Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun attended the ceremony held by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) marking the occasion of Netflix’s investment through a subsidiary called Scanline VFX that will inject USD 100 million over six years to build Asia’s first special effects filmmaking infrastructure in Korea.
Scanline VFX is a company acquired by Netflix that specializes in special visual effects and provides services to global content creators like Warner Brothers, Marvel Studios, and DC Comics.
This unprecedented investment, notified on the occasion of the recent state visit of U.S. President Joe Biden, is expected to thrust Korea into Asia’s content creation hub role, combining Korea’s internet and communications technology with Scanline VFX’s virtual reality special effects expertise.
Various factors came into play in cinching the deal, including Korea’s renowned content creating capacity and human resources, strategically advantageous location and access to the Asia-Pacific region, as well as FDI incentive policies. MOTIE and KOTRA (Korea Trade Promotion Corporation) also ensured that Korea's advantageous investment environment and support programs were promoted to appeal to the content giant.
Digital media content industry is one of the core engines that can drive up a nation’s brand value, and the investment is particularly significant in the sense that it will fortify the cutting-edge digital infrastructure of Korea’s media and content industry.
Noting that K-content exports entered the $11 billion thresholds in 2020 with its rise in global influence, Minister Ahn relayed to Scanline VFX Supervisor Stephan Trojansky his anticipation of this project contributing to Korea becoming a global media powerhouse. He also emphasized the Korean government’s strong stance towards support, stating that “within the current legal framework, utmost efforts will be made to assist Netflix’s high-tech infrastructure construction.”
With regard to the commitment, Scanline VFX Korea expressed hopes of “bringing about high-quality job creation in Korea’s content industry sector.”