CHICAS PRODUCTIONS: Korea

Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world. It was once so rich that Concorde used to fly from Caracas to Paris. But in the last three years its economy has collapsed. Hunger has gripped the nation for years. Now, it’s killing people and animals that are dying of starvation. The Venezuelan government knows, but won’t admit it!!! Four in five Venezuelans live in poverty. People queue for hours to buy food. Much of the time they go without. People are also dying from a lack of medicines. Inflation is at 82,766% and there are warnings it could exceed one million per cent by the end of this year. Venezuelans are trying to get out. The UN says 2.3 million people have fled the country - 7% of the population.

Showing posts with label Korea. Show all posts

Sunday, November 17, 2013

U.K., South Korea Sign Cultural Agreement...

Mainland Chinese opportunities have led to a filmmaking exodus, but the territory is thriving as a shooting destination.
Mainland China's industry is hogging the limelight, but Hong Kong is the most efficient gateway into the booming market north of the border, industryites from the territory said Thursday during an AFM panel discussion.

Michael Bay Hails Hong Kong Despite 'Scary' 'Transformers' AttackHong Kong Directors Guild Boss Calls 'Transformers 4' Incident 'Ridiculous'Michael Mann's 'Cyber' Film Shoot Moves to Hong KongThe number of local productions in Hong Kong has fallen as directors and producers turn their attention to the world's second-largest film market in China.

STORY: Michael Bay Hails Hong Kong Despite 'Scary' 'Transformers' Attack

Independent filmmaker Maria Lo Orzel spoke of how almost all Hong Kong filmmakers are working with China.

"Going from 300 to 50 films a year shows that most of the local filmmakers have moved north, but they will mostly come to Hong Kong to help start their projects.

"We cannot survive without China," she told the gathering.

Film productions from Hong Kong can take advantage of CEPA (Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement), which affords them special status.

Hong Kong also is proving itself to be a popular location. Recent projects that shot there include Transformers: Age of Extinction, Cyber, Pacific Rim and Fast & Furious 6.

STORY: Michael Mann's 'Cyber' Film Shoot Moves to Hong Kong

Against this backdrop, it is hardly surprising that one of the most eagerly listened to figures on the panel was Zhou Tiedong, president of China Film Promotion International.

"Hong Kong has been acting as a major production force -- Hong Kong filmmakers made the only Chinese genre that can travel internationally: the kung fu movie. It is a better way to go through Hong Kong filmmakers," said Zhou.

He said a ratings system would probably happen in China, but only if the market wants it. "The audience is always right," he joked.

Panelist Jeffrey Chan, COO of Bona Film Group, said Hong Kong still has plenty to offer that China does not.

"I rarely find people who don't like Hong Kong; it's a base camp. It's efficient, it's quick to set up a company, it was under British rule so it has common law. The Chinese yuan is not an internationally convertible currency," he said.

Thank you Hollywood Reporter

More info:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you for reading us,
Thank you for your time,
Hope you'll found the information you expected,
Don't hesitate contacting us,
Have a great day ☼
Chicas Team ❤
--------------------------------------------------------> Submit to: Show contact info
In order to avoid all the SCAMS, we decide not to publish all the info of the recruter in the job postings. You'll find the Daily Password in our Monthly Newsletter. You can Subscribe to our Newsletter here Thanks. A.

www.chicas-productions.com
------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Korean Film Industry: Censorship Rising?

With a conservative gov't in place, bizzers fear the return of the scissors \

The modern South Korean film industry was born in the mid-'90s when the Busan festival helped push back the cloud of censorship that had prevailed for 10 years after the end of military rule.

Since then, Korean directors have reveled in their freedom to shock, tantalize and blindside their audiences — whether coming from Kim Ki-duk's sado-masochistically bizarre "The Isle" and fairly explicit sex in Park Chul-soo's "The Green Chair," to hints of cannibalism in Kim Jee-woon's "I Saw the Devil," or the unremitting but always stylish ultra-violence of Na Hong-jin's "The Chaser" and "The Yellow Sea." Choi Min-sik eating a live octopus in Park Chan-wook's "Oldboy" is still a high point for some genre fans.

Yet there's growing concern that censorship is on the increase since the arrival in February of President Park Geun-hye's deeply conservative government.

Some see the Korea Media Ratings Board as having already become tougher. They cite the near-banning of Kim's "Moebius" as an example. The director, whose stock-in-trade is provocation, only had the film cleared for commercial release after two appeals and the removal of two minutes of footage.

Yet, a single problem film does not necessarily mark a trend. "The new government is less than one year old. Most current films were greenlighted before that," says "Late Autumn" producer Lee Joo-ick. "Maybe there will be more impact in the future. But we are not China."

Others fear that the government will not need to act explicitly and that self-censorship will do much of its work.

Some suggest that politically themed contemporary films are not going to be greenlit and that criticism of the government is becoming harder. For this they look no further than "Project Cheonan Ship," a documentary by Baek Seung-woo, which premiered in May's Jeonju festival. It offers alternative explanations for the 2010 sinking of warship Cheonan, in which 46 sailors died and which the South Korean government says was caused by a North Korean torpedo.

Bereaved families attempted to bar the film with court injunctions, but "Cheonan" made it into limited release in September, only to have the Megabox theater chain remove the film after two days. The exhibitor cited warnings that its cinemas were going to be picketed by conservative groups. Skeptics say with the heads of many big Korean conglomerates in jail, business is simply unwilling to stick its neck out.

Thank you Variety

Korea Is on the Cusp of a New Golden Era...

Fresh talent and diverse pics draw big B.O. as local indies make inroads

New faces behind the films and fresh stories on the screen have reinvigorated the Korean film business. In the first nine months of 2013, two local films have entered the all-time top 10, market share for local titles has hovered around the 60% mark, and Hollywood has seemed powerless to respond to a succession of well-made and diverse local titles.

Making the picture even rosier for Korean cinema, the B.O. boom has been accelerated by new filmmakers, movies (mostly) made on reasonable budgets — up to $4 million in some cases — and the growing influence of five-year-old distributor Next Entertainment World.

The industry's recovery from the slump of 2007-08 feels like it's been a long time coming.

The year kicked o with an unexpected hit, "Miracle in Cell No. 7." Handled by NEW, which was launched by former Showbox employees, the film is by far the biggest of 2013, and with 12.8 million admissions and $84 million, it's one of the biggest Korean titles of all time.

Melodrama "Miracle" joins other local successes that have been edgier and darker; indeed, Korean screens have seen more thrillers and horror, and a markedly lower emphasis on romance and comedies than in the recent past.

"The films are better, they are fresher, they have better ideas," says producer Jonathan Kim. "The scene is vibrant because there are many people having a chance to make big movies in Korea these days."

It's notable that many of this year's hits came from first-time directors.

Two of the biggest were action thriller "The Terror Live," which collected $36 million at the box office, and started as a pitch at the Network of Asian Fantastic Films genre film project market in 2010 before being picked up by giant local distrib Lotte Entertainment; and thriller "Hide and Seek," which was made by Huh Jung, a director with four shorts to his credit, and distribbed by NEW. The latter pic has made $36 millon so far.

Finding newcomers and backing have been deliberate strategies by NEW, which this year ranks as the country's No. 2 distributor, behind traditional market leader CJ, and ahead of the combined might of Disney and Sony.

"NEW has contributed a lot," says Suh Young-joo, head of sales agency Finecut, and who has represented many NEW titles overseas. "Eighty percent of their fi lms are by fi rst-time directors. They are also good at script analysis. They want to work with budgets of $3 million-$4 million, even for new directors."

The success of NEW has been significant in another way too. For many years Korean cinema has been dogged by worries that two or three vertically integrated groups — CJ, Lotte and Megabox — backed by even larger chaebols (Korean-style conglomerates) have dominated the exhibition and distribution scenes.

But NEW has managed to crack the so-called monopoly, with three films so far in the Korean top 10.

"We have strong distribution companies with enormous cinema chains behind them. But this year NEW has been very successful without a cinema chain," says Nam Dong-chul, Korean film programmer for the Busan festival. Nam notes that independent producers and big distrib/exhib companies are working together and achieving B.O. success.

Nevertheless, some are still wary of the big players.

"I'm worried by the number of screens available to arthouse and independent directors," says Lee Tae-hun of Opus Pictures, one of the producers of "Snowpiercer," which was distributed by CJ and has racked up some $62 million in grosses. "The independents are not challenging the hierarchy. Rather the Korean studios are choosing to cooperate with the slaves. Just like Hollywood, they are always looking for new blood. They are not adopting the indie spirit, they are just buying it. I'm worried by that too."

And the Korean films are thrilling local auds only.

"The big overseas markets have shrunk. The Japanese market is again down after the 2010 natural disaster," says Finecut's Suh.

Perhaps the burgeoning indie scene will make monopolies a thing of the past and boost global interest again.

Thank you Hollywood Reporter

--------------------------------------------------------> Submit to: Show contact info
In order to avoid all the SCAMS, we decide not to publish all the info of the recruter in the job postings. You'll find the Daily Password in our Monthly Newsletter. You can Subscribe to our Newsletter here Thanks. A.

www.chicas-productions.com
------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunday, November 17, 2013

U.K., South Korea Sign Cultural Agreement...

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Korean Film Industry: Censorship Rising?

Korea Is on the Cusp of a New Golden Era...