Japan & Korea Set To Become Asia’s Next Offshore Production Hotspots, Says ‘Mortal Kombat’ & ‘Meg 2: The Trench’ Producer E. Bennett Walsh
deadline.comU.S. producer E. Bennett Walsh, who has made films including Mortal Kombat, Meg 2: The Trench and The Kite Runner across the APAC region, says he’s got his eye on Japan and Korea as the next hot destinations for footloose Hollywood productions. “I think the opportunity in Asia is in Korea and Japan,” said Walsh. “Tokyo Vice recently had a great experience in Japan and there are more opportunities for productions like that.
Some pieces of the Marvel movies have filmed in Korea, but that was just scratching the surface.” Japan recently introduced an official production incentive to fund up to one half of the qualifying Japanese spend of international productions, while Korea has been operating incentives for several years.
In addition, Japan’s largest studio Toho recently formed a joint venture production services outfit with established Japan-based producer Georgina Pope (Equals, Giri/Haji). “The opportunities in Japan have been under-estimated – the crew base is developing, and the language barrier is changing.
Everything is becoming more accessible because of the [Tokyo 2020] Olympics,” Walsh said. Walsh was speaking at the MPA Chanel X BAFA Film Workshop, organized by the Motion Picture Association (MPA) and BIFF Asian Film Academy (BAFA), at the on-going Busan International Film Festival.
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