Desert Bloom Pictures, a global production company based in Seoul and Los Angeles, officially signed a partnership to co-produce a total of four films with Indonesian major studio Mandela Pictures.
On Nov. 30 (local time), Desert Bloom Pictures, a global production company based in Seoul and Los Angeles, announced at the Jogja–NETPAC Asian Film Festival (JAFF), Southeast Asia's premier film event and Indonesia's largest international film market, that it had formed a "Super Slate" of four co-production projects with Indonesian major studio Mandela Pictures and officially signed the partnership.
The partnership is a strategy to build a production ecosystem linking Korea, Indonesia and Hollywood, combining Desert Bloom Pictures' premium content production capabilities and global network, Mandela Pictures' strong local IP, and the advantages of Indonesia's rapidly growing content market, which has the largest population base in Southeast Asia.
The co-production slate signed this time comprises four projects planned to expand to screens in Korea and Indonesia as well as global OTT platforms. A Korea-Indonesia joint feature comedy based on a Hollywood original IP exploring image and identity in the social media era; two feature films that localize Korean or U.S. IP, reinterpreted to suit Indonesian audience sensibilities for release in local theaters; and a Korean horror feature based on Mandela's horror label BN13's flagship IP, aimed simultaneously at Korean theaters and the global streaming market.
Raveshi Samtani, COO of Mandela Pictures, said at JAFF that they wanted to create a sustainable "real slate," not a one-off co-production, and noted that the goal is to expand Indonesia-based stories that can naturally resonate in Jakarta, Seoul and LA, starting with the Indonesian films currently co-producing and BN13's core horror project.
Cha Hyu, co-CEO of Desert Bloom Pictures, said the company could build a long-term cross-border joint studio ecosystem by combining Mandela's local IP and insights with Korean and Hollywood IP and a global network.
Finally, Desert Bloom Pictures CEO Lee Yoo-jung explained that Indonesia is one of the fastest-growing dynamic markets in Asia, and emphasized the importance of the partnership, saying collaboration with Indonesia is an important opportunity to create new momentum as Korea's content industry reaches an inflection point.
The partnership also includes exchange programs between creators of the two countries. Key Korean writers, directors and creative leaders will collaborate directly with Indonesian production teams in writers' workshops and on sets, and opportunities for Indonesian creators to participate in Korean and hybrid projects will be expanded.
Desert Bloom Pictures, headquartered in Seoul and Los Angeles and led by producers Lee Yoo-jung, Cha Hyu and Park Hyeong-jin, is a premium global content producer making a name in the global entertainment industry. Based on the planning, production and global partnership experience and know-how of production staff from Korea's representative hit films such as Exhuma and Along With the Gods and experts from Studio Dragon, Dexter Studios and Lotte Cultureworks, the company, with offices in Seoul and LA, focuses on developing global co-produced content targeting both Asian and U.S. markets and has shown remarkable progress in the global market.
Desert Bloom Pictures is co-producing the Korea-U.S. feature film Pyongyang Home Video, directed by Yoon Sung-hyun and confirmed to star actor Won Ji-an and Hollywood actor Jamila Jamil, with Imagine Entertainment, the production company behind The Da Vinci Code and A Beautiful Mind. The company is also a production partner on the K-pop–themed horror thriller Perfect Girl, starring Aden Cho and Jeon So-mi and produced by Thunder Road Pictures, famous for the John Wick series. In addition, it is actively expanding global collaboration projects with various overseas studios.
Jakarta-based Mandela Pictures, led by brothers Manoj, Dipak and Raveshi Samtani, is a leading Indonesian studio with strong influence in the domestic theater and OTT markets. Centered on labels such as REC.ID, 13 Entertainment and BN 13 in addition to Mandela Pictures, it has expanded a broad portfolio from genre films to commercial and auteur titles, and is regarded as a premium film studio noted recently for its aggressive and creative production strategies.
As the development stage of the four global projects co-produced by Desert Bloom Pictures and Mandela Pictures intensifies, detailed information such as creative participants, casting and production schedules will be released sequentially.
[Photo] Desert Bloom Pictures
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