South Korean producers team with U.S. counterparts to target American market
Now Film, a Korean production company headed by Lee Jun-dong, has signed a contract with American film group VOX 3 and started the shooting of their new movie "Never Forever" in New York on July 24. South Korean director Kim Jin-a, who gives lectures on cinema at Harvard University, is in charge of the film’s production, with the U.S. side providing the other staff. In the leading roles are American actress Vera Farmiga, who starred in the movie "The Departed," a remake by U.S. filmmaker Martin Scorsese of the Hong Kong hit "Infernal Affairs," and Korean actor Ha Jung-woo of "The Unforgiven." According to the filmmakers, production cost will be about 2.8 million USD and the shooting will be finished in early September. They are going to release the new film in 2007 via the festival circuit, including Sundance. IHQ (led by Chung Hun-tak) completed the shooting of "American Zombie" earlier this year, and the movie is in the editing process. This film was made by an entirely U.S. staff and the shooting was done in the U.S. Grace Lee, a Korean-American, was the director of the low-budget film, with production costs of about 1 million USD. IHQ established a branch in Los Angeles in July to begin joint Korean-American production, with plans to also make an action-comedy in collaboration with the U.S. and Japan. The film production company wants to produce an animated version of the film prior to the live-action shooting, for which it has employed Japanese production company Kadokawa. LJ Film (led by Lee Seung-jae) is producing the film "Princess Julia" with American filmmakers Focus Films, which made "Brokeback Mountain" in 2005. This movie is about the last prince of the Choson (Joseon) Kingdom, Lee Kyu, and his American wife, Julia Mullock. The two companies have agreed to shoulder all expenditures evenly, including the 25 million USD production cost, and to divide the proceeds in half as well.These joint productions have various advantages. First of all, as they are registered as U.S.-made movies, it is easy to conduct publicity work and marketing for them. The language and cultural barriers can be lowered because they are made in English. In addition distribution networks within the U.S. can be used to publicize the movies. In the long term, if Korean directors and actors become well known in the U.S., fan buzz for Korean films will increase, as well. Chung Hun-tak, head of IHQ, said, "Most American filmmakers share the same view, that because of strong [regional themes] in Korean movies, they face difficulty succeeding in the U.S. In order to make a hit in the U.S. market, Korean productions should cooperate with their U.S. counterparts from the production stage." Lee Jun-dong, head of Now Film, said, "As the number of films released in Korea increased to about 100 this year from 80 last year, we can’t make ends meet with the domestic market only. Even if it takes time, we should continue to make efforts to approach the U.S. market, which occupies more than 40 percent of the worldwide film market," he added.
