[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] CJ ENM has taken a significant step closer to its ultimate goal of becoming a "global total entertainment company" led by K-content by sweeping the Emmy Awards following the Academy Awards and Tony Awards. This is the result of expanding its influence in the global market by acquiring Fifth Season (Endeavor Content) this year.
Surpassing the Limits of a Domestic Company
According to the Financial Supervisory Service on the 15th, the overseas sales ratio of CJ ENM's entertainment division, which was around 20% at the end of last year, increased to 44.5% in the second quarter of this year. The overseas sales ratio of the media division rose from 36.8% in the first quarter to 43.3% in the second quarter, showing an upward trend. This is evidence that the sales structure is transforming from a "domestic company" to a "global company."
The expansion of the content ecosystem through the addition of Fifth Season played a major role. Fifth Season, which has bases in 19 countries worldwide including Europe and South America, boasts a strong in-house production system. It supplies more than 30 films and dramas annually. CJ ENM acquired Fifth Season for 930 billion KRW to directly produce and distribute content locally in the United States. CJ ENM believes that the integration of Fifth Season will serve as a key driver for its global growth. Previously, the company also invested in Hyperreal, a digital human production company.
After acquiring Fifth Season, CJ ENM accelerated content production and supply targeting the North American market and global Over-The-Top (OTT) platforms. With Fifth Season's performance consolidated, sales have increased significantly. Since the scale of U.S. content is ten times that of Korea, the more Fifth Season increases its production volume, the faster CJ ENM's global sales growth is expected to be. CJ ENM has started joint development on more than 10 projects including films and dramas.
Steadfast Investment Bears Fruit, CJ ENM on the World Stage
Fifth Season's Emmy Award wins have once again engraved CJ ENM's name overseas. "Severance," produced with Fifth Season's participation, was nominated in 14 categories at the 74th U.S. Primetime Emmy Awards and won two awards: Outstanding Main Title Design and Outstanding Music Composition for a Series.
Behind CJ ENM's achievements are the global business expansion strategy of professional CEO Kang Ho-sung and the steadfast investments of the owner family, including Chairman Lee Jae-hyun and Vice Chairman Lee Mi-kyung. Notably, the U.S. International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences praised Vice Chairman Lee Mi-kyung as "a pivotal figure leading the industrialization and globalization of Korean popular culture."
To accelerate global business, CEO Kang recently established the position of Chief Growth Officer (CGO) and recruited Jung Woo-sung, a management leader from Fox Corporation. Kang stated, "Producing premium well-made content and distributing it worldwide is the core of CJ ENM's business," adding, "We will strengthen global competitiveness through a multi-studio system including Studio Dragon, CJ ENM Studios, and Fifth Season."
Winning 3 out of the 4 Major Global Entertainment Awards
CJ ENM has not only won the Emmy Awards but also the Academy Awards and Tony Awards, capturing three of the four major global entertainment awards excluding the Grammy Awards. In 2020, director Bong Joon-ho's film "Parasite" won the Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature Film. "Parasite" is regarded as a milestone for K-content. Over the past three years, CJ ENM has produced three award-winning films in the Cannes Film Festival competition section: "Parasite," "Decision to Leave," and "Broker." Last year, the musical "Moulin Rouge" won 10 awards including Best Musical, and this year the musical "MJ," which CJ ENM co-produced, won four awards at the Tony Awards. These achievements are interpreted as CJ ENM strengthening its global cultural competitiveness beyond borders. This is the result of persistent efforts toward global expansion since investing in the U.S. film production company DreamWorks in 1995.
CJ ENM continues to build partnerships with global major platforms and production companies, expanding distribution channels and collaborative content production to lay the foundation for global growth. On December 14 last year, CJ ENM launched a branded channel on Pluto TV, Paramount Global's OTT platform, and since July this year, it has been supplying CJ ENM content dubbed in Spanish to Vix, TelevisaUnivision's OTT. Last month, it also launched a branded channel on Peacock, NBCUniversal's OTT platform.
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