South Korea’s corporate giants turn to cinema to tell their stories

Hyundai Motors and POSCO bring brand stories to the big screen

Two new films, Deadline and Night Fishing, produced by South Korea's top corporations are bringing fresh attention to cinemas, aiming to blend brand messaging with engaging storytelling. /POSCO

Two films, Deadline and Night Fishing, are generating buzz in theaters that have struggled since the pandemic. The common thread? Both are produced by South Korea’s conglomerates.

Deadline, a disaster drama backed by steel giant POSCO, premieres on the 6th with an 85-minute runtime. Following the success of Night Fishing—a 13-minute sci-fi film from Hyundai Motors that premiered last June—POSCO is also venturing onto the big screen.

Corporate-produced films often face criticism for coming across as “branded content” rather than genuine cinema, but Night Fishing has challenged that perception. Set at an electric vehicle charging station, the film stars actor Son Seok-koo alongside Hyundai’s IONIQ 5.

What is surprising is that the vehicle is never fully revealed on screen. Shot entirely through cameras mounted on the car’s exterior and interior, Night Fishing drew 46,000 viewers with a low ticket price of just 1,000 won ($0.75) and even clinched Best Editing at the Fantasia International Film Festival in Canada this July.

Deadline, debuting on the 6th, follows POSCO’s struggle to revive its critical blast furnace after the devastating Typhoon Hinnamnor struck its Pohang plant in 2022. POSCO described the film as an attempt to leave a powerful impression, crafted from extensive video footage, historical records, and interviews recorded at the time.

Featuring strong performances from actors like Kong Seung-yeon, the production involved over 50 tons of mud, overturned cars, and shoot locations across more than 20 areas within the Pohang plant, a nationally security facility. Deadline premiered at the Busan International Film Festival last month and will soon be shown in select locations nationwide.

Globally, more corporations are turning to the big screen. Denmark’s LEGO Group led the way in 2014 with The LEGO Movie series, and last year, French fashion house Saint Laurent founded “Saint Laurent Productions” to produce a 30-minute film, complete with its own costumes, stirring further interest.

A corporate insider noted, “With compelling storytelling, these films reach diverse audiences across theaters and streaming platforms, making brands feel more approachable and natural to consumers.”

[Park Soon-chan]

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