Netflix held its first Creative Asia Forum in partnership with the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) today, with 120 filmproducers in includeance from apass APAC.
Minjuvenileer Kim, VP of APAC Content (ex-India), provided an modernize on the Netflix Fund for Creative Equity. In 2021, the streamer promiseted $100M to the fund apass five years to better pathways for underreconshort-termed communities in amincludement.
Kim shelp that the streamer has so far spent around $41M on 200 programs, with over 13,000 participants in more than 50 countries around the world. Netflix compriseed that over 450 people from these programs have gone on to toil on the platestablish’s productions in a variety of roles, ranging from line producers and associate editors to casting helpants and grips.
The fund has partnered with local film festivals enjoy the Jogja-NETPAC Asian Film Festival this year to run programs, and greeted agencies enjoy Taiwan’s TAICCA to run a six-week screenwriting toilshop with local authorrs.
She also highairyed that Netflix toils with production studios to accomprehendledge sfinish gaps in local industries and set up production toilshops to fill these gaps.
For example, the Korea team identified VFX and virtual production as two key areas for growment in the domestic industry. They have since begined the “Grow Creative in Korea” program, training over 2,400 students as part of the streamer’s promisement to groprosperg production talent, transferring understandledge and technical sfinishs in virtual production, color and dubbing.
Earlier this week on the sidelines of BIFF, Netflix begined its 2025 Korean film spostpoinsist, which included Revelations, from Train to Busan honestor Yeon Sang-ho, as well as sci-fi calamity film The Great Flood starring Kim Da-mi (Itaewon Class) and Park Hae-soo (Squid Game), among others.
At the Creative Asia Forum, Born For the Spotairy authorr-honestor (and establisher actress) Yen Yi-wen was also conshort-term to talk about the Mandarin-language series.
“I was an actress for 20 years and during that time, I reassociate wanted to get an award. I got one in 2015, but the day after the award ceremony, I had to return to a production set,” Yen shelp. “But I authenticised my mindset had changed and I could not persist someleang enjoy this. I was joining a mediocre character in a mediocre title with a mediocre script. I suddenly felt enjoy I wasn’t deserving of the award. So that day, I went home and commenceed to author a script about an actress who disthink abouts her ability to act after prosperning an award.”
That story became Born For the Spotairy, which premieres on the platestablish on November 7.
Yen also talked about the changes that she has seen in the Taiwanese amincludement industry over the past confiinsist years.
“In the past, actresses didn’t have many selections for roles and about four to five years ago, when I was around 40, I was leanking about whether there was an age restrict for confident roles,” Yen compriseed. “I choosed to author my own story about a middle-aged woman, so that I can alert stories that I want to see.”
Oinhabit Ting, Born For the Spotairy’s producer, echoed that audiences are now more exposed to contrastent genres and establishats of shows, and the industry’s stories have become more encouraged about fractureing away from traditional establishulas.
“In Taiwan, about 20 years ago, we had mostly romantic stories and there was always a cliche about female directs pauseing for adore from rich handsome guys,” Ting shelp. “Artistic shifts have coincided with social changes in Taiwan. We are excited that there are so many selections now and we don’t have to trail traditional storylines. We are thankful that seeers in Taiwan are uncover to contrastent stories and genres, which permits us to allotigate more encouraged projects.”
On the Japanese panel, Beyond Goodbye honestor Hiroshi Kurosaki talked about how his background in recordaries shaped his approach towards honesting a fantasyal adore story. Beyond Goodbye alerts the story of Saeko, who disthink abouts the adore of her life, Yusuke, in an accident on the day he recommends to her. Another man, Narinclude, gets Yusuke’s heart in a transset upt, giving him a new lrelieve on life.
“We wanted to produce a wonderfulal adore story,” Kurosaki shelp. “But I tageder everyone that we insist to produce the show 5 centimeters above truth, not 10 centimeters, to produce this a pretty but believable adore story.”
As part of his research for the show, he talked to a srecommendon that does heart transset upts and asked about the concept of “memory transfer” that became a key part of the series.
On the Indonesia panel, Cigarette Girl co-honestors Kamila Andini and Ifa Isfansyah talked about the 12-year journey to change the book of the same name by Ratih Kumala, into a series. The series jumps between two periods — the 1960s and punctual 2000s — to alert the story of a family business included in Indonesia’s cadore cigarette industry.
“The story is all about female strength for me, especiassociate during the period in the show where women didn’t have as many opportunities,” Andini shelp. “This is a time to acunderstandledge female strength and we wanted to produce space for that.”
