Netflix has set the speaker lineup and session slate for its Creative Asia programme at this year’s Busan International Film Festival, with Possible Love director of photography Kim Ji-yong, The Blue Road director Han Jun-hee and WETA FX chief technology officer Kimball Thurston among the participants.
The programme, designed to support the region’s next generation of creators, will take place October 10 at Dongseo University Centum Campus. Netflix has devised the initiative in partnership with BIFF, the Asian Film Commissions Network and the Motion Picture Association.
Kim Ji-yong will lead a masterclass focused on the visual construction of Possible Love, examining how he and director Lee Chang-dong shaped the film’s visual world. The title arrives at the programme with fresh festival momentum, having won the Grand Jury Prize in Venice, and is Korea’s official section for the Oscars, according to the supplied announcement.
Han Jun-hee will also front a masterclass, titled “Making Unexpected Stories Resonate.” The session will explore how unexpected or uncomfortable subjects can be developed into stories capable of drawing global attention. Han’s credits cited for the programme include The Blue Road, D.P. and Weak Hero Class.
Panels to tackle locations, AI and emerging voices
Creative Asia will also include a masterclass titled “Location and Storytelling,” bringing together Lauren Cooper of Location Managers Guild International, Perfect Days producer Reiko Kunieda and Sung Q Lee, Senior Director, APAC Production at Netflix. The session will center on how location relates to storytelling, with perspectives from the participating location, production and platform executives.
Thurston is set for an industry panel on the expanding use of artificial intelligence in production. Titled “AI in Filmmaking: New Tools, New Possibilities,” the session will also feature Sung Q Lee and Korean director Kang Yun-sung, whose credits listed for the event include Run To The West and The Outlaws.
A separate industry panel, “New Voices in Filmmaking: What’s Ahead,” will look at small- to medium-budget filmmaking. Speakers for that conversation include Namkoong Sun of Love Untangled and Wi Eun-kyoung and Son Gwang-min, the co-directors of My Aunt.
Workshops aimed at writers and pitching
The Creative Asia schedule also includes two workshops. “The Art and Archetypes of Cinematic Storytelling,” led by Netflix Director, Content Acquisition Christopher Mack, is aimed at writers and will break down what makes a pilot compelling, as well as the structural choices that help keep audiences watching.
A second workshop, “Understanding the Buyer’s Perspective,” will examine how greenlight decisions are motivated, how a show is selected for financing and what kind of script or story remains memorable after a pitch concludes. That session will be led by Netflix’s Director, Creative Strategy.
The Creative Asia programme lands during a busy window for Busan. BIFF is scheduled to run October 6-15 at the Busan Cinema Center and other locations across Busan, while the Asian Contents & Film Market will take place October 10-13 at BEXCO.
For Netflix, the announced lineup positions Creative Asia as a concentrated industry and craft forum during the festival, spanning cinematography, directing, locations, AI, development, financing and the creative decisions that shape stories from pitch to screen.