More Korean Producers Come To Work In China

Oct 16, 2025 CFM Co-production, Daily, Production 0

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Still: THE WITNESS (Ahn Sang-hoon, 2015)

China has become a burgeoning film market with abundant sources of capital, drawing more Korean producers to explore their ways in China. With more China-Korea co-productions coming out, Korean producers are making a stronger presence in the Chinese film industry.

“Korea is a small country compared with China. The film market is much smaller, too. So Korean filmmakers have to be desperate to survive in the Korean film industry. But China is so big that Chinese filmmakers are quite optimistic of the future of the film industry,” said Lee Joo-ick, producer of LATE AUTUMN starring Tang Wei and Jacob Cheung’s A BATTLE OF WITS.

Lee Yun-jin, who is working on a China-Korea co-production, was impressed by the strong passion and energy of Chinese filmmakers. “They work very hard, even at weekends, and have been very active and competitive in the rapidly expanding Chinese film market. They are enthusiastic in the growing market. But in Korea, the market is almost set quantitatively as well as qualitatively. There’s not much room for growth,” she explained. She believes it’s this kind of difference that has encouraged Korean filmmakers including her to enter to the Chinese film market.

However, China’s sometimes-opaque censorship system along with its lack of movie classification system has not made it easy for Korean producers to fit in.

“When I first came to China, I felt a little bit lost as there’s no classification system. But after I got more information from the Chinese companies, the feeling fade away,” said Andy Yoon, producer of Korean film BLIND and its Chinese version THE WITNESS.

Yoon also noted that in Korea, a film’s profit mainly goes to producers and creators. But in China, investors become the priority.

For Korean producers who want to tap into the Chinese market, Lee Joo-ick suggests that they should try to understand the Chinese culture and history, and literature if possible, before trying to understand the market. “It may sound inefficient, but it will pay eventually. And this is what I have been doing,” he said.

Yoon, on the other hand, thinks the key part is to find the right partner in China, who shares the same dream. “To work together, both parties need to respect and understand each other and try to maximize each one’s value,” he said. “But it’s not like all you need is a good partner. It’s just the first step. To strengthen the collaboration and seek mutual benefit could be much harder.”

“I have traveled frequently between China and Korea in the past seven years and have met lots of Chinese filmmakers who are capable of making good movies. If I would be able to make a successful China-Korea co-production, my Chinese partner must have played a major role,” he added.

As for the future, Lee Joo-ick said that it’s no doubt that China and Korea will collaborate more intensely from now, because they are well aware of the synergy they would bring.

Lee Yun-jin feels the same. “Nowadays many projects are co-planned by Chinese and Korean filmmakers. Through this cooperation, many film studios and filmmakers will be able to exchange their ideas between the two markets. Korean and Chinese filmmakers would make better outcomes than simply Korean wave,” she said.

 

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