Netflix Korea launches ‘Grow Creative’ education program for creators

From VFX training to story workshops, Netflix Korea promises win-win growth for local content production ecosystem 

Ha Jung-su (left), head of production at Netflix Korea, and Sunny Park, director of VFX & virtual production at Netflix Korea, speak during a press conference at the Netflix Korea office in Seoul on Friday. (Netflix)

Netflix Korea announced Friday an expanded education program for creators aimed at establishing a high-quality content production ecosystem and discovering and nurturing local talents.

Titled “Grow Creative,” the program will run throughout the year to teach the latest production technologies and offer insights into market trends to aspiring content creators and VFX technicians.

Netflix Korea has run workshops targeting local industry insiders since 2022 but it is the first time that the global streaming platform's Korean headquarters is officially launching the program.

“While Korea has its unique quality and level of production ecosystem, we wanted to more strategically introduce market knowledge and top-notch technology that is used in making drama or film to the Korean market,” said Ha Jung-su, head of production at Netflix Korea, during a press conference held at the Netflix Korea office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, Friday.

According to Netflix Korea, 2,400 participants participated in the workshops run by the company over the past two years. They joined programs like digital imaging technician workshops, virtual production open house, Netflix VFX academy and post-supervisor workshops, among others.

The “Grow Creative” program will kick off in the second half of this year, focusing on three key pillars.

Netflix Korea will nurture more talents in the content production market by expanding the number of staff on the set for shooting or those working for VFX.

It will also streamline the production process by focusing more on the pre-production stage, at the same time elevating the local talents’ understanding of production technology.

Netflix Korea will also offer opportunities to learn the latest production technology as well as market trends for efficient budgeting for the use of technologies like VFX.

“In VFX, the Korean market is top-notch. But what we want to emphasize (through this education program) is that there is much room for improvement in terms of systematic pipeline. We thought there is a need to discover the potential of high-quality technology from the market,” said Sunny Park, director of VFX & virtual production at Netflix Korea.

Netflix Korea's office (Netflix)

By Kim Da-sol(ddd@heraldcorp.com)