CJ ENM’s Jerry Ko On Co-Producing ‘Past Lives’ With A24, Expanding U.S. Slate And Vietnamese Hit ‘House Of No Man’
13.03.2023 - 02:09
/ deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: Korea’s CJ ENM is off to a strong start in the international arena in 2023, with its U.S. co-production Past Lives emerging as one of the biggest hits of Sundance and Berlin, and Vietnamese family comedy House Of No Man becoming the highest-grossing film of all time in its home territory.
In addition to overseeing global distribution of Korean hits such as Parasite, Decision To Leave and Broker, CJ ENM’s Head Of Film Business Jerry Kyoungboum Ko is spearheading an ambitious international strategy that involves English-language production in the U.S., as well as local-language content across several territories.
Celine Song’s Past Lives, which CJ co-produced and co-financed with A24, garnered rave reviews when it premiered at this year’s Sundance film festival and went on to win more acclaim in Berlin. Produced by U.S. labels Killer Films and 2AM, the film stars Greta Lee, Teo Yoo and John Magaro in the story of two Koreans, once childhood friends and budding sweethearts, who are reunited decades later in New York.
CJ ENM is distributing in South Korea, Turkey, Indonesia and Vietnam, while A24 has sold the film to a raft of other international territories. Ko and CJ’s Miky Lee are executive producers, while Khan Kwon, head of CJ’s U.S. outpost, is co-producer.
“We’d been discussing collaboration with A24 for several years, in fact we started talking about working together in Filmart,” Ko tells Deadline, referring to the Hong Kong content market that kicks off its latest edition today.
“After Parasite, we were looking for another project with Korean elements that could be appealing to global audiences. When A24 brought Past Lives to us, we thought it was perfect. It deals with universal concepts like love