Korean Movie Industry Going Through Crisis After Several Years of Boom

After a successful 2006, Korean movies are off to a mediocre start this year.
Experts say the industry is in need of a new strategy to stave off further damage.
Son Heekyung has this report.
The domestic movie industry is going through a crisis after several years of boom.
Critics say one major problem is that film companies are shying away from big budget productions for fear that they will not make a profit.
Studios are thus opting to make smaller-scale films.

"The number of moviegoers could decrease this year, which in turn would mean that the power of Korean films will fall. The root of the problem is that filmgoers need to feel uniqueness and interest in domestic movies. Thus searching for creative storylines and drawing up productive strategies are crucial".

In February alone, five Korean movies each attracted one million viewers.
The most watched film in the first quarter this year is the mystery thriller "Voice of Murderer", with three million tickets sold in 19 days of release.

"We are very much worried because we haven't really seen any outstanding films so far in this first quarter of the year. There has been some concern about this pulling out of the finance from the film industry. What's very unprecedented is that there are many films which cannot really continue filming because they have to stop in the middle of production, which is unheard of".

The first week of March saw NO new Korean releases a first in three years.
The number of moviegoers in February dropped nearly 15 percent from the month before.
Domestic directors and actors say they need to go all out to contain the damage.

"I believe reducing actor salaries is important. Korean actors will seek to upgrade Korean cinema to another level. We are one big family".

Though it's too early to predict the fate of the Korean film industry some see April as the turning point.

"For sure, 2007 is expected to be a tough year for the Korean film industry. But movie critics say the film industry should aim to use the crisis as an opportunity to make better films to attract more filmgoers to theaters in the second half of the year.