K-Content Knocks on Hollywood's Door... Competing with Technology and IP on the Investment Stage [K-Content's Move]

Fifteen Companies Including The Pinkfong Company Participate
Meetings with Fifty Investors Including Warner Bros.
Beyond Simple Promotion: 181 Investment Meetings Held
Mopac Achieves Tangible Results with $6 Billion Won Investment
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Jang Sungho, CEO of Mopac Studio, explained the film production pipeline using Unreal Engine at "U-KNOCK 2025 in USA," held on the 4th (local time) in Los Angeles, USA.

The Korean content industry opened a venue for meetings with global investors in Los Angeles, USA. At "U-KNOCK 2025 in USA," co-hosted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency, a total of 181 one-on-one investment meetings took place.

This was not a simple promotional event, but a forum where actual investment negotiations occurred. Fifteen Korean companies-including The Pinkfong Company, Mopac Studio, Studio Realive, MBC, and FunnyFlux-met with representatives from around fifty major U.S. investment and production companies such as WIIP, CAA Media Finance, Atwater Capital, Warner Bros., and Sony Pictures.

U-KNOCK was designed as an "investment verification-type IR (Investor Relations)" event, going beyond mere project promotion. Participating companies pitched their competitiveness from an investment perspective, focusing on marketability, intellectual property (IP) revenue models, and exit scenarios.

According to the "2024 Content Industry Statistics" released by the Korea Creative Content Agency, Korea's content exports in 2023 reached approximately 1.334 billion dollars (about 1.9383 trillion won). As export competitiveness grows, the content industry is now being evaluated not just as a cultural product, but as an asset with investment value.

Woo Seongbae, Head of Content Finance Support at the Korea Creative Content Agency, explained, "While previous export support focused on overseas distribution and promotion of individual content, U-KNOCK has evolved into a structure that connects overseas capital, partners, and IP."

Results are already emerging. Mopac Studio, a company specializing in visual effects (VFX), recently secured an investment of about 6 billion won from Altos Ventures. Although this deal was not concluded at the U-KNOCK event itself, the government-led IR event served as a catalyst, enabling technology-driven Korean companies to begin achieving tangible results in the investment market.

Mopac founder Jang Sungho is a first-generation VFX expert in Korea. The feature-length animation "King of Kings," which he produced over more than ten years, recorded cumulative box office revenue of 19.1 million dollars (about 2.72 billion won) in North America. This surpassed the record set by "The Prince of Egypt" in the biblical animation genre for the first time in 27 years.

Mopac has integrated the Unreal game engine into its film production pipeline, establishing a production environment that enables real-time simulation and review. This technology is regarded as something even major Hollywood studios have yet to fully implement.

On the 4th (local time), approximately fifty representatives from major U.S. investment and production companies, including WIIP, CAA Media Finance, Atwater Capital, and Warner Bros., attended 'U-KNOCK 2025 in USA' held in Los Angeles, United States.

The biggest challenge facing the content industry is securing control over IP. In reality, it is not easy for Korean companies to gain a favorable position. A local industry insider, who requested anonymity, said, "The demand by overseas investors for IP control is not a matter of individual negotiations, but a structural characteristic of the Hollywood business model."

Park Inchan, CEO of Studio W.Baba, said, "Some over-the-top (OTT) platforms or distributors propose global exclusive streaming as a condition, but this restricts secondary business expansion such as toys and publishing. During negotiations, we adjust to 'regional exclusive rights' or 'non-exclusive by segment' to protect the long-term scalability of our IP."

Building trust has also emerged as a key issue. Song Yusang, CEO of Millennial Works, pointed out, "The biggest challenge is the preconception of being an 'unverified Asian startup.'" In fact, overseas sales account for only 0.9% of the animation industry’s revenue.

The government has begun building a trust-based platform to address these issues. Woo emphasized, "Government-led IR serves as a verification platform based on public trust. Through this, overseas investors come to recognize Korean companies as trustworthy partners."

The support system is also being revamped. The Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA), PwC, and Deloitte have identified AI-based production, immersive content, and AR/VR entertainment as next-generation growth sectors. U-KNOCK's U.S. strategy is also being pursued in line with these trends.

Woo predicted, "Since investment negotiations fundamentally require more than six months, tangible results will be seen next year."