Leading established investors such as CJ, Sovik and Isu presented their initiatives to a packed hall of filmmakers at the Busan Exhibition Convention Center (BEXCO) yesterday (Oct 11).

A raft of new funds announced themselves at the Korea Contents Fund Showcase, part of Busan’s 6th Asian Film Market.

Sovik Venture Capital Investment announced that it would be launching a $86m (KW100bn) global contents fund next month that will run until Nov 2018.

The Sovik Global Contents Fund will invest in Korean films, animation, TV series, pop music and games that can launch into the overseas markets as well as coproductions between Korean and overseas companies deemed to be “outstanding”.

This month, CJ Venture Investment is launching a $17.2m (KW20bn) fund that will invest in films and performances. The CJ fund will run for a cycle of seven years.

Also launching this month is Isu Venture Capital’s $8.6m (KW10bn) fund that targets middle and low-budget Korean films. Named the Isu-S&M Fund, it will be operated for five years.

Amongst the other funds presenting at the showcase, Capital One has a $10.3m (KW12bn) fund for middle and low-budget films that has been in operation since June and will run for five years.

Also, M Venture Investment has been running a $8.6m (KW10bn) fund for films and performances since 2009 that will run until October 2016.

Fund managers said they are carefully watching for labour management track records and are avoiding production companies which are known to pay their staff and crew late, badly or not at all.

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