The "Lumière Summit," which President Lee Jae-myung will attend on the 7th, is an international conference being held for the first time this year to discuss the future of film and video content. It is not only a gathering of film figures but a large assembly of key players across the ecosystem—including governments of various countries, corporations, and content creators—earning it the nickname the "Davos Forum" of the film and video world.
This Lumière Summit took shape when French President Macron paid a state visit to Korea in Apr. and, marking the 140th anniversary of Korea-France diplomatic ties, reached an agreement with President Lee on strategic cooperation for cultural exchange and the development of the visual media industry.
Follow-up discussions then gained rapid momentum. In May, the very next month, the two countries' film promotion agencies took active steps, and it was publicly revealed for the first time that a new-concept international summit related to the film and video industry would be held in September.
At this summit, President Lee will serve as co-chair with French President Emmanuel Macron and deliver opening remarks. He is expected to convey a message that stakeholders must join forces to overcome a series of crises facing the film industry amid recent changes in the industrial environment.
In particular, it is understood that key figures who drive the global content industry will attend in large numbers, including Dana Walden, president and chief creative officer of The Walt Disney Company; Alan Bergman, chairman of the Disney Entertainment Studios institutional sector of The Walt Disney Company; and Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos.
Leading domestic content industry stakeholders, including Vice Chair Lee Mie-kyung of CJ Group, will also attend and are expected to hold wide-ranging discussions with global heavyweights on co-production, content investment, and distribution.
At a briefing on the 4th, National Security Office Director Wi Sung-lac said the event carries significance in that, together with France—which has led the birth and growth of the film industry—Korea will, as a co-chair country, spearhead discussions on the future of the global film and video industry and further expand the foundation for K-content and our corporations to enter the European and global markets.