As movies and dramas set in Seoul continue to increase, the city of Seoul is gaining attention as a creative stage for “K-content.”
Seoul City announced on the 12th that the number of works that requested support because they wanted to film in Seoul reached a total of 632 works, including feature films, short films, and dramas, in the past year.
Out of these, the city provided support for the filming of 268 works, evaluating them based on factors such as the coherence of the filming scenes and promotional effects. This support is part of the “Seoul Location Shooting Support Project,” an initiative by the city to expand the exposure of Seoul in audiovisual works and enhance urban marketing effects, both domestically and internationally.
The support includes aerial filming, road control, environmental preparation, promotional and marketing support, participation in screenings, international events, and conferences, as well as location incentives for overseas audiovisual works (partial support for filming in Seoul).
The American Netflix series “XO, Kitty,” filmed in Seoul, recorded 72.08 million viewing hours just four days after its release and entered the top 10 rankings in 90 countries, demonstrating its success. The series features Korean actors alongside foreign actors and is set against the backdrop of iconic Seoul locations such as Myeongdong, Namsan Seoul Tower, and Bukchon Hanok Village. Due to its popularity, the production of Season 2 has been confirmed.
According to Seoul City, the number of supported filming projects has been steadily increasing, with 106 projects in 2020 and 218 projects in 2021. In the first half of this year alone, 379 applications were received, and 185 of them have already completed filming.
Seoul has successfully attracted a total of 11 foreign works, including those from major online streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon, last year. In the first half of this year, Seoul secured 18 filming projects from overseas.
With the increasing number of audiovisual works set in Seoul, not only does the city benefit from urban marketing effects, but it also generates various added values such as employment and increased foreign currency earnings. Seoul is becoming a “charming city” with a high favorability rating as it strengthens its role as the starting point and center of storytelling in tourism content.
According to an analysis of four recent works supported by Seoul City and the Seoul Film Commission, about 570 people were employed, including filming staff, supporting roles, and extras.
Seoul City provided KRW 320 million in support for these four projects. The amount spent in Seoul by these teams, calculated only through the submission of expenditure settlement documents, far exceeded the support amount, reaching an average of more than five times. When considering all production costs, each team is estimated to have spent more than 20 times the support amount.
Beyond attracting and supporting filming, Seoul City is expanding its scope to support foreign production personnel by providing assistance for scenario planning and writing stages.
Furthermore, the city is continuously discovering filming locations to enable creators from around the world to work in Seoul. It is also promoting the Seoul Location Shooting Support Project to various foreign audiovisual content production companies at events such as the Hong Kong FILMART and the Busan International Film Festival Asia Contents & Film Market (ACFM).
Kim Tae-kyun, Director of Seoul City’s Economic Policy Office, stated, “We will expand support for content creation to enable people worldwide to enjoy Seoul together by enhancing our efforts to discover filming locations throughout Seoul and attracting influential works.”
