The Producers Guild of Korea and Italy’s CNA Cinema e Audiovisivo will set up exchange programs and share information on public funding, building on the two countries’ government-level co-production accord.
Korean and Italian producers will have a direct line to each other after the Producers Guild of Korea (PGK) and CNA Cinema e Audiovisivo (CNA) signed a memorandum of understanding on Sunday at the Busan International Film Festival‘s Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM).
The deal was signed at the Italian Pavilion. PGK President Lee Dong-ha signed for the Korean side. Francesco Lattarulo, CNA’s national vice president, signed for the Italian association on behalf of national president Gianluca Curti.
Under the terms, each body will act as a contact point for joint productions between the two sectors and pass along information on public funding open to producers in each country. The pair will also stage regular exchange programs – yearly meetings, showcases and business-to-business sessions – in Korea and Italy, as well as at international markets including ACFM and Rome’s Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo (MIA).
“Italy and Korea now have a co-production framework between governments, but films are made by producers, not by frameworks. This MoU puts the two producer communities in direct contact so that the agreement turns into projects that reach audiences in both countries,” Lee said.
The producers’ MoU follows the film co-production accord already in place at government level between Italy and South Korea. That accord set the institutional ground rules. The new pact is aimed at the work itself: co-productions, shoots in Italy and exchanges between producers from both sides.
Curti said the MOU was an important step in a relationship that began when CNA first came to Busan and saw the potential of working with South Korea. “We welcomed the bilateral co-production agreement between our governments; today, we are delighted to begin a direct collaboration with the Producers Guild of Korea. I am confident that this partnership will give our companies opportunities to work together and turn shared ideas into ambitious projects,” he said.
In 2023, CNA brought Italy’s government to ACFM, which resulted in the country taking its own pavilion at the market from 2024.
PGK counts nearly 300 members who work across theatrical features, documentaries and series. Its producers are behind titles including “Parasite,” “Train to Busan” and “Squid Game.”
The Italian deal extends a run of international partnerships the guild has struck since the pandemic. PGK already holds MoUs with the Canadian Media Producers Association, the Hong Kong Movie Production Executives Association, the Indonesian Film Producers Association (APROFI) and Brazil’s Audiovisual Industry Union (SIAESP).
CNA Cinema e Audiovisivo is Italy’s largest representative body for film and audiovisual businesses by number of member companies. It sits within CNA, a national confederation of around 620,000 entrepreneurs with a presence in all 20 Italian regions. Its membership spans producers, executive producers, distributors, sales agents, technical and post-production firms and dubbing houses.
The same morning at ACFM, PGK also signed a separate co-production MOU with the Sakha Filmmakers Association, which represents producers from the Sakha Republic (Yakutia) in Russia’s Far East.
Source: variety.com
