Asian Actors Form Regional Association

From right: Ahn Sung-ki, Kang Soo-yeon and Park Joong-hoon laugh with each other like siblings. They haven't appeared in movie together yet, so the Asia Pacific Actors Network is their first joint project.

"It's just a small gathering, for Asian actors to become friends. This was an idea we had while drinking at a snack bar during the Pusan Film Festival ten years ago, and it's just coming true now. I know we shouldn't expect too much at first, but I think it's significant that we actors are coming together voluntarily," Ahn Sung-ki said at a cafe in Chungdam-dong, Seoul on Monday.

Younger actors Park Joong-hoon and Kang Soo-yeon nodded their heads at his words. Started by Ahn, Park and Kang, the backbone of Chungmuro or Korea's Hollywood, the Asia Pacific Actors Network (APAN) held its inaugural meeting at the cafe. It's not connected with any nation's actors association, and it's not a closed society with impossible standards. It's a rather humble little group, in fact.



This year, 15 Asian actors including Kuei-Mei Yang from Taiwan ("Vive L'Amour"), Masaya Kato from Japan ("Fighter In The Wind") and Fann Wong from Singapore ("Dance Of The Dragon") will participate in a meeting of promoters at Haeundae Beach on Friday. At night, about 100 Korean actors will join the social affair.

The group has a production project in mind, too. With W200 million (US$1=W913) sponsored by film company M&F and W60 million from the Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF), APAN will fund a new film project to be made by an Asian director. The chosen project will be unveiled at the event on Friday. Actors might earn fame and large paychecks, but they tend to play a reactive role in filmmaking since most movies are considered directors' projects. So this is a noteworthy development -- the actors are coming together to make their own projects.

"In fact, the three of us have the most free time (to establish the group)," joked Kang, who has attended the PIFF for 12 consecutive years. When it was suggested that the meeting could end up a one-time affair, Park answered with laugh, "Before making a romance movie, the actors usually gather to eat and drink and get to know each other. This is the beginning of the future." The first letter of APAN stands for "alcoholic," she joked. "As the APEC leaders from the various nations promote friendship by wearing the host nation's traditional clothes, we plan to unify all the actors with Korean-style boilermakers," he added.