'Electroman' Character Movie in Preparation
Liquidated After 5 Years Without Results
Shinsegae Group has announced its withdrawal from the film production business after five years.
According to industry sources on the 5th, Electroman Cultural Industry Specialist Company, a special purpose company, held a general meeting of members on the 22nd of last month and began liquidation procedures. Established in July 2018 under the leadership of Chung Yong-jin, Vice Chairman of Shinsegae Group, the company had been preparing to produce a Korean-style hero film starring 'Electroman,' the character of the home appliance specialty store Electromart.
In 2018, when the company was founded, Vice Chairman Chung emphasized in his New Year's address that "content with a story is a powerful weapon that differentiates us from competitors and resonates with customers," adding, "We must become a world-class company that does not exist in the world, and I believe that is possible through content with a story." At the time, there were evaluations that Shinsegae Group modeled itself after Disney, a global company known for famous characters like Mickey Mouse, and news circulated that a film with a production cost of around 30 billion won would be made. However, after more than five years, the company is closing without any significant achievements.
Regarding this, Shinsegae stated, "We decided to liquidate as we judged that the significance of maintaining a separate corporation was not great," and added, "We will continue to strengthen competitiveness by utilizing characters." Although the film business is being wound down, the Electromart business division will be maintained as is.
In addition to Electroman, Shinsegae Group owns the characters 'J-Rilla' and 'Wondungi.' In particular, 'J-Rilla' is called the 'Chung Yong-jin character' because it resembles Vice Chairman Chung and includes the initial 'J' from his English surname. Shinsegae Food, after receiving a good response to 16 products from the 'J-Rilla × The Cart Golf' collaboration with Kolon FnC in October last year, also launched J-Rilla golf wear in February.
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