PARK. “Korea’s strength lies in its stories and beautiful scenery.”
LAST MONTH, we were invited by the Manila Office of the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) to New World Hotel to meet representatives from the Seoul Film Commission (SFC) and Live Motion Pictures Inc. The goal was to entice the Filipino film and television productions to shoot in Korea.
Korea provides easy access to shooting locations and has 10 film commissions that are “one-stop shops” that give incentives to national and international productions.
Hyejin Jang, senior assistant manager of KTO Manila Office stated, “The Korean government agency offers cash rebate on foreign feature films, television series and production costs incurred for goods and services in Korea. The Hollywood movie, ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron,’ had tax rebates when they shot in Korea.”
Based on a leaflet provided by SFC, “Bourne Legacy” director Tony Gilroy noted, “Seoul is one of the best places to shoot.”
Incentives
Incentives include up to 25-percent cash rebate on foreign audio-visual production expenditures incurred for goods and services in Korea, location hunting and script development support.
Other productions that have benefited from the incentives include the Netflix-produced “Sense8,” “America’s Next Top Model” and even our very own “Kimmy Dora and the Temple of Kiyeme.”
Sejin Park, a producer from Live Motion Pictures, shared his experiences in the 10-episode, “Dramaworld,” about the supernatural adventures of an American college student, set in Los Angeles and Korea.
He recalled, “We spent six months for preproduction, during which we were provided with plane tickets and accommodation, a location manager and transportation support from SFC.”
Inshik Park, director of KTO Manila, shared, “Korea’s strength lies in its stories and beautiful scenery. We look forward to seeing you filming in Korea in the very near future.”
Based on the statistics provided by the Korean Film Council, the number of productions in Korea has tripled, while the screening attendance doubled in 2016.