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In the movie industry, promotion and marketing are the ground work for a successful release. But two anomalies occurred this week. First, a short news story late last Friday announced the start of filming on this past Monday for the new Korean movie INTERVIEW starring Jo Yeo Jung (High Class) and Jung Sung Il (The Glory). It is a story about a journalist getting an interview with a clever serial killer (it reminds me of narrative in Jo’s previous work THE BABYSITTER). Jung said he took the role after reading the last page of the script (which is a signal of a good plot twist/ending.) This is the second live action film for the director who started his career in animation field. Usually, production studios build up casting news, first read meeting, etc. to start the hype but this one is very low key; it has the vibe (and budget) of an indie movie production.
On the other hand, without any trailers, interviews or advertising promotion, Studio Ghibli released Hayao Miyazaki’s latest film, THE BOY AND THE HERON, and it broke the studio’s opening box office record in Japan. Immediately, social media and critics praised the film as another masterpiece. Word of mouth and director reputation will carry this film’s box office instead of advertising costs.
The low key approach appears to be grounded in cost cutting. In 2022, 160 k-drams were produced. In 2023, it is estimated only around 100 will be made. This year, there have been a lot of series cancelled during production because the major Korean networks have cut back and OTTs are bleeding large financial losses. Budgets are now severely restricted (which could mean cutting PR budgets, promotion, posters, etc.) One local director was quoted as saying “We’re in a situation that we can’t afford without the investment from streaming platforms. So when the platforms downsize the funding, the networks discard the projects with which they are not sure of recouping the expenses.” KBS just lost about half its annual income when its TV fee on utility bills was terminated.
It is not to say that foreign money has dried up yet. (It helps that US studios are shut down by actors and writers strikes). Disney’s $45M(US) production budget for the series MOVING is four times higher than the Korean local production average. But the foreign spending bubble will burst soon. Disney+ lost 4 million subscribers in the last quarter and suffered a loss of $659 million.
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