San Francisco State UniversityWeb A-ZFind it Fast


Hollywood vs. Korea: Korean filmmakers to speak
out at forum Saturday, Nov. 8

#041

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACTS
Ted DeAdwyler
SFSU Office of Public Affairs
(415) 338-1665
pubcom@sfsu.edu

Press Release published by the Office of Public Affairs

 


Forum part of the S.F. Korean American Media Arts Festival sponsored by SFSU

WHAT:
Some of South Korea's top film officials, producers and actors will hold a special open forum to discuss what they feel is pressure from Hollywood to open up the Korean film market to more American films. The forum is part of the third annual San Francisco Korean American Media Arts Festival, sponsored by San Francisco State's Korea Studies in Media Arts program.

WHEN AND WHERE:
Saturday, Nov. 8, 2003 at 3 p.m. at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 701 Mission Street.

WHO:
Panelists include Roy Lee, producer of "The Ring," Hae-Joon Kim, secretariat director of the Korean Film Commission; Choon-Yun Lee, chair of the Korean Film Community, CEO of Cine 2000 and producer "Wishing Stairs"; Kye-Nam Myung, actor and producer of "Resurrection of the Little Match Girl" and "Oasis"; Gina Yu, president of the Coalition for Cultural Diversity in Moving Image; Eung-Soo Kim, director of the film "Desire"; and Jae-Yeon Yoon, director of "Wishing Stairs."

DETAILS:
Since 1967, the screen quota system in Korea has legally mandated local theaters to show Korean films for a minimum of 146 days a year. This system was enacted to prevent foreign competition, particularly from Hollywood. The Korean filmmakers say the U.S., at the urging of the Motion Picture Association, has put pressure on the Korean government to abolish or reduce the quota as one of the U.S. conditions for the Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT). By eliminating this quota system, this economic agreement between the US and South Korea could bring $4 billion in foreign investment to Korea. But would the Korean film industry suffer?

In the forum -- part of the festival sponsored by the Koret Foundation -- representatives of various sectors in the Korean film industry will share their advocacy experiences in preserving the screen quota system. They also will discuss issues surrounding the use of the film industry as a bargaining tool in U.S. and Korea relations.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact Chul Heo, the festival's program director and assistant professor of broadcast and electronic communication arts at S.F. State, at (415) 405-0594 or David Park at (510) 599-2291.

-###-


San Francisco State University Home     Search     Need Help?    

1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132  415/338-1111
Last modified April 20, 2007, by the Office of Public Affairs