Wonderful Days (Movie - 2002)

Why Is Pororo so Popular?

2008/08/14 | Permalink |

Hope for Korean animation
Kim Sungin (amazesi34)

A lot of children are looking forward to watching "Pororo Season 3". Actually, Pororo has had a brilliant success for the last five years. What makes Pororo such a success?

Iconix, the maker of Pororo (http://www.pororo.net), says that it was the result of empathy with today's children, of the ability to plan marketing, of 3-D animation skill and of the thorough management of characters.

Sometimes, Korean characters have many limits to success in the world market, even though the Korean animation business is getting bigger and more specialized. They used to be late to register a trademark, or fail to manage their characters. If they keep the secret of Pororo's success in mind, other Korean animation will be successful in the world market, too.

A Typical Episode

"After reading about birds flying, Pororo starts to think that he too can fly. Climbing up a rooftop with great expectations, Pororo finds that his wings are too s...| More

2008 NEXT plus Summer Film Festival

Source | 2008/08/01 | Permalink |

Korea's Art-Plus network of affiliated theaters launches it's 2008 NEXT plus Summer Film Festival, a coordinated effort by the art house and independent exhibitors to bring exciting films from home and abroad to cinema-lovers.

Sponsored by KOFIC and Seoul City, the festival runs July 25 – August 7 in Seoul, Incheon and Kyeonggi area, and August 1 – 14 in other regions across the country. Various genres and retrospectives as well as the most recent films will be on view. A number of Passes and discount tickets will be available during the festival for use at member theaters.

Seoul Art Cinema in Jongno will feature a retrospective of American independent filmmaker Hal Hartley. Classic and contemporary Hong Kong action films will be screened at several theaters including Film Forum and Seoul Art Cinema. Sponge House Joong Ang Cinema will screen films by Japanese director Miki Satoshi as well as Korean independent features and shorts.

In Apkujeong at Cine City, a showcase o...| More

KIM Moon-saeng to helm Korean-French animation project

Source | 2008/05/15 | Permalink |

KIM Moon-saeng, the director of "Wonderful Days", will be directing the animation Gaemi (English translation: ant), an adaptation of the popular French book Empire of the Ants by Bernard Werber.

Werber personally asked KIM to join the project to adapt his book into a film, after he watched a screening of Wonderful Days in France. Werber explained that he was impressed by KIM's animation film and that he would be the ideal filmmaker to realise the images and the story in his mind.

The project is already a year-and-a-half in development. KIM is also involved in writing the English language scenario. Gaemi will be a combination of 3D animation and live-action scenes.

Korean Studio 3303 announced that it will invest half of the ten million Euro budget and that they are looking for a French partner to finance the remaining half of the budget. Filming is scheduled to initiate this year and the film is expected to enter cinemas in 2011.

Werber said that ants are fascinating sin...| More

[Talk of the town] Author handpicks Korean filmmaker to shoot epic ant tale

Source | 2008/05/14 | Permalink |

The director of "Wonderful Days" (2003), Kim Moon-saeng, is turning Bernard Werber's science-fiction trilogy, "Les Fourmis (The Ants)", into a film.
Werber proposed that Kim direct the film after seeing "Wonderful Days" in France.
Korea and France will defray 50 percent of the 10 million euros ($15 million) production costs, according to Studio 3303, the Korean production company in charge.
The company is currently looking for a French production partner.
The film will be in English, and production starts this year and should finish in 2011.
The Ants has sold more than 2 million copies worldwide and it has been translated into more than 30 languages.
The books were published between 1991 and 1996.
By Lee Eun-joo...| More

[BRIEFLY] Kim Moon-saeng to head 'Ants' project

Source | 2008/05/07 | Permalink |

Korean filmmaker Kim Moon-saeng ("Wonderful Days") will head the movie adaptation project for "Empire of the Ants", a best selling book by French author Bernard Werber.

Studio 3303, a local production house, said yesterday that it will share half of the production budget, estimated at about 10 million euros (16 billion won), while the remaining half will come from a French production partner.

About two-thirds of the movie will be three-dimensional animations, while the remainder will incorporate conventional shootings of real objects and actors.

Werber visited Korea last month and met with director Kim to finalize the movie project. The French author, who is highly popular with Korean readers, began discussing the movie adaptation with the Korean filmmaker after watching Kim's "Wonderful Days". ...| More