South Korean filmmaker (born 1967)
Choi Jae-won (Korean: ; Hanja: ; born 1967) is a South Korean film investor, planner, and producer, as well as the co-founder and current CEO of Anthology Studio, a subsidiary of Studio LuluLala. He started his career as security analyst at a venture capital company. He became film investor after he introduced South Korea's first film investment fund.
Throughout his career, he has held CEO positions at iPictures, Barunson E&amp;A, Next Entertainment World, and withUs Film. Moreover, he has served as the former head of Warner Bros. Korea, fostering collaboration between the domestic film market and major Hollywood studios.
Choi Jae-won oversaw the investment, production, and distribution of numerous films. He has been involved in films such as Kim Jee-woon's "A Tale of Two Sisters" and "The Good, the Bad, the Weird" (2008); as well as Bong Joon-ho's "Memories of Murder", "The Host", and "Mother". Additionally, he was involved in Yang Woo-suk's "The Attorney" (2013) which is ranked 16th in South Korean box office of all time and had sold more than ten million tickets.
In 2020, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism appointed Choi Jae-won as one of seven members of the Korean Film Council (KOFIC). The term of office was from January 3, 2020, to January 3, 2022. In January 2021, he was appointed as the vice chairman of the Korean Film Council (KOFIC).
Early life and education.
Choi Jae-won was born in 1967. After attending Seondeok High School, he became a member of the Class of 1986 in Korea University's Department of Agricultural Economics, which is now known as Food and Resource Economics. Choi loved drawing, but gave up going to art school due to his father's opposition, which was a lifelong regret for him. During his college years, he channeled his creative impulses by performing in plays. He also worked as a composition writer at Korea Broadcasting Corporation.
Career.
Early career.
Following his graduation, Choi took on the role of a securities analyst at a venture capital company, Korea Industrial Securities. In his early 30s, Choi made the decision to leave his career as a securities analyst at a venture capital firm, where he earned a substantial annual salary, in order to pursue film investment. Despite the financial challenges he faced, such as selling his apartment in Gangnam and relocating to a rented house on the outskirts of Seoul, he remained resolute in his determination to create at least one exceptional production that would deeply resonate with audiences.
It was begun when Choi joined Infinite Technology Investment (무한기술투자㈜) in 1997, a mid-sized startup led by CEO Lee In-gyu. While working in online investment at Infinite Startup, Choi became interested in movie investment in 1998. In early 1999, Choi met Uni Korea through the introduction of Moon Seong-keun and considered forming an venture fund together, but things did not go well. Around June of that year, Choi met with Sidus Pictures' CEO, Cha Seung-jae and they started working with CJ Entertainment. Unfortunately, their collaboration faced setbacks at the last minute. Subsequently, in mid-December, Cha Seung-jae met Director Kang Woo-seok (Showbox CEO) and sought his assistance in creating a venture fund. Director Kang Woo-seok readily accepted, and a fund worth ₩11.5 billion was created and named the Cha Seung-jae Venture Fund in tribute to Sidus Pictures' CEO Cha Seung-jae. Their first film investment was in director Bong Joon-ho's commercial film debut, "Barking Dogs Never Bite.""Director Bong Joon-ho's "Barking Dogs Never Bite" also probably cost around 900 million won from what I remember. I have only started investing in movies, and I think the market environment then was better than it is now. In the past, when there were rumors of a crisis, it was actually a crisis of production capital. If we judge that the current crisis is a crisis of production capital, consumers' behavior patterns have changed, consumption habits have changed, and content distribution has changed."—Choi on his first film investment.
In February 2000, iPictures Co., Ltd. (Korean: ) was founded. The company is a joint investment between venture capital firm Infinite Technology Investment and the film production company Sidus to operate Infinite-Cha Seung-jae Venture Fund. Choi, who serves as a director at Infinite Technology Investment, and Cha Seung-jae, the CEO of Sidus Pictures, jointly lead iPictures. The company specializes in practical investments in the visual content industry that covers film planning, production, marketing, overseas distribution, and merchandise.
In August 2000, Choi transitioned to the role of leading the Content Team within Infinite Technology Investment. In January 2001, Choi as film venture capitalist, mentioned that their investments covered not only film but also games and online platforms. In the online sector, they invested in Web Cinema, Easy Club, and Geoinet. They also invested in a total of 20 films and animations, including box office hit "Kick the Moon", as well as "Musa", and Indian Summer. They also prepared another venture funds. On September 24, 2001, Infinite Technology Investment established MBC Infinite Video Venture Fund No. 1 and No. 2 with funds of ₩5 billion and ₩10 billion, respectively. In the first fund, MBC invested 4.2 billion won, while Infinite Technology Investment contributed ₩800 million. The primary focus of the first association was investing in MBC-produced contents. The primary focus of the second fund, was on the film industry, and its members included Infinite Technology Investment, Korea Local Administrative Mutual Aid Fund, MBC and its affiliates, Korean Film Council, Sunwoo Entertainment, Sidus Pictures, and Enter One.
In 2002 year's investment scale was estimated to be around ₩30 billion, including ongoing productions. There was a focus on investing in films produced by Sidus Pictures. Their plans included investing in 14 works. Among the planned investments, was Kim Young-bin's film Balhae, known for its production cost of ₩4.5 billion; a gothic horror film reinterpreting a classic called "A Tale of Two Sisters", and an animation titled "Adventure in the East River". However among i-Pictures' main investment films in 2002, only "Marriage Is a Crazy Thing" didn't incur losses. "My Beautiful Girl, Mari" caused a loss of ₩2 billion, "Jungle Juice" ₩300 million, and "Road Movie" ₩900 million, resulting in a total loss of ₩3.2 billion. In contrast, "Marriage Is a Crazy Thing" earned a profit of ₩1 billion. Initially, Cha Seung-jae was responsible for selecting works, but as box office performance worsened, he eventually withdrew from the fund.
Starting in September 2002, Choi ran i-Pictures independently from Infinite Technology Investment. Despite requesting the remaining fund he operated from Infinite Investment, his request was not accepted. Despite worries about his own capabilities as he had only known the life of a salaried worker, Choi decided to stand on his own, leveraging the know-how he had accumulated over the years. He took a leap and invested in projects called "Madeleine" and "A Tale of Two Sisters". which marked a new beginning. However, "Madeleine" (2003) incurred a loss of approximately 1.5 billion won. In a situation where the company's survival was uncertain, film "A Tale of Two Sisters" was released and garnered 3.15 million viewers nationwide, bringing in at least ₩3 billion to i-Pictures. Choi's investment in Kim Jee-woon's film "A Tale of Two Sisters" is noteworthy because the lead actors, Lim Soo-jung and Moon Geun-young were newcomers at that time. As a result, other investors withdrew their support, doubting the film's potential success. Consequently, Choi had to single-handedly cover the investment. However, when the film achieved remarkable success, he generously rewarded the crew by sharing the profits, something unprecedented in Korean film industry.
Among other i-Pictures investments, Bong Joon-ho's thriller "Memories of Murder" (with a nationwide audience of 5.3 million) and the melodrama "Singles" (with an audience of 2.5 million) also performed well at the box office. By acquiring a 30% stake in "Memories of Murder" and a 22% stake in "Singles", it was certain that both works would generate a net profit of more than 2 billion won.
Choi took on the role of the primary investor for the film "The President's Barber". He revealed that despite the initial production cost of 4 billion won, their total investment reached close to ₩10 billion. "The President's Barber" is a comedy drama film from 2004, directed by Lim Chan-sang. The story revolves around a barber, his wife, and their only son, spanning four decades of turbulent Korean history. The narrative is presented through the perspective of the titular barber, who is selected to be the official barber for President Park Chung Hee. The character of the barber is portrayed by Song Kang-ho, while Moon So-ri plays his wife. The film was released on May 5, 2004. Unfortunately, despite its critical acclaim, it fell short of reaching the break-even point, making it a box office disappointment.
Barunson and Next Entertainment World (NEW).
Following the failure of their latest film, "The President's Barber," iPictures experienced bankruptcy, prompting Choi to consider a return to the financial world. However, he made the decision to delve into film production instead. On November 9, 2005, Choi sold iPictures to Barunson Co., Ltd. This acquisition allowed Barunson to expand its presence in the entertainment industry and establish Barunson Entertainment. Prior to the acquisition, iPictures had been involved in the film business since 2000 through a Venture Fund and had ranked as the third-largest company in terms of investment performance, trailing behind Cinema Service and CJ Entertainment.
After the acquisition, Choi took on the leadership role in the film business division at Barunson. The division's goal was to produce, co-produce, and invest in more than 10 films annually, starting from the following year. Notably, the division had already secured investment contracts. At the time, Choi signed a contract with directors Kim Jee-woon and Bong Joon-ho for two films each, which was an unprecedented move in the industry. Both director Kim Jee-woon's film "A Bittersweet Life" (2005) and Bong Joon-ho's film "The Host" (2006) were both critically and commercially successful.
In 2005, Choi transitioned into a producer role while overseeing Barunson's film division. The first film he produced was director Yim Pil-sung's film "Hansel and Gretel." It began filming in April 2007.
Choi was also involved in the investment and production of Kim Jee-woon's film "The Good, the Bad, and the Weird." It began filming in May 2007. It garnered immediate public attention due to the presence of three renowned actors: Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun, and Jung Woo-sung. It faced challenges such as production delays in China which resulted in increased production costs, and a recession in the Korean film market. Concerns arose regarding the film's potential success. However, following its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, the film received a string of favorable reviews. It quickly surpassed seven million viewers, making it highly likely to achieve profitability. As the CEO of Barunson Entertainment, Choi personally experienced the hardships and pressures endured by both actors and directors, from the initial stages of film production to the screening phase. If a project featuring such reputable actors and a director fails to achieve success, the responsibility squarely falls on the producer.
A year later, Choi served as a producer for director Bong Joon-ho's film "Mother". Choi shared insights about the film. He described "Mother" as a unique Korean film that explores the theme of motherhood using a mother's perspective. The movie had elements of a feminine thriller and mystery, giving it a distinctive style not commonly seen in previous Korean films. He mentioned that the film had a dreamlike quality despite being grounded in realism. Choi also highlighted the universal relevance found in the director's previous work, "The Host", and the tension present in "Memories of Murder". Overall, "Mother" successfully combined these elements, creating a more accessible portrayal of the mother-child relationship.
In 2007, he was ranked 38th in the list of Cine21 Chungmuro 50 Power Filmmaker. He was chosen for his ability to quickly adapt to director branding trends and for his innovative approach of combining capital and talent directly, without relying on a production company as an intermediary. Although his experimental film business model, which involved investing based on the abundant capital of a listed company and establishing a production unit directly, had yet to be fully proven. It was anticipated that he would demonstrate a certain level of efficiency given the growing influence of directors in the industry.
In 2009, after leaving Barunson, Choi became Co-CEO of film distribution company Next Entertainment World (NEW). NEW was founded in 2008 by