths to the project. Featuring the ever-popular material of love and relationships, not to mention the picturesque backdrop of Kunming, the director intends to express the true love of a man and a woman who communicate through their hearts.

They agreed that the director and the Chinese investor will cast actors first and that the main staff members should be Korean. Accordingly, shooting. lighting, art and editing crews from Korea will join the project.

 

This is a horror project directed by PARK Seon-ik (Korea) and produced by AN Byung-ki (Korea). The final draft of the scenario is finished and shooting will start in June. The main characters are a Korean couple in their 20s who go to China to learn Chinese. While they stay at the Chinese mansion ‘Jiaxiyuan’ (Chinese for ‘Happiness Added Garden’), a secret is revealed and things take a horrific turn for the worse. The director wants to demonstrate how terrifying it is when people face death in a place they cannot escape from by themselves.

It will be made as a Chinese film and the Chinese assistant director is working on casting and location scouting. Korean staff is assigned to shooting, lighting, art, editing and VFX. Their goal is to make a clearly distinctive horror film compared with previous Chinese films. They are planning to release the film in China late this year or early next year. Toilet Pictures and Moneff, which released Bunshinsaba in China in 2012, are hoping for another success with this project.

 

Love on Valentine Day
   

The director has handed the treatment to Shanghai Media Group, the Chinese investor, and is waiting for the scenario to be finalized. They plan to start monitoring and editing the scenario in April, attract investment until September and begin shooting around October.

 

KIM Jong-hak, who has made a number of hit TV dramas in Korea, will direct this film. The planner and co-producer of This Charming Girl, KIM Gyeong-yong, is the producer. In Shanghai, 1932, Japan devises a plot to start a war once again. This is an exciting comedy film about ‘Hwapyeongdan’ sweeping the villains who want a war. The director wants to make the ‘asian version of Ocean’s Eleven’ in 3D. They also want it to be the first blockbuster released simultaneously in Korea and China.

As soon as they find a Chinese partner, they will start attracting investment. Then they will look for a Korean distributor. They also plan to have the best actors and staff from Korea and China join the project. The detailed treatment is ready and the scenario is being developed. In the meantime, they have been trying to contact Korean and Chinese companies for investment and distribution.

This project is produced by LEE Jeong-se, who worked as a producer for LEE Joon-ik’s films including Sunny (2008), Blades of Blood and Battlefield Heroes. CHOI Seok-hwan, who wrote the scripts of Once Upon A Time In A Battlefield, Radio Star and King And the Clown, which were also directed by LEE Joon-ik, has also joined the project. It is a human drama about a man destined to die in three months, who tries hard to grant the wishes of his wife and children. They aim to make a touching story that portrays the deep love of a family which will lose their leader.

There was already a complete scenario, which was revised to fit Chinese culture. They will go through mentoring, scenario editing and an investment proposal from April to June. The selectino of a director and the casting will be fixed by November and pre-production will be done in December. Shooting will start in March 2014.