A handful of Canadian writers and producers will have an opportunity to prepare a scripted TV project for an international co-production. The Racial Equity Screen Office has partnered with the South Korean global studio SLL to launch the Canada-Asia Pacific Production Accelerator (CAPCA). It will select four to eight Canadian producers and writers for its 12-week program from April to August.
Applications are open from February 12 to 26, according to the RESO website. Designed for “mid-career creative professionals who are serious about coproduction”, the program asks applicants to do one of two things. They can submit their interest with an original series/IP (scripted half-hour or full hour). Alternatively, they can apply to work on an adaptation of an existing SLL series/IP.
“A total of four projects (2 originals and 2 adaptations) will be selected to serve as case studies in the program,” the RESO website states. “We invite proponents to apply as individuals, or apply in teams of two (i.e., writer + producer).”
There are two CAPTA faculty leads. One of them, Imagine International Entertainment & Television vice president Janice Chua ,has extensive experience in North American and Asia. The Singaporean-born Chau was a producer of Crazy Rich Asians when she was a vice president of development and production Asia at Ivanhoe Pictures. She also worked in management at *Beijing Galloping Horse.
The other faculty lead is actor, producer, and director Sean Dulake. He was born in California and raised by an English father and South Korean mother. Dulake has acted in several Korean dramas, including Blood Free, Jejungwon, and Athena: Goddess of War. He was also cast in the Korean film Operation Chromite.
CAPCA includes workshops at SLL studio
Successful applicants will spend a week in late May in Seoul. There, they will attend workshops at SLL’s studio. Moreover, the projects will be presented at EXNW 2025, which is in Vancouver from July 18 to 20.
“CAPCA is a game-changer for Canadian producers looking to break into Asia,” RESO executive director and CAPCA program head Hanna Cho said in a news release. “With the industry at a crossroads, this initiative ensures that racialized Canadian creators have a seat at the table in one of the world’s most dynamic content markets. It’s about building relationships that last beyond one deal, fostering a pipeline of co-productions that expand what Canadian content can be.”
CAPCA resulted from discussions between Canadian and Korean executives at EXNW 2024 in Vancouver. This event featured award-winning Canadian filmmakers Niha Pahuja and Fawza Mirza, Allegiance TV show creator Anar Ali, as well as producers, agents, and others in the film and television industry.
“Korea has become a global leader in scripted content, and international co-productions are the next frontier,” said SLL production division CEO Joonsuh Park in the news release. “We hadn’t ever had an opportunity to work with Canada as a co-production partner until EXNW, but the level of talent and opportunity we saw, especially those from diverse backgrounds, convinced us that the time is now. CAPCA is about building real, long-term creative and business relationships between our industries.”
Boosting trade in cultural services
The CAPCA program comes as Canada is experiencing a cultural trade deficit with Japan, Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan. According to 2022 figures in the chart below from Statistics Canada (numbers are in millions of dollars), Canada only posted a cultural trade surplus with South Korea among these five East Asian jurisdictions.
In the case of Hong Kong, China, and Taiwan, the cultural trade deficit grew from 2018 to 2022. However, it shrank somewhat with Japan.
Meanwhile, the data showed that cultural imports from Taiwan exceeded those from both Japan and South Korea in 2022. For more information on cultural trade with East Asian countries, see this article, which was published in Pancouver last November.
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