Jeju pins hopes on animation center

By Lee Min-hyung

JEJU ― The government opened a digital animation center on the resort island of Jeju, Thursday, in a bid to revitalize the sagging animation industry by turning the facility into a “retail hub” to connect cartoon businesses in Korea and China.

The Jeju provincial government has teamed up with the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) in building the Asia CGI Animation (ACA) Center in which they have invested a total of 10 billion won ($8.4 million) since 2014.

The move is aimed at helping local animation producers export their content to the Asia’s largest economic powerhouse with ease, according to the provincial government.

At the opening ceremony, the government invited more than 150 animation producers and distributors from 19 Chinese companies, including Hunan Broadcasting System, the country’s second-largest broadcasting operator.

“The ACA will be the driving force in helping creative animation companies produce globally-acknowledged animation,” Jeju Province Governor Won Hee-ryong said at the opening ceremony, at Seogwipo. “Expectations are that the animation studio will serve as a key venue for local companies to produce and export their content across the world.”

The provincial government said it hopes the productions inspired by the ACA Center will generate more than 100 billion won over the next five years.

Animation industry experts will run the 720-square-meter center, offering localized strategies targeting the Chinese market and developing manpower in collaboration with local universities. As of now, three Korean animation companies are producing content at the center, with the studio planning to help more firms take advantage of its systematic distribution and production capabilities.

The Jeju government expressed confidence about its success, saying it has also secured a budget of some 25 billion won to establish what it calls “animation street” near the ACA. The MSIP said the Asian animation market is the key to help invigorate the local animation industry’s growth, pledging to spare no efforts in offering technological and financial support for the studio.

Kim Yong-soo, the head of the information and communication policy division at the MSIP, said: “The MSIP will help the ACA to forge partnerships with animators in China, thereby laying the foundation to tap deeper into the global stage including the United States.”

Global Animation Partners (GAP)

ACA Chairman Jeong Geun-po said the center will continue to diversify and expand distribution channels between Korea and China, helping local animations make footholds in the Chinese market.

“The nation’s animation industry has so far focused on creating better products, but failed to generate enough revenue due to the government’s production-focused support,” the ACA chief said in a meeting with local reporters after the opening ceremony.

Korea is one of the top three computer-generated (CG) animation-producing countries in the world ― along with the United States and Japan, according to him. But the revenue from the local animation industry falls hugely short of the animators in these other countries.

Toward that end, the ACA center plans to run an animation retail program called Global Animation Partners (GAP).

Nineteen Chinese retail partners and eight local distributors have signed a deal to join the project for mutual growth in the animation industries.

The participating firms include CJ CGV, the nation’s largest movie theater chain, and Jin Ying Cartoon, China’s largest TV cartoon channel.

“The retail issue was the biggest stumbling block for the growth of the local animation industry,” said the ACA chief. “The ACA Center plans to offer a wider range of services ― including investment, production and retail ― for local animation producers to tap into the fast-growing Chinese market.”

Expectations are that the animation center will produce tangible results as early as next year, as the ACA has already signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese retail giants in broadcasting before opening the studio, according to him.