A Battle of Wits (Movie - 2006)

SO Ji-sub, Zhang Ziyi, and Fan Bingbing in a love triangle

Source | 2008/11/14 | 0 comments | Permalink |

SO Ji-sub has been cast alongside major Chinese stars Zhang Ziyi and Fan Bingbing. In the Chinese film Sophie's Revenge, Zhang's character will fall head over heels in love from the first time she meets a doctor, played by SO, only to find him stolen away by a famous actress (Fan). Zhang's character then sets out for revenge.

Korea's major film studio CJ Entertainment is coproducing the film together with Chinese Perfectworld. The romantic comedy is in the hands of director Jin Yimeng and the film is scheduled to be released in Chinese cinemas late next year.

SO established his silver screen presence in the recent film "Rough Cut" (JANG Hoon) and enjoys great popularity in Asia through his television dramas "Sorry, I Love You" and "Something Happened in Bali". Zhang burst onto the international scene with her role in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. Fan Bingbing was last seen in "A Battle of Wits" which also starred AHN Seong-gi as a Chinese general.

Yi Ch'ang-ho (KOFIC)...| More

KOREAN FILM COUNCIL ANNOUNCES MENTORS AND SUCCESSFUL FINALISTS FOR FILMMAKERS' DEVELOPMENT LAB 2008

Source | 2008/06/03 | 0 comments | Permalink |

June 3, 2008 (Los Angeles) - Now in its third year, the Korean Film Council's Filmmakers' Development Lab confirmed today the appointment of this year's Mentors, and also announced the five successful finalists who are this year's Fellows.

The Filmmakers' Development Lab (FDL) is an initiative of the Korean Film Council (KOFIC) to pair industry professionals and emerging filmmakers from Korea and the Korean diaspora to help realize their English language projects. The Fellows are chosen from open application and project submission process.

The program begins with one-on-one mentoring at an intensive one-week script development Lab which will be held in late June in Jeju Island, Korea.

The Fellows and their projects are then brought to Independent Film Week (previously IFP Market) in New York in September, and to the Co-Production Forum at the Pusan International Film Festival and Asian Film Market in Korea in October.

Throughout, Fellows are given opportunities to netwo...| More

[THE HIGH TIDE OF THE KOREAN WAVE(28)] Ebbing tide of Hallyu slows film industry

Source | 2008/03/27 | 0 comments | Permalink |

In the last few years, Korean films, TV dramas and pop music have become immensely popular abroad, a phenomenon known as the Korean Wave. This is the 28th in a series of essays by a select group of scholars and journalists looking at the spread of Korean pop culture in Southeast Asian countries and beyond. - Ed.

Ahn Seong-gi seems perennially calm and collected. A gentle smile on his face, he does not raise his voice even when he talks about the turbulent developments pummeling the Korean cinema in recent months. But his concerns are genuine because, in his view, the local film industry is in deep trouble and the future outlook remains gloomier than ever.

Ahn's perspective about the current state of Korean movies and filmmakers is hard to be discounted. The list of films in which he played a key role in the 1990s alone include "Two Cops" (1993), "The Taebaek Mountains" (1994), "Festival" (1996), "The Soul Guardians" (1998) and "Nowhere to Hide" (1999).

In the 2000s, he starred...| More

Korea's CJ Announces First Chinese Co-production

Source | 2007/10/02 | 0 comments | Permalink |

Industry heavyweight CJ Entertainment's President KIM Joo-sung has unveiled the first film project partnership with China Film Group Corp (CFGC), easily the largest movie group in China. The announcement follows on the heels of memorandum of understanding between the two companies, signed in June of 2007. The Korea-China co-production will be a martial arts epic called Thangka, based on a Tibetan Buddhist painting of the same name.

The film is about a Tang Dynasty princess who was married to a Tibetan king and introduced Chinese culture in Tibet. It will be directed by Jacob Chang ("A Battle of Wits)" from a script by Liu Heng, whose Assembly is opening PIFF this year. Shooting is slated for March of next year with a released date in China planned for the Lunar New Year 2009. CJ hopes to complete about two films a year with CFGC.

The two companies, along with Sony Pictures USA, My Space China and Hong Kong studios Media Asia and Emperor Motion Pictures, have also announced ...| More

CJ to Make Film with China

Source | 2007/09/28 | 0 comments | Permalink |

CJ Entertainment has agreed to launch a joint project with China.

The president of CJ says that he signed a memorandum of understanding in Beijing with the chief of China's largest film agency, the China Film Group, on the jointly invested production of the film 'Thangka' and another project aimed at fostering young Chinese filmmakers.

The film is about a historical Tang dynasty princess married to a Tibetan king who introduced Chinese culture to Tibet.

'A Battle of Wits' diretor Jacob Chang will produce the film alongside the playwright of 'Assembly', the opening film of this year's Pusan International Film Festival.

Filming will start in March with a planned 2009 release.

The other project to discover and nurture young Chinese filmmakers will be organized by the China Film Group and participated in by CJ, Sony Pictures of the US, Media Asia of Hong Kong and Emperor Pictures....| More