CJ E&M boosts investment to grow drama, movie writers

By Woo Jae-yeon

SEOUL, Jan. 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's biggest production house CJ E&M said Monday it has started a new project to discover and foster drama and film writers.

In what it dubbed "O'PEN," which means offering open opportunities for anyone who wants to become a pen, the company plans to invest around 13 billion won (US$10.7 million) by 2020 to nurture young writers who can lead the country's flourishing content and entertainment industries to the next level.

Unlike the existing system where young writers can join a production team through open competition, the program intends to offer more stable working conditions by providing a one-stop service center that can discover talent, offer financial support, and connect writers with businesses, said the entertainment content maker.

"By fostering a healthy creative ecosystem, we would like to cultivate an environment where big and small firms can coexist and a content creator who pursues their dreams in difficult conditions can have the chance to show their work to the public," Kim Sung-soo, CEO of CJ E&M said in a statement.

The company plans to select some 40 writers by March who will be offered individual studios in the Donga Digital Media Center (DDMC) in Sangam-dong, western Seoul.

jaeyeon.woo@yna.co.kr
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