NEW chief named movie personality

By Baek Byung-yeul

Kim Woo-taek, chief executive of film distributor NEW, was voted on Tuesday by journalists as movie personality of 2013.

NEW moved a slew of box office hits last year, including "Miracle in Cell No. 7" that led the box office with an audience mark of nearly 13 million. This allowed it to pose a serious challenge to the duopoly in the market that had been established by chaebol groups CJ and Lotte.

The Korea Film Reporters Association (KOFRA), which represents more than 80 journalists from 51 domestic media outlets, has been picking a "Movie Man of the Year’’ since 2010. Kim received the award in a ceremony at the Korea Press Center in downtown Seoul.

Kim, 50, has a wealth of experience in different areas of the film industry. He worked up to senior management level at Showbox, which had been the third-largest distributor behind CJ and Lotte, before leaving the company and establishing NEW, which stands for "Next Entertainment World," in 2008.

NEW distributed 12 movies last year, which combined for a viewer total of 86 million. This translated into a 29.4 percent market share by audience, according to the Korean Film Council, better than both CJ and Lotte.

Aside of "Cell No. 7," a tearjerker about a mentally-ill father who goes out of his way to protect his young daughter, represented the company’s breakthrough. "The Attorney," a drama inspired by late President Roh Moo-hyun during his days as a human rights lawyer, which recently passed the 10 million viewer mark, and the mobster film, "New World," which sold 5 million tickets, cemented its status as a contender.

KOFRA journalists also picked Kang Hyo-mi, a manager from marketing company First Look, as the marketing personality of the year. Kang was responsible for the marketing of the 3D movie "Mr. Go" and "The Attorney."