Entertainment Driver
The CJ Group is participating in the Center for Cultural Creative Convergence in order to develop the country’s cultural content industry, contributing to the economy.
The Center for Cultural Creative Convergence opened at the CJ E&M center in Seoul on Feb. 11. The center coordinates global convergence content and develops industry infrastructure in its role as a control tower of the Cultural Creative Convergence Belt, which the government is establishing to develop the country’s cultural industry.
Lee Jae-hyun, chairman of the CJ Group, said that the next driving force of the country’s economy will be the cultural industry, which is the only industry in which South Korea can expand the development gap against China over the next 20 years.
The Center plans to develop an environment in which a new concept of content, which combines analog and digital, art and technology, can be developed, CJ said. Along these lines, the center supports creators to develop convergent cultural content targeting the global market. Meanwhile, the center also provides the highest-quality facilities to these creators for free, as well as lectures and inspiring exhibition events.
Kang Myung-shin, head of the Center for Cultural Creative Convergence, said that the center is not only a support resource for business development, but also the development of a solution that would satisfy what the market wants, or even lead the market.
When President Park Geun-hye spoke at the opening ceremony for the Center, she introduced the specific details of the center’s projects. The center's two main goals are developing convergent content in cooperation with leading experts of the cultural industry targeting the global market, and mentoring content creators and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) so that their ideas attract investment, which will lead to new businesses.
The center's facility resources include exhibition rooms for created content, which provide opportunities to communicate with experts and investors; a Media Library, which will keep a digital archive of convergent content; and the Creative Lounge, where creators and experts can discuss cooperation and develop their personal networks. The Center also houses a Story Hub, Play Hub, and Lifestyle Hub, places for convergent content creation and mentoring aimed at supporting talented creators. There is also the Lab, which provides professional production facilities for convergent content and the opportunity for leading experts to mentor younger up-and-coming artists. Future plans include the introduction of other labs, like a Story Lab, Multi Lab, Craft Lab, Sound Lab, and Idea Lab, which will support experts from a number of sectors; a Motion Studio, which provides facilities for the digitization of motion; and a Talent Studio for testing newly-created content and matching investors.
The center will function as a bridge connecting creators, experts, and enterprises aimed at the development of global convergent content.