Last year, Union Pictures, a cultural venture company, provided one out of five concert and fan meeting supply IPs on Melon Ticket, one of the major ticket channels in Korea. They are also the team behind SK's first domestic K-pop metaverse festival! These projects are not from a domestic conglomerate team, but from Union Pictures.

So far, Union (www.unionpic.net)has collaborated with top-tier artists such as Kara's Han Seung-yeon, Heo Young-ji, FX's Luna, Lovelyz's Yoo Ji-ae, and 2NE1's Park Bom, as well as producing stages with numerous actors like Im Si-wan, Yoon Si-yoon, and Sung Hoon. They have created a diverse range of cultural content and are now establishing a dedicated K-pop XR/3D production team, aiming to create a separate digital team like Pixar.

Kwon Tae-ho, CEO of Union, who is striving to become a global cultural venture after overcoming the COVID-19 crisis, recently shared his thoughts on the current state of cultural and entertainment content:

"I believe that domestic cultural, entertainment, and performance content businesses need to be transformed and expanded in two major ways. One is global digital projects, and the other is the establishment of complex cultural tourism content. 

Future cultural and entertainment content will combine IT technology, communication speed, content compression technology, expansion of real-time stability, and a decrease in infrastructure costs to create various real-time online collaboration cases. 

I believe that soon we will be able to create various entertainment content in virtual spaces with people on the other side of the world collaborating on performances, as well as with animation characters and K-pop stars. Secondly, I think that performances will evolve into complex tourism content that combines F&B, accommodation, and experiential activities, rather than one-way performances."

What direction does Union envision for its cultural production going forward?

"Union Picturesaspires to be a production company that brings excitement to people. In the initial stage, this will involve expanding K-pop experiential tourism products combined with performances, and developing virtual reality concerts, 3D character IPs, and digital projects like dramas.

Next, through an 'avatar' project combined with artificial intelligence, we want to provide people with experiences in spaces like outer space, the sky, and the ocean floor that are difficult to visit. 

And at some point, it will be integrated and distributed as 'Universe,' a Union OTT channel. However, what we shouldn't lose sight of is the basics. During the period when a large number of basic performance projects expanded, there were definitely good moments, but there were also times when we couldn't satisfy the audience, and times when we didn't pay enough attention to detail.

I never want to forget the moment I decided, starting from when I gained experience as the lowest FD at KBS's outsourced production company at the age of 21, that 'my work is about creating moments that inspire people.' I want to work hard and grow to provide people with culture, experiences, and comfort they haven't experienced. "

Union, which is currently working with Kakao to distribute music and content, is growing into a comprehensive content production company, expanding through Union, the planning agency, management with popular golfers like MCN and An So-hyun, and the joint establishment of US Virtual Production LLC. They are currently looking for artists and partnerships to strengthen the expanding areas of each business. [Email: ip@unionpic.net]

Data source: People Gate  https://www.peoplegate.co.kr/2023/10/blog-post_30.html