Seoul Film Commission Resumes Offering Screenplay Development Support

After two years of pandemic restrictions, the Seoul Film Commission is once again offering screenplay development support and applicants don’t have to live in Korea to apply.

Applications are now being accepted for the 2022 Seoul Screenplay Development Support program. The program provides round-trip flight tickets and accommodations in Seoul for 30 days, for foreign directors, screenwriters, and producers who are currently planning or developing a film or TV project that uses Seoul as a setting.

From the time it launched in 2016 to 2019, the program supported a number of foreign projects that were set in Seoul. The French film, Return to Seoul, which was selected to receive support in 2019, wrapped filming in Seoul in 2021 and was an Un Certain Regard selection at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Selected projects will receive round-trip flight tickets for up to two people, one work space in Seoul for up to 30 days, location tour and a meeting space. However, the Seoul Film Commission will not cover the cost of pre-departure COVID-19 testing.

More details about the program can be found on SFC’s website. The application can be downloaded and emailed along with supporting documents. The deadline for applications is July 3.

Since its foundation in 2002, Seoul Film Commission has provided support to more than 2,000 film productions including features, shorts, documentaries, commercials, and TV dramas. In recent years, Seoul has become a sought after location for international productions, including Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, the Wachowski’s NetflixNFLX
series Sense8 in 2014, and the Netflix movie Okja in 2016.

Between 2012 and 2016 Korea’s film industry ranked seventh worldwide in terms of gross box office sales, fifth in terms of admissions, and fifth in terms of feature film productions.