Leading Korean investor and distributor Showbox Mediaplex has re-organised its international teams by creating a new 'International Business and Development Division' to focus on co-productions and co-financing.

The company's international sales will now be handled separately under existing international sales chief Judy Ahn.

Steve Lee, formerly of the Beijing office for Megabox Mediaplex, will head up the new division. Megabox, the exhibitor affiliate of Showbox, is set to open its first multiplex in China this summer.

Lee's new team includes Showbox's head buyer Chris H. Lee, along with Young-hong Chung and Chris Chang who are in charge of handling co-production and co-financing projects.

The team is currently hammering out a deal with Terence Chang for equity investment and local distribution rights to John Woo's upcoming Red Cliff.

Based on the famous classic Chinese novel Romance Of The Three Kingdoms, read throughout Asia, the $75m film will be Showbox's first foray into Chinese-language productions. The deal looks set to be announced around or during Cannes.

The new division is also working on a similar investment and distribution deal for its first Japanese-language co-production, Cine Qua Non's We Shall Overcome Someday: Love And Peace.

The establishment of the new division reflects Showbox's growing interest in expanding its investments in overseas projects.

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