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Cinemas still reeling from COVID-19 shock; K-pop's smooth sailing to continue
By Kwak Yeon-soo
Netflix drew media attention back in 2019 when it locked horns with the organizers of the Cannes International Film Festival over two films produced and distributed by the global streaming giant. The attempt by Netflix to submit its films for consideration was rebuffed by Cannes.
Their battle over cinematic turf illustrates the fear of theaters over the future of cinema. Theaters' worst-case scenario has become a reality. Backed by its surging subscribers during the pandemic, Netflix has transformed into a formidable threat to cinemas and film studios.
For K-pop, the landscape is not so different from that of cinema. K-pop stars are in shock, too, as their scheduled tours have been cancelled and concerts have gone online as public gathering bans have been extended.
A paradigm shift is underway in hallyu as major events go online.
Despite the parallels, cinema and K-pop ― two major components of hallyu ― are being affected differently, according to three experts who participated in the Korea Times Hallyu Roundtable held Dec. 10.
Kim Dong-won, vice president of Taewon Entertainment and CEO of Yoondang Arthall; Kim Hyun-hwan, director-general of the Content Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism; and Lee Gyu-tag, assistant professor of cultural studies at George Mason University Korea discussed their views about the durability of hallyu and what to expect from Korean cinema and K-pop in 2021.
Compared to cinema which was hit hard by the pandemic, they agreed K-pop was relatively well-prepared for the move to online platforms and thus managed to survive the pandemic.
"In K-pop, agencies were far-sighted. About a decade ago, they realized the day for online platforms would come, so they have been preparing for it ever since," Lee said.
"Their jump start in online platforms helped them survive the pandemic, although small agencies and lesser-known singers are suffering the consequences…. Over the past two decades, from time to time, skeptics have presented gloomy views about the future of K-pop. But it survived and even thrived with the presence of PSY and then BTS."
He said he is optimistic about the future of K-pop even after the success of BTS inevitably wanes.
Lee and other experts shared that global superstar boy band BTS and Bong Joon-ho's Oscar-winning movie "Parasite" were game changers in K-pop and Korean cinema, respectively, as the two lifted hallyu to the next level.
Unlike K-pop industry players, Kim Dong-won, vice president of Taewon Entertainment, said the failure to establish competitive homegrown online platforms was "a missed opportunity" for Korean cinema.
"Back in 2013 or 2014, times were really good to start over-the-top (OTT) businesses…. If conglomerates had invested in OTT services at that time, they could now have benefitted from their insightful investment. But no one did that, which is very regrettable," he said.
Kim likened the pandemic-hit local film industry to what happened in the mid-1990s when skepticism about Korean cinema ran high with some extreme views that it might end up disappearing altogether, driven by the huge success of Hollywood movies.
"The Korean film industry was at risk until the mid-1990s due to Hollywood's dominance. By then, director Im Kwon-taek's Seopyonje (1993) was the only homegrown film that attracted more than 1 million paying viewers," he said.
Kim called for a joint effort from all entities involved to overcome the pandemic-driven crisis just as Korea did in the 1990s when President Kim Dae-jung was in power.
To prevent Hollywood blockbusters from taking over the local film market, the Kim government maintained a screen quota system, requiring cinemas to show homegrown movies 146 days a year. By doing so, Korean cinema was able to achieve a 40 percent market share.
The government also created a fund to help the struggling local film industry. Korea's years of efforts to revitalize the local film industry paid off. Spurred by the success of spy action film "Swiri" (1999), the nation saw several similarly popular movies. "Silmido" (2003) and "Taegukgi: Brotherhood of War" (2004) were some of the productions that saw over 10 million tickets sold.
Kim Hyun-hwan, director general at the culture ministry, said playing the blame game regarding what went wrong with the staggering film industry is meaningless and vowed to provide financial support for the struggling sector.
"The amount contributed by the Korea Fund of Funds increased to 113 billion won in 2020 from 63 billion won a year earlier. We have set aside 114.8 billion won for 2021 to support promising projects," he said.
Kim agreed that the government needs to come up with a strategic budget allocation plan as global OTT platforms are reshaping the content industry.
"We understand that there is a greater need for content creation support. With hallyu content making a mark on streaming services, the ministry has decided to increase OTT-specific production support, from the current 6.3 billion won to 10.1 billion won in 2021," he said.
