Market swings: Stock-market listings and the Korean film industry

Abstract

The rise and fall of national film movements are seldom attributed to trends in film finance. Yet, it is likely no coincidence that the recent creative renaissance in South Korean cinema, seen as lasting from the late 1990s to the present, mirrored a vast expansion and diversification of the sources of finance available to Korean filmmakers. Venture capital, government funding, financing from large business conglomerates, TV finance and even cash raised from ordinary citizens on the Internet all played important roles in this process. One other source of finance that reached the peak of its importance in the mid-2000s was the listing of production companies or distributors on the local stock exchange. As more and more Korean film companies found direct and indirect means to go public — particularly in the years 2005 and 2006 — a new ‘wave’ of funds rushed into the industry. This article will provide a brief overview of the Korean film industry's relationship with local stock markets in the first decade of this century, and the effect this has had on the overall development of Korean cinema.