"4.5 million discount coupons worth 6,000 won and an extra 65.6 billion won"..I went out to save the movie industry [synthesis]

*This content was translated by AI.

• Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Hwi-young meets with filmmakers..Additional budget of 65.6 billion won for movies

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Hwi-young met with filmmakers to discuss issues to come up with measures for the film industry.

Minister Choi Hwi-young attended a film communication meeting held at Indie Ground in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 14th to talk about the overall industrial ecosystem, including the legislation of holdback (a moratorium on disclosure between theater and OTT), the introduction of a screen concentration restriction system, the expansion of minimum screening days, and the expansion of policy funds. Kim Byung-in, chairman of the Korea Scenario Writers Association, Kim Seung-beom, CEO of Niners Entertainment, Baek Jae-ho, chairman of the Korea Independent Film Association, director Yang Woo-seok, and Lee Dong-ha, CEO of the Korean Film Producers Association, attended the meeting.

Minister Choi Hwi-young said, "It is a very difficult situation for our film industry to hardly recover after COVID-19. Last week, I heard the concerns of the field again from film industry officials, and as the extra budget has been completed, I would like to continue the discussion here today. As the supplementary budget has been completed, we will start discussing pending issues again in earnest," he said, seeking to come up with measures.

Earlier, the distributor alliance held a press conference on the 7th and announced that policies that have a significant impact on the film industry, such as the legislation of holdback and the expansion of "Day with Culture," are being unilaterally pursued without collecting on-site opinions. Prior to the legislation of holdback, filmmakers urged a permanent consultative body to discuss ways for theaters and movies to live together, and to come up with a win-win plan to compensate for the expected infringement of distributor profits in the new distribution model.

Minister Choi Hwi-young pointed out that the holdback, improvement of the screen screening environment, and expansion of investment through policy funds have already been discussed, but said, "The holdback issue alone is not a matter that has yet been confirmed by the National Assembly. These issues are not discussed separately, but a topic that should be openly gathered by creating a public-private consultative body in which the film industry, the Film Promotion Committee, and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism participate together."

Minister Choi explained in detail the budget for the film sector secured by the extra budget, saying, "This year's main budget for the film sector was 127.9 billion won, up 54 percent from last year, and an additional 65.6 billion won was reflected in the extra budget. In the midst of a crisis that if the film industry collapses, K-culture will collapse, we have secured the maximum budget to minimize damage," he said.

One of the key points of the supplementary budget is the support of mid-budget movies. Minister Choi Hwi-young explained that 26 billion won was reflected in the mid-budget film production support, and 10 billion to 15 billion won was newly created in addition to the existing 2 billion to 10 billion won range, so that a total of 40 mid-budget films can be supported this year.

In addition, referring to the decrease in the number of commercial film productions, he explained that it is important to create a structure in which production of a certain scale lasts. It also added that it secured an additional 4.5 billion won to support independent and artistic film production and reflected 8 billion won to support production processes using cutting-edge technologies such as VFX, CG, and AI.

Minister Choi Hwi-young said he also reflected 27.1 billion won in a project to provide 4.5 million discount coupons of 6,000 won per ticket to boost people's movie viewing as a project to boost theater viewing, adding, "I hope it will be an opportunity for the people to visit theaters again to revive cultural consumption and revitalize sluggish domestic demand and people's livelihoods."

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism recently collected opinions from the field and expressed its position amid calls for structural reforms such as the legislation of holdback, limitation of screen concentration, expansion of minimum screening days, and expansion of policy funds. With the government stepping up and announcing plans to revive the film industry, attention is being paid to whether the number of theatergoers, which has shrunk sharply since the COVID-19 crisis, will increase.

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*This content was translated by AI.