South Korea’s film industry seems to be doing well looking in from the outside. According to data from the Korean Film Council (Kofic) on 2024 local box office hits, “Exhuma” was No. 1 with a total gross of $82,686,501 (11,914,785 tickets sold); “The Round-up: Punishment” was No. 2 with a total gross of $82,674,629 (11, 502, 928 tickets sold); and “I, the Executioner” placed third with a total gross of $52,162,609 (7,525,906 tickets sold).

But Kofic senior researcher Park Hee Seong said Korea’s film industry is at a crossroads despite the box office successes. She brought this up at the “Talk Back session: Conversations between Philippine and Korean film experts” held on Aug. 27 at the University of the Philippines Diliman’s UPFI Film Center. Organized by the Korean Cultural Center-Philippines in line with its “2025 Korean Film Festival: Scenes on Screen,” it included a screening of short films “Origins of the Garden,” “Here & There,” and “Seoul Sight,” the winning entries in the “Reel Connections: Student Short Film Competition.” 

Declining theater attendance 

Assisted by the translator Kim Yelin, Park said the industry peaked in 2019 with the film “Parasite,” which won numerous international honors including the Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award. 

“But theater attendance after the pandemic declined and hasn’t returned to the prepandemic numbers. ‘Exhuma’ reached high viewership in 2024, but no remarkable titles followed after it,” Park pointed out, adding that the situation revealed problems in planning, investing, and distribution, and “the rise of Netflix.”

Park’s perspective concurred with that of Gil Jong-chul, Hanyang University film professor and former CEO of CJ Entertainment. In an interview with The Chosun Daily published last April, Gil said the absence of a breakout domestic hit was weighing down on the sector, as the first-quarter box office revenues were down 33.6% from 2024. 

“The core issue is [the] crisis in storytelling,” Gil said. “Too many recent films have lost sight of strong narrative foundations. The protagonist is the bridge between the audience and the story—a guide through the journey. But many characters today fail to fulfill that role.” 

To remedy the slump, Park said Kofic is implementing initiatives that include distributing KRW6,000-discount vouchers to people and an investment of KRW10 billion for production costs. 

In our own country, Film Development Council of the Philippines chair and CEO Jose Javier Reyes laid down the FDCP’s initiatives to strengthen the local film industry in an exclusive interview with Rito Asilo published in CoverStory on Sept. 4. This year’s Philippine Film Industry Month—held every September—honors the Filipino woman and her role in the development of Philippine cinema in front of and behind the camera with the theme “Pelikula at Pilipina.”

Read more: Joey Reyes on PH’s Oscar chances, restoring film classics, and corruption in gov’t

The launch of the JuanFlix mobile app is scheduled on Sept. 27 to help the younger generation become aware of “the tradition of Filipino filmmaking in terms of the classics and the works of our national artists,” Reyes said. 

An important development is that restoration work on Filipino classics is now being done in the country instead of overseas. “We’re going to train Filipinos in film restoration so we can restore our classics right here,” Reyes said. “That’s why we have the new building in Intramuros called the Philippine Film Heritage building, which houses the restoration machine. We’ll try to save as many films as we can immediately.” 

Also, the regular ₱400 ticket price in cinemas has been cut to as low as ₱230 for local films.

And on Sept. 26, the first Philippine industry road map of 5- and 10-year plans will be launched, to show the FDCP’s successors “the direction they’re going,” Reyes said. A part of the plan is adding more cinematheques and micro cinemas to further “promote the appreciation for Filipino cinema all over the archipelago,” he added.

Significantly, Reyes’ initiatives are dovetailed with a steadfast philosophy of keeping the FDCP uncorrupted and professional.  He and his team of young people “don’t like luho (luxury) because that’s not what we’re here for,” he said.

Tremendous influence

The influence of the Korean film industry on the Philippines is undeniably tremendous, as shown in a surge in the local adaptation of Korean dramas and the choice of Korean stars as local product ambassadors.

Joining Park as a panel discussant in “Conversations,” Rachelle Villaluna, head of the FDCP Policy and Planning Unit, attributed Korea’s success to the seamless infusion of culture into its film content. In the same breath, she said it has resulted in the Philippines playing catch-up with foreign film industries (including Korea’s).

“Only 17% of Filipinos like local films, while 83% prefer foreign films because of the storyline and production,” Villaluna said, citing the findings of a joint study on Filipino preferences by FDCP and De La Salle University. She then appealed to the student-filmmakers to “elevate [Filipino] films.”

Eero Francisco, the second Philippine representative in the panel and the creator of the look and style of the films “Sunshine” and “Balota,” said relatability, or shared values, and level of exploration are drawing Filipinos to Korean content. These have also influenced Filipino filmmakers to tackle subjects close to home.  

But what exactly is the appeal of K-content? Park said the global interest is due to Korean filmmakers making Koreans love their own movies. “A research study showed that Koreans go to movies 9.2 times per year,” she said. “For a movie to flourish in Korea, there should be aesthetics aside from commercial value. To be a hit, a film has to be perfect.”  

Park said the abolition of censorship in the 1990s had a great effect on the freedom of creativity, “[protecting it and] making Korean films successful.” 

According to www.aa.com.tr, Korea’s cultural policies began under former President Kim Daejung’s government, which were carried over to the succeeding administrations. Daejung invested on cultural products, aka K-dramas, which became popular in China, Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand in the late 1990s. The Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism, or MCST, and the Korean Creative Content Agency are instrumental in implementing the policies. The MCST’s Cultural Industry Unit, established in 1994, was allocated a budget of KRW5.4 billion, which covered coordination for films and video support, broadcasting and journalism, gaming and music, and cultural goods.  

A report in koreajoongangdaily.joins.com states that the 2025 budget of MCST to make Korea a “global cultural powerhouse” is KRW7.067 trillion, a 1.6% increase from last year’s budget of KRW6.95 trillion. The biggest portion of the budget—KRW2.38 trillion—is earmarked for the culture and arts sector.

Different methods 

The discussion in “Conversations” segued into production design practices in Korea and the Philippines, and Francisco candidly described the local situation as backward. “The focus is on craftsmanship, but the base line is provisional,” he said. “[Funds are] limited, so [we] work within the budget instead of recommending the budget, [forcing] Filipinos to think extremely out of the box [and making] some designs out of reach.”

“Timelines are restrictive and fast in execution,” Francisco said. “Most art departments hire people without experience.”

On the upside, he said, production designers become good friends and help each other by taking on multiple roles to achieve the goal.

In Korea, production designer Han Ah Rum said, they begin with analyzing and discussing a script, which is an important step in filmmaking. “Through talks with the writer and director, our pathway is set for the worldview of the film… [After that] we create the concept design with the art department. Also, we keep within the budget,” explained Han, who designed the look of “Kill Boksoon” and “Kingmaker.”

Production designers don’t work in isolation, Francisco said, and at the core of the collaboration within the film project is the assessment of the narrative world and understanding the world created. He said the cooperation begins when he sends the completed film’s design concepts to the director, cinematographer, and editor, who discuss them with the writer. (The director has the final say, and production designers aren’t always invited to the reading sessions with the editors, he added.)

In their case, Han said, they discuss the concept design, taking into account the different elements of the film—script, actors, set etc. “When the design is approved, the costumes, makeup, props, and sets, will be prepared,” he said. “To create a worldview, there must be a discussion with each department to process the film. That’s how a film [becomes] coherent and consistent.” 

New talents 

As the world awaits the next global hit from Korea or the Philippines, their respective film industries continue to nurture talents in all aspects of filmmaking. Han advised future production designers in the audience to develop literacy skills. “The work is artistic, [so] analyzing scenes is important. When designing visual language, having story literacy is crucial in creating a scene,” he stressed. 

Supplementing Han’s counsel, RuBi, producer from ARTCOMPANY HAN, had this to say: “The foundation of a film is people, [so] having a point of view of loving people more is great.”

Francisco told aspiring production designers to be assertive, and exhorted them not to be servile. “Ask questions: Does it make sense? Is it a humane decision?” he said. “Select a project where you feel connected because you’d know what to do. Research to give justice to the narrative world. Production design is script writing with semiotics. Don’t just pick props.”

Read more: With ‘Scenes on Screen,’ the 2025 Korean Film Festival promises a big, bold celebration of cinema