The Film 'Broker' That Shook Cannes... Behind It Is Kakao Entertainment

'Broker' Film Company House, First Work After Acquisition
'Hunt' Also Invited to Cannes Film Festival
Acquired Total of 3 Film Production Companies
Focus on Production Integrating Platforms Like Webtoons

On the 26th (local time), after the official screening of "Broker," a competition entry at the 75th Cannes International Film Festival held in Cannes, France, director Hirokazu Koreeda (second from left) and the cast posed on the red carpet. From the left: actor Song Kang-ho, director Koreeda, actress Lee Ji-eun (IU), Lee Joo-young, and Kang Dong-won.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Kakao Entertainment has made its name known worldwide with the film Broker. Kakao Entertainment, which offers content such as webtoons and dramas, has announced its active involvement across the entire content industry starting with the movie Broker.

Kakao Entertainment Strengthening Its Position in the Film Industry

The film Broker, which earned actor Song Kang-ho the Best Actor award at the 75th Cannes International Film Festival on the 28th (local time)?making him the first Korean actor to receive this honor?was produced by the film company Jip. Kakao Entertainment acquired Jip last September for approximately 17.9 billion KRW. Jip is a well-established production company in the film industry, having produced a total of 16 works including The Man from Nowhere, Jeon Woo-chi, All About My Wife, and The Priests.

The first film released after the acquisition has drawn attention to Kakao Entertainment’s acquisition effect by not only entering the competition section at Cannes, one of the world’s top three film festivals, but also winning an award. At this year’s Cannes International Film Festival, the film Hunt by the production company Sanai Pictures was also invited to the non-competitive Midnight Screening section. Sanai Pictures is another company acquired by Kakao Entertainment for 14 billion KRW.

Over the past 3 to 4 years, Kakao Entertainment has accelerated its expansion in related businesses by acquiring about 10 film, drama, and broadcasting program production companies. Currently, it owns three film production companies: Jip, Sanai Pictures, and Wolgwang. Recently, Sanai Pictures and the broadcasting program production company Baram Pictures, both subsidiaries, joined forces to produce the drama Worst Evil. Worst Evil is scheduled to be released on an Over-The-Top (OTT) platform.

Global Strategy with Killer Content

Kakao Entertainment is a core affiliate of Kakao’s future 10-year keyword, ‘Beyond Korea.’ It is not only responsible for the global expansion of webtoons but also leads various industries such as film, entertainment, and music. On the 18th, Kakao Entertainment decided to merge the webtoon platform Tapas and the web novel platform Radish to become the number one webtoon content provider in the North American market. Radish, established in the U.S. in 2016, is a mobile-specialized web novel platform based in the North American market. Tapas is the first webtoon platform in North America, boasting a catalog of about 100,000 titles.

Kakao Entertainment’s strategy is to maximize global growth momentum through the merger of Tapas and Radish. This increases the potential to discover killer content such as Itaewon Class and Business Proposal, and through this, expand the scale by applying it to various media including films, comics, games, and music. The recent acceleration in acquiring content production companies across various fields is also interpreted as an effort to execute this strategy.

Kakao Entertainment has already begun demonstrating its content capabilities in the North American market. Its webtoon Navillera was nominated in the webcomic category at the 2022 Eisner Awards, known as the ‘Oscar’ of the North American comic industry. Being nominated alone is highly significant as it is one of the most prestigious awards in the global comic industry, recognized by the industry.

Targeting the North American, ASEAN, Greater China, Indian, and European markets, Kakao Entertainment plans to triple its global transaction volume by 2024. Kakao Entertainment aims to secure production competitiveness across all platforms including OTT, TV, and screens, focusing on planning and producing super intellectual property (IP) targeting the global market.