Written by on Jul 7, 2014. Posted in On Location

China and South Korea sign filming co-production agreement

China and South Korea have signed a co-production filming deal. The agreement will enable Korean movies made as official Chinese co-productions to bypass China’s strict quota on the number of international films that can be released each year.

“South Korea-China co-productions, once recognised as China's home-grown films, can bypass China's limitations on foreign movie imports, so the pact would facilitate the South Korean film industry's advance into the Chinese film market,” said Seoul's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

Hollywood is also exploring new ways to tap into the lucrative Chinese market. Paramount made a co-operation deal with China Movie Channel and Jiaflix Enterprises for its big-budget action movie Transformers: Age of Extinction. The deal involved filming sequences on location in Hong Kong and mainland China, while a Hong Kong set was also built in Detroit to accommodate more complex action scenes.

In recent months, the state-run China Film Group has made its first direct investments in Hollywood movies, and China has also made a co-production deal with the UK. Pinewood Studios’ involvement with the Chinese industry is also growing. The company has a Joint Venture Agreement with Seven Stars Media in Beijing and has also agreed to formally consult on the development of the Qingdao Oriental Movie Metropolis.

South Korea’s international production profile has been given a boost since The Avengers: Age of Ultron filmed on location in Seoul. Korea offers a filming incentive rebate of up to 30% for international features that spend at least ten days in the country and spend two million US dollars locally. The rebate is reduced incrementally for smaller shoots.