Netflix joined the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) to support the growth of Asia's next generation of filmmakers and to explore the future of the content industry.
Netflix said on the 12th that it held the third Creative Asia event on the 10th, co-organized with BIFF, the Asian Film Commissions Network (AFCNet) and the Motion Picture Association (MPA). The largest edition to date drew about 400 emerging filmmakers and featured master classes and industry talks, along with workshops introduced for the first time this year.
Kim Min-young, vice president of content for Asia-Pacific at Netflix, said the quality of a finished work stems from the expertise of on-set creators in cinematography, editing, design and visual effects, stressing the importance of developing talent. Park Ga-eon, deputy executive director of BIFF, said that while the festival has spent 30 years discovering Asian stories, Netflix has served to connect those stories to the global market.
Director Han Jun-hee, drawing on his work on titles including "D.P.," advised creators to take risks and pursue stories of their own. Cinematographer Kim Ji-yong walked through the production process behind the film "Possible Love," explaining how natural light and camera work were used to achieve its visual style.
Innovation in production using AI was also a main agenda item. Director Kang Yoon-sung shared cases in which AI allowed him to realize ideas previously shelved over budget constraints while cutting production time and costs. Participants stressed, however, that even as technology supports repetitive tasks, the human role remains essential in the realms of emotion and creativity.
Panels also discussed ways to widen audience access for low- and mid-budget films. Namkoong Sun, director of "A History of Confessions," described communicating with viewers worldwide after the film was released on Netflix. Son Kwang-min, director of the short film "Aunt Sun-hee," said the work drew more than 1,000 comments after its release on the platform, explaining that online distribution can give a film a new chance to be discovered.
At the workshops held for the first time this year, content acquisition executives shared criteria for greenlighting projects and techniques for structuring pilot programs that keep viewers engaged. In a separate closed session, creators and policymakers from seven Asia-Pacific markets discussed sustainable growth for the content industry, including talent development, local content production, job creation and film-location tourism.
Over the past decade, Netflix has worked with more than 350 production companies across Asia-Pacific, filmed in more than 650 cities and towns, and provided training opportunities to more than 18,000 people through technology and talent development programs.