South Korean Movie Industry Faces Shrinking Fan Base Overseas [WSJ]
By LINA YOON
August 3, 2006 11:46 a.m.
SEOUL -- Exports of South Korean movies fell sharply in the first half of the year, stung by reduced orders in Japan, where filmgoers had flocked to see Korean melodramas a year ago.
The Korean Film Council said overseas sales fell 58% to $17.4 million from $41.8 million a year earlier. The council booked 128 movies in 47 countries in the first six months of the year, down from 153 movies in 52 countries. The average price per movie a foreign buyer paid was halved, to $136,088 from $273,268. The licensing deals varied but generally included DVD sales and the like.
For several years, movies have been central to the rising popularity of Korean entertainment, chiefly around Asia but also in Europe and North America, in a cultural phenomenon known as the "Korean wave." The wave started with a growing interest in Korean soap operas and music, as Asian audiences simply became curious about Korea and the culture acquired a cachet. It expanded to fashion, film and all things Korean, and the government created the Korea Culture and Contents Association to promote the nation's entertainment exports.
In Japan, the popularity of Korean melodramas, anchored by star actors, fueled much of the overseas demand. Japan accounted for 74% of the demand for South Korean movie exports during the first half of 2005, but that plunged to 50% this year. During the year-earlier period, Japan had held cultural exchange events, including film festivals, that helped promote Korean movies.
"Japan reached a new stage where the big star-centered melodrama doesn't sell anymore," says Huh Moon Yung, a Korean film-festival programmer and industry watcher. Mr. Huh said Korean filmmakers should concentrate less on melodramas and broaden the number of more-artistic films of other genres. Horror films, considered a kind of art cinema in many Asian nations, are the most promising at the moment, drawing a sizable following in Europe and the United States, for instance.
The country will soon export a movie that is shaping up to be its biggest ever with Korean audiences, "The Host," a horror story about a monster in Seoul's Han River. After receiving strong reviews at overseas film festivals earlier this year, the movie opened last week to packed theaters across the country. In its first week, more than four million tickets were sold, a record for South Korean cinema. |
