The film market for the 3rd Beijing International Film Festival was held at the National Convention Center in Beijing, China from April 20th to 23rd. The Korean Film Council (KOFIC) established the Korean Film Center for publicity of Korean films and supported business meetings and technical demonstrations of Korean companies.

11 companies from Korea participated in the film market. There were eight VFX companies including CJ Powercast, Dexter Digital, Digital Studio 2L, MACROGRAPH, MOFAC Studio, Moneff, Next Visual Studio and Studio SH. The other thee companies were 3D animation production company Wonderworld Studios, special makeup company Yuyoung Makeup and the Seoul Film Commission.

 

A number of Chinese filmmakers were interested in the Korean Film Center, which was the biggest national booth at the market. They were constantly busy dealing with business meetings. Those that already have cooperation experience with big Chinese films such as CJ Powercast (Painted Skin 2), MACROGRAPH (Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons), MOFAC Studio (Chinese Zodiac) and Next Visual Studio (Saving General Yang) attracted a large amount of visitors.

National booths at the Beijing market offered visitors opportunities to give trial performances of their latest VFX technology. Visitors could monitor 3D shooting of Dexter Digital, the technical team for Mr. Go. New publicity clips in 3D also attracted plenty of Chinese filmmakers.

 

On April 21st, a seminar entitled ‘Dreams Come True with Korea!’ for the introduction of Korean technical service providers was held. The keynote speech by KIM Jae-ha, the chairman of Korean CG Industry Conference, was followed by introductions for five companies including MACROGRAPH, a partner of Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons, which topped the Chinese box-office. When KIM Yong-hwa, the director of Mr. Go, explained what difficulties he had and what attempts he made to make a 3D film, he caught the attention of many people. The seminar had more than 200 visitors who wanted to learn about thier current technical status and knowhow. YUEN Woo ping, the action coordinator of Once Upon A Time In China and Matrix trilogy, was also there.

Besides the Korean booth, there were other countries’ booths including IMAX and ILM (Industrial Light & Magic) from the States. According to WANG Yu, the supervisor of the market, the total number of companies that joined the market reached 180 and the number of booths also increased from 120 to 141 compared with last year.

KOFIC previously joined the Hong Kong Filmart and now they went to the Bejing film market. They will also open a Korean booth at the Shanghai film market to help promote Korean companies in the Great China Region.