Leading Domestic VFX Specialist M83 Selected as 2024 'Small Giant Company' by Ministry of Employment and Labor

Leading domestic VFX specialist company M83 (MpalSam, CEOs Kim Ho-sung and Jung Sung-jin) announced on the 24th that it has been selected as a ‘Small Giant Company’ for 2024 by the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

The Small Giant Company selection system, implemented annually by the Ministry of Employment and Labor since 2012, aims to provide job-seeking youth with information about outstanding small and medium-sized enterprises. The main selection criteria include checking for wage arrears, industrial accident occurrences, and selecting companies with a credit rating of -BB or higher. Selected companies receive benefits such as recruitment support, corporate promotion, preferential financial treatment, and preferential tax audits.

This year, the selection criteria for Small Giant Companies were strengthened, including raising the credit rating standards to enhance the external credibility of selected companies. As a result, although the number of selected companies was halved compared to last year, M83 was chosen as a Small Giant Company for 2024.

M83 operates various in-house welfare programs such as ▲a 2-hour reduced workday every Wednesday ▲a half-day leave system ▲paid leave and condolence money for family events. Since its establishment in 2020, the company has been running diverse welfare programs within a short period and continues to make exemplary efforts to improve the working environment for its employees.

Through these efforts, as of the end of 2023, the company showed an employment growth rate approaching 50% compared to the previous year, and its sales grew by approximately 117% to 25.9 billion KRW. Profits also increased by 187% during the same period, reaching 4.4 billion KRW, demonstrating explosive growth in company volume alongside efficient workforce management.

M83 served as the main studio for large-scale VFX (Visual Effects) on films such as Noryang: Sea of Death, Hansan: Rising Dragon, Space Sweepers, and dramas like Vincenzo and Sweet Home 2. This extensive portfolio was possible because M83 possesses the largest supervisor organization in Korea that manages and oversees the overall quality and completeness of VFX. With numerous supervisors having over 20 years of experience, the company can meet the high-level VFX production management demands of producers and directors and handle multiple large-scale projects simultaneously, giving it a competitive edge over other companies. Thanks to this core competitiveness, within just four years since its establishment, M83 has been selected as a key partner for many major projects conducted by leading domestic production companies.

CEOs Kim Ho-sung and Jung Sung-jin of M83 stated, “Since the VFX industry consists of diverse personnel such as artists and engineers who are the company’s core resources, we will continue to diversify welfare benefits for our employees.” They added, “We will keep growing so that M83 can be recognized as a company where not only young people aspiring to enter the VFX industry but also current industry professionals want to work.”

Meanwhile, M83 submitted a preliminary review application to the Korea Exchange on the 9th of last month for listing on KOSDAQ and plans to proceed with the listing within the second half of this year. Shin Young Securities is in charge of the listing underwriting.