"In order to cooperate with the smooth implementation of the South Korea-US FTA (Free Trade Agreement) negotiations, the National Assembly decided to reduce the film quota system from 146 days to 73 days...... As compensation, the government will subsidize 400 billion won to support film shooting, restart the 5% surtax on theaters, and set up a special fund to train filmmakers ......"

On the morning of the 26th, this statement issued by the Ministry of Finance and Economy of South Korea completely turned the calm film circle upside down.

Here, we need to understand the history of the transformation of Korean films, and then we can understand that these two pieces of news are a blow to the weaknesses of Korean films.

The reason why the diffusion scope and influence of Korean films have gradually surpassed those of Japan and Hong Kong in recent years lies in the two changes.

The first change was the 1998 film classification system, which outlawed the decades-long censorship system that ruled South Korea almost like the military junta.

It was also from this day that the clarion call for the revival of Korean films was sounded, and many themes that were impossible to shoot before began to be launched, so in the following years, the box office myth "Life and Death", "Friends", which became a classic of Asian film history, and the thought-provoking "Joint Security Area".

But if there is a change that really pushed Korean films onto the highway of development, it was in 1999, the "skinhead movement" that shocked the whole country and was launched by thousands of filmmakers.

In 1998, South Korea held trade talks with the United States on joining the WTO. During a visit to the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy, the vice president of the Motion Picture Association of America for the Asia-Pacific region proposed, "If the Korean government eases the current film quota system, we will invest $500 million to build multiplex theaters in major cities." ”

Starting with this proposal, the subsequent trade talks, the US side also included the abolition of the quota system as a condition for negotiations, just as it did when it conquered European films, and in the words of director Kang Di-gyu, he felt that "Korean films are going to die"!

So the desperate filmmaker, since November 1998. Started by female director Lin Shunli. They all cut their ambitions and staged a sit-in protest in front of Guanghua Gate until June 1999, when the number of directors who cut their hair grew to 250. The sit-in protest crowd grew to thousands. A total of 32 groups.

Such protests continued until June 24. On that day, the growing ranks of protesters finally attracted government interference. Thousands of people clashed with armed police. On that day, the filmmakers shouted in front of the media to start an indefinite hunger strike, which won strong support from the public. On that day, a delegation of filmmakers arrived in the United States and presented their opinions and positions on Korean films to the Motion Picture Association of America, which put the Motion Picture Association of America in a passive position.

Also on the same day, Lim Kwon-taek, then Minister of Culture and Tourism, who has always played the role of a bridge between the government and filmmakers, finally became disappointed with the government's mediation after the conflict between filmmakers and the police, joined the hair-cutting team and shaved his head!

The campaign ended with the victory of the filmmakers, with Kim Dae-jung's government promising not to abolish the film quota system and maintain a 146-day mandatory release period for local films.

Now, 7 years later, it seems that the war is about to start again!

……

On January 27, 2006, J.H made an appointment with two major theater chains and independent theaters to restart the negotiation date, but the front door of J.H was deserted.

No one came, because now the eyes of the whole country are focused on Chungmuro and the holy place of Korean filmmakers, "Gwanghwamon". After the statement of the Ministry of Finance and Economy on the 26th, all the media fell into a depressed silence, 7 years ago, led by Jiang Digui and other famous directors, shaved their heads, holding their own portraits of the protest scene, still vivid, now, under a dead silence, it seems to usher in such a shock and glory again?

For the time being, no one knows what to do, some undercurrents are surging under the silence, the film industry suddenly made such a thing, the two major theaters and independent theaters did not come to the appointment, and everyone in J.H Company was absent-minded and a little panicked.

Even the top management is a little at a loss, whether the film quota system is cut or canceled, there is almost no impact on CJ, Lotte and other large distribution companies, because they have enough strength to support the depression period, plus they have more or less theaters, which can reduce losses in many ways, but small companies like J.H, if there is no "quota" protection, it is easy to lose money because of the impact of Hollywood movies - no one thinks that their company can always produce high-quality products that compete with Hollywood.

Kwon Bo-geun and Park Young-joon are no exception.

The two waited in the company all morning, but they didn't receive a call from Lotte, Mega.Box, or even independent theaters, and when it was noon, they finally couldn't sit still and went to the basement to find Ahn Junhyuk, who was still working on the theme song of "The King's Man".

The "King's Man" episode was not handed over to other companies, and at present, although J.H has a shortage of production talents, at least Ahn Jun-hyuk and Kenzie are still in charge, ordinary episodes are more than enough with Kenzie's strength, and Ahn Jun-hyuk is mainly responsible for the theme song.

As early as 2 months ago, he wrote a song "Marriage", but he only served as the songwriter and producer of this song, and the arrangement part was through SM channels, which contacted Taiwan's Rolling Stone Records.

Because according to Li Junyi's requirements, the theme song should not only be tightly tied to the poignant theme, but also have a distinct ancient style.

The ancient style needs to be interpreted by traditional oriental instruments, and South Korea has no mature experience in this area, and Ahn Jun-hyuk himself is not familiar with instruments such as pipa, guzheng, and dulcimer, so he has to hand over the arrangement to outsiders, but because of this, J.H has contact with foreign countries.

About a month ago, Ahn Joon-hyuk got the demo from Rolling Stone, but he didn't have time to sort it out until recently, and stayed in the basement these days just to make it.

In the spacious recording studio, Ahn Junhyuk is not the only one, when the two pushed open the door, a clear high pitch, and a lingering classical melody, vibrated out of the speakers, Ahn Junhyuk, who was sitting in front of the mixer and listening carefully, glanced at them, and then gestured to the recording room opposite.

Behind the thick transparent glass wall, Ahn Ji-so, who was wearing earplugs, stopped singing and looked strangely at Li Cailin, who helped her turn over the score. Kwon Bo-geun and Park Yingjun smiled at them, and when the two girls saw their arrogance, they knew that most of them had something serious to discuss, so they casually exchanged a few words, and Li Cailin pushed the wheelchair out of the road.

Turning off the accompaniment, Ahn Jun-hyuk frowned and looked at the two: "Something?"

Kwon Bo-geun and Park Young-joon looked at each other, "Well, president, today is the day to resume negotiations, but neither Lotte nor Mega.Box came, and there is no news from the independent theaters." ”

"Normal!"

Ahn Jun-hyuk didn't have a surprised expression, and took the two to the lounge next to him, and suddenly came out of the dim recording studio, the light made him squint his eyes slightly, and his expression was a little tired: "What everyone is most concerned about now is the reaction of the filmmakers after the reduction of the film quota system. ”

Seeing that he was calm and unexpected, Park Yingjun frowned slightly: "How long will this situation last?"

"Wait a little longer! Filmmakers won't be silent for long. ”

Kwon Bo-geun consciously went to make a few cups of tea, watched Ahn Jun-hyuk take the cup a little lazily, and carefully sat down opposite him, Kwon Bo-geun asked: "President, how fierce do you think the filmmaker's resistance will be, will it be victorious?"

A week ago, when Ahn Joon-hyuk decided to cancel the negotiations, he and Park Young-joon were also puzzled by the decision, and it was not until yesterday that they understood what was going on.

They don't know how Ahn Jun Hyuk learned that the government was going to cut the film quota, after all, they hadn't heard the rumors before, and the victory of the skinhead movement 7 years ago made the confidence of the entire entertainment industry in the face of the government swell, and no one would have thought that the government would suddenly issue such a statement.

Ahn Jun-hyuk didn't tell them, and naturally they wouldn't ask, but as insiders, they could also see why Ahn Jun-hyuk wanted to drag out the negotiations to this day.

At first glance, the abolition of the film quota system is only aimed at the film production and distribution industry, and has nothing to do with the theaters at the point of sale, but the "appeasement" conditions put forward in the government's statement have also stirred the theaters into this muddy water.

If it is a big selling film, 5% represents a huge profit (the number of moviegoers in South Korea exceeds 2 million, and the actual box office is about more than 100 million yuan according to the exchange rate at the time), if it is a bad movie, 5% of the box office revenue also determines whether the theater can maintain operating costs.

The 5% surtax was increased because it was so sudden that no sharing agreement was signed with the distribution and production companies. If this tax is implemented, this part of the gap needs to be filled by theaters alone, and most theaters will have to increase the pressure of debt, and in addition, the market is now ruled by several bad movies, in order to attract audiences and reduce losses, many theaters are operating at a discount on ticket prices...... The government's move almost drove those theaters to a dead end.

It is precisely because they have seen it thoroughly that Kwon Bo-geun and Park Young-joon are waiting for representatives of the two major cinema chains and independent cinemas to arrive today - this is inevitable, if the theater wants to fill the gap, it must first release new films to squeeze out the current depression of bad film domination and stimulate the market, and secondly, it is to sign a surtax sharing agreement with the production and distribution company of the new film to avoid a large number of distribution companies from reacting and boycotting it.

Kwon Bo-geun asked that sentence, not hoping that the filmmakers would win, on the contrary, he was more worried that they would win, and there would be no coercion of the surcharge tax, and the theaters and theaters could not be brought to their knees.

Compared with the current investment pressure of 8 billion, the impact of Hollywood in the future is not so urgent.

Ahn Jun-hyuk naturally understood the purpose of his inquiry, and glanced at him, Ahn Jun-hyuk did not answer immediately, but asked: "Uncle Baogen, Brother Yingjun, what do you think can be achieved in the 1999 skinhead movement?" (To be continued......)