Busan: Projects Pitched at Inaugural E-IP Market Session

Ten original works, ranging from unproduced scripts to currently available web cartoons and dramas, were pitched on Sunday to potential partners at the inaugural edition of the Asian Film Market’s Entertainment-Intellectual Property Market. The new event is intended to expand the functionality of the Busan market, reflecting the changing shape of media creativity in Asia, as well as the growing connections between Korea as a center of innovation and China as a financial power and media consumer.

Most of the buyers and potential co-producers at the pitching event were from Korea or China, with all the content being pitched originating in Korea. Other strands of the E-IP Market include presentations of book-to-film adaptations, forums, a legal seminar and a one-on-one project discussions similar to film project finance events.

At a seminar on Saturday, one panelist said that one concept behind the event is to discover and develop content that represents “one source, multi-use” capability. Attendees included Jeong Taesung, CEO of CJ Entertainment, and Jay Choi, GM of Warner Bros. Korea.

IHQ, one of Korea’s top entertainment groups producing TV and music, pitched web drama “Nightmare High.” A high school thriller about a student’s fear of being caught cheating, the web drama consists of six episodes that are 20 minutes each. The company’s global content distribution executive Janet Lee said iHQ is currently looking for partners to co-produce remakes and adaptations.

“The Underdog,” an animated feature from the directors of hit Korean animation “Leafie, A Hen Into the Wild” was another pitch. Set for a 2017 release, the cartoon feature is about love and friendship among a group of abandoned pet dogs who are searching for survival, freedom — and a human-free utopia. It is set as a co-production between Odoltogi, the production company of “Leafie,” and Dream Search C&C, which produced 3D Korean animated feature “Speckles the Tarbosaurus.”

In another pitch, Kim Hyung-wan, the screenwriter of 2003 Korean action movie “Tube,” pitched his own original script “The Housewife Cop.” “Housewife” is a story about a cop and devoted housewife — who prioritizes home and family over her job, but who is suddenly landed with the responsibility of being lead detective on the case of a murdered policewoman, for the sole reason that she is female.

Next Entertainment World, a leading Korean film distributor and the sponsor of the event, will select one project to receive a cash prize of $8,500 which will be announced at the joint Asian Project Market and E-IP Market awards ceremony Tuesday at the Westin Chosun.

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