Interview with Gokyungbeom, Head of CJ Film Division
"Reflecting Opinions of 20s Newcomers" Commitment to Structural Improvement
"Bold Investment in Discovering New Talents"
CJ ENM once had a well-stocked treasury. Released films easily attracted 3 million viewers as a baseline, often surpassing 5 million, 7 million, and even reaching 10 million, enjoying a boom period. However, with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company experienced a steep decline. While neighboring companies fiercely worked to recover losses, CJ could not escape the slump. As blockbuster films with production costs in the hundreds of millions of won consecutively underperformed, rumors circulated within the industry that ‘CJ might exit the film business.’
At a cafe in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Go Kyung-beom, head of CJ ENM’s film business division (47), promised, “We will return to our original intentions and redevelop our film business.” The interview took place just before the release of ‘Fast Lives,’ a film co-produced with the Hollywood studio A24. While the collaboration with one of the most notable studios recently attracted attention, the greater focus was on the future direction of CJ’s film business.
Go, the head of the film business division, said, “Rather than extending the existing success model, we focused on the intrinsic value of the work itself,” highlighting ‘Fast Lives.’ Recently, CJ has been expressing a strong will to find new opportunities for Korean films in the global market. As part of this, they have high expectations for ‘Fast Lives,’ which is nominated for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay at this month’s Academy Awards (Oscars) in the United States. Alongside this, they are also observing how the film is received by domestic audiences. Go stated, “Rather than shifting entirely to global, we plan to develop both the Korean and global businesses in parallel.”
He added, “We intend to rethink from the ground up what content is relevant in this era and build a lineup accordingly. We will work on setting appropriate business models, genres, and target audiences. We are also considering ways to collaborate with production companies and various creators.”
“In the North American market, several major players are already established. Even these leaders are facing a period of upheaval where they must find new business models. We plan to collaborate flexibly with local partners who have distribution networks, infrastructure, and know-how. As part of this, we aim to start filming two projects this year. Through this, we are exploring ways to enter the mainstream market.”
Content is key. Go explained, “Most of our recently released films were planned seven years ago,” adding, “The films came out after trends had changed.” He plans to quickly move into production by picking up novels that resonate with the spirit of the times. The strategy is to take a different direction from before by creating timely content or predicting films that consumers will like in the future, thereby leading trends.
Will the traditional decision-making process inside large corporate investment and distribution companies, which has been commonly criticized, also change? When asked about this, Go acknowledged it as “a somewhat sensitive topic” but confidently presented two directions.
“In the past, final decisions were made through a linear decision-making process, but nowadays, considering consumers, we aim to change in two major ways. For high-budget content, we will raise the hurdles. By applying stricter production criteria, we want to increase the overall reliability of the lineup. Also, moving away from a structure centered on leaders in their 40s, we will change the decision-making criteria to be more multidimensional, reflecting demographics of actual audiences, starting from new employees in their 20s. Through this, we will build a lineup that fits the market.”
He explained that they are planning with consideration of what content suits movie theaters and are also contemplating distribution methods that fit the changed environment from a media perspective. Go said, “Previously, we operated a safe business, but in a rapidly changing market, that ‘safety’ is no longer safe. We need new insights and standards that allow us to see the market with fresh eyes and make decisions accordingly.”
He also promised to boldly discover and invest in new creators, breaking away from existing film formulas. He said, “We will make bold investments to discover new talents,” and “We will fill our slate with fresh content going forward.” He added, “As a major film operator, we will also work to inject new energy into the market and expand the pie.”
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
