Film Industry's Self-Regulation Efforts and Demand for 'Sales Revenue'-Focused Aggregation
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has instructed the Korean Film Council to devise measures regarding box office manipulation by theaters and distributors.
According to the Ministry on the 20th, Minister Park Bo-gyun summoned Korean Film Council Chairman Park Ki-yong to the Ministry's Seoul office in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, on the 18th, stating, "The controversy over box office manipulation has damaged public trust in the integrated ticketing system for movie theaters and the film industry," and urged, "Please prepare measures such as supplementing the box office aggregation criteria and demonstrate leadership to lead self-regulatory efforts." The Korean Film Council operates the integrated ticketing system for movie theaters.
The police announced on the 16th that they had sent 69 officials from three multiplex companies and 24 distributors to the prosecution on charges of falsifying ticket issuance information in the integrated ticketing system to manipulate audience numbers. They estimated that the audience numbers for 323 domestic released films over the past five years were inflated by 2.67 million.
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism proposed two major measures to prevent overheated competition and increase transparency in the film industry. One is self-regulatory efforts centered on the Korean Film Council, and the other is box office aggregation focused on 'sales revenue.' They will also revise the 'Act on the Promotion of Movies and Video Works.' The scope of those subject to fines for intentionally omitting or manipulating data transmitted to the integrated ticketing system will be expanded from 'theaters' to 'film distributors.'
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
