"No Culture, No Country” is the catchphrase CJ Group Chairman Lee Jay-hyun has cherished over the years. Chairman Lee’s mindset is reflected in the group’s scheme to focus its investments on young artists after recognizing future potential “Cultural content” businesses. Exploring talents in such diverse genres as music, performing arts and film is one of the major tasks being implemented by he CJ Culture Foundation, established by the business group.
The culture foundation operates diverse programs, including “Tune Up” “Project S” and “Creative Mind” “Tune Up” is a pram tailored to provide patronage to young pop artists. Young musicians selected as contest finalists receive financial support to produce albums, publicize and opportunities to hold concerts with veteran musicians.
Thirty-one teams participated in the program by last year. They have produced 25 albums. Tune Up beneficiary musicians’ activities are extraordinary. One of the eye-catching musicians are “Bye Bye Badman” a graduate of the fifth class of the Tune Up program, who has been as “Producer Master Class” at the Seoul International Music Fair. “Asian Chairshot” a three-member musician troupe, won a terrestrial broadcasting network music contest.
Project S is a program targeting young filmmakers. The program is designed to provide support to young filmmakers, ranging from the stage of idea planning to film production. Beneficiaries receive a package of support ranging from scenario education from experts to orientation and training. Among the representative products of the program are “My PS Partner” and “My Little Hero” Creative Mind is the CJ Culture Foundation’s program to offer support to newcomers in the musical and drama fields.
CJ’s Subsidiaries Aim to Raise Overseas Revenues to Over 50 percent by 2020
A long queue was formed in front of the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, the home of the LA Lakers of the National Basketball Association, on the afternoon of July 30 to watch KCON, a Hallyu (Korean Wave) concert hosted by CJ group. The diverse crowd waited in the line extending to a few hundreds, with some carrying small signs with the names of such Korean idol names as “Shinee” and “Block B” on them.
Korean Americans formed the bulk of the spectators during the 2012 KCON, but as time goes on, the base of Hallyu aficionados is getting bigger, said a CJ group official, adding that looking at the 2016 KCON, Hallyu may no longer be considered a subgenre.
About 90 Korean SMEs, recommended by the Small and Medium Business Administration (SMBA), including cosmetics companies, set up booths to publicize their products and brands to Hallyu aficionados at the LA Convention Center just next to the Staples Center. They also held trade negotiation sessions with buyers. The concert attracted about 76,000 spectators between July 29 and July 31, CJ Group said.
The KCON made its debut in Irvine, California, in 2012 with the goal of creating new business opportunities by spreading Hallyu to several parts of the world.
On the same day, CJ Griyo held a news conference in which it unveiled a vision for cultural businesses and global strategies.
CJ Corp. Vice President Kim Hyun-joon said, “CJ E&M and CGV aim at raising the portion of overseas revenues from current 16 percent to 54 percent by 2020.”
CJ will advance the so-called Hallyu 4.0 Era in which Korean lifestyles will become more mainstream among people around the world, not just Hallyu aficionados said Kim, adding that the business group will contribute to creating added values of relevant industries by establishing convergence business models between culture and industry. Hallyu 1.0 refers to Korean drama-oriented Hallyu like “Dae Jang Geum” and “Winter Sonata” of the 1990s. K-pop-oriented Hallyu is called “Hallyu 2.0” while Hallyu extending into cinemas and cosmetics is dubbed “Hallyu 3.0”
CJ E&M has signed partnerships with companies in several countries, including China and those in Southeast Asian, to produce localized products. The company has gained ground in exporting individual content in the broadcasting sector, as well and content formats it has developed on its own. tvN’s hit entertainment program “Grandpas over Flowers” was reproduced and broadcast via China’s Dragon China TV, and the NBC network of the United States has purchased the format to reproduce and broadcast it this year.
The company plans to globalize hit movies that have made a sensation in Korea. “Miss Granny” a popular film in 2014 in Korea, was remade in China later that year, in Vietnam in 2015 and in Japan this year. The film Chinese remake logged about 62.5 billion won in box office sales, and the Vietnamese version raked in about 5.5 billion won in sales, becoming the most popular film ever in the Southeast Asian country.
CGV has a strategy to globalize Korean theatrical culture in which customers can watch films and enjoy diverse cultural genres, including shopping, dining, performances and exhibitions. The company plans to make inroads into 12 countries to secure 10,000 screens with the goal of raising the portion of overseas revenues to 65 percent by 2020.
CGV, which entered China in 2006, now operates 347 theaters with a combined 2,679 screens in seven countries, including Korea, the United States, China, Vietnam, Indonesia, Myanmar and Turkey. It’s now a global top-five theater operator. CGV, which acquired a theater operator in Turkey in April, has 218 overseas theaters and 129 theaters in Korea.
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