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One of the buzz words in and out of the Korean contents industry is AI or Artificial Intelligence. Film and wider content industries around the world are faced with challenges brought about by a change in viewing habits and increased budgets but AI is viewed by some as an opportunity to make filmmaking more affordable while it is also argued that it could bring about further innovation. Nevertheless, many professionals involved in film and television production see it as a disrupter and threat. In Hollywood, it was one of the central concerns during the 2023 strikes by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG - AFTRA) that led to a production shutdown with the effects still being felt.

Over the last year, Korea’s content industry has been taking increasingly palpable steps towards AI as it tests the waters. Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BIFAN) took the lead last year in focusing on AI with an AI competition and an AI International Conference. At the opening of the festival, its director Shin Chul said “generative AI can be used as an innovative and revolutionary tool to meet the world with one’s talent through minimal expenses. I believe that with the help of generative AI an era of equal competition will come, in which imagination, not the size of the budget, is the most important factor.”

In October last year, the Korea International AI Film Festival (K-AIFF) was held at the KINTEX exhibition center in Gyeonggi Province that included a keynote session by experts in AI technology along with the screening of AI award-winning films at the festival. Mateo (2024) produced by Korea’s Mateo AI Studio won the Grand Prize.

At the 42nd Busan International Short Film Festival that took place between April 24 and 29, the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) held a special session to unveil the world’s first virtual IDOL IITERNITI. The institute collaborated with the production company to put together the 11-member virtual idol content.

In June, the Jeju AI Global Film Festival kicks off on the island that will award the grand Prize winner 20 million won, while other prizes are on offer. To qualify, films must have had at least 90% of its footage (including subtitles, music and dialogue) created using generative AI Technology.

This week we will profile titles that have used AI: from restoration Leafie, A Hen into the Wild (2011) to short films One More Pumpkin (2023), M Hotel (2024) and It’s me, Moon-hee (2024)).

Leafie: A Hen into the Wild (2011)

Oh Sung-yoon’s Leafie: A Hen into the Wild produced by Myung Films remains the most popular Korean animation having amassed over 2 million admissions upon its release in 2011. It follows a hen who escapes from a chicken farm and meets a beaver and weasel. Dreaming of hatching one of her own eggs, she is given the opportunity when she is entrusted with a duck egg.

The film was remastered and re-released in January of this year. While it is not uncommon for older Korean films to restored in 4K (SHIRI (1999) was also remastered and re-released in March), it was notable for using “AI Super-scaler” by a Korean startup Inshorts.

Instead of needing a significant amount of time and expertise, Andy Lee, CEO and founder of Inshorts, claimed in an interview with a Korean broadcaster that the technology  “cuts time by 10 times and costs by half.” This potentially makes restoring Korean films – either for re-release in theaters and/or on physical media – an even more affordable prospect. With the backlog from the pandemic almost cleared, there are concerns that there are not enough films coming to theaters over the coming months and years ahead making re-releases possibly more common. Last year alone saw 228 titles re-released.  

One More Pumpkin (2023)

2024 saw Korean AI films winning awards at festivals that included the fantasy horror 3-minute short One More Pumpkin that won the Grand Prize and Audience Award at the Artificial Intelligence Film Festival that was held in Dubai in February 2024. It also received the Jury’s Special Mention at BIFAN screening in the aforementioned AI competition.

Directed by Kwon Hansil who made the shorts Man of Na Manza (2021) and The Bystander (2020), it centers on an elderly Korean couple who have survived for 200 years. The film blends visuals of Korean culture along with Halloween imagery. It features a skull-faced Grim Reaper and a pumpkin – both of which were generated by AI.

According to the director in the BIFAN program notes, it “utilizes AI technologies such as T21 (Text-to-Image), 12V (image-to-Video) and AI Super Resolution. The film was completed in just five days and cost very little to produce because it was made with free AI tools.

Poster Image © [CGV]

M Hotel (2024)

Also significant in the realm of AI Korean films was M Hotel (2024) that brought home top awards in the AI competition category at the Cannes World Film Festival, New York AMT International Film Festival. It also won the Special Jury Award at the Busan International Artificial Intelligence Film Festival (BIAIF) and was also a finalist at the Venice International AI Film Awards.

Produced by the studio CJ ENM, the film was completed in just one month by four experts from CJ ENM’s AI business promotion team. They used generative AI to make all the scenes in the film. Lasting six and half minutes, it follows a homeless man who comes across a key to a magical hotel. A CJ ENM official told the Chosun newspaper “M Hotel is a case demonstrating the successful integration of CJ ENM’s exceptional storytelling capabilities with advanced AI technology.”  The film was screened in 20 CGV cinemas in November last year.

In March, the multiplex CJ CGV announced that it was hosting an AI competition – the first cinema chain to do so. A panel of judges that includes director Um Tae-hwa Concrete Utopia (2023) will decide on the winning films that will receive the prizes that total approximately 50 million won. The film that wins the grand prize will secure theatrical distribution through CJ CGV. The winners will be announced on May 23.

The fact that a leading studio like CJ is investing in AI signifies the growing interest in AI among the major players in the industry. It also suggests that the role of AI is likely to continue to increase going forward.  

It’s me, Moon-hee (2024)

Also released in CJ CGV cinemas was It’s me, Moon-hee (2024) through CGV ICEON. The film takes its title from one of Korea’s veteran performers Na Moon-hee The Quiet Family (1998), I Can Speak (2017)) who features in the film yet it’s an illusion because her figure has been generated using AI. Her outspoken persona is transformed into different characters including an action heroine as we see her flying fighter jets and riding motorbikes. The whole 17-minute production that is split into five short films was directed by Park Won-pyo, Yoo Ji-cheon, Won Kyeong-hye, Jung Eun-wook and Lee Jeong-chan. The film was produced by AI production company MCA.

Like other AI films, putting together the films wasn’t time consuming taking as little as a few days underscoring how less labor intensive they are. But the jury is still out on whether audiences are convinced and would come and see a film put together entirely using AI.

Artificial intelligence, though, is also being used in commercial titles; not to put whole films together but in post-production to help offset costs. AI was adopted for 20-30 percent of the post-production work for Kim Seon-kuk’s horror film The Unrighteous (2024) that premiered at BIFAN last year. It was also used in the sex comedy Forbidden Fairytale (2024) to depict the younger versions of the main characters.

Interestingly, given the cost efficiency and less time spent on producing content for AI, it also potentially opens up the industry to those who have previously faced obstacles in terms of financing and time. Given Korea’s technical prowess, the industry is also well-placed to exploit AI.  Questions, however, indeed remain going forward especially regarding concerns over creativity, copyright and how it impacts those currently working in the industry.