01 November 2005

Black Sheep will be the first feature film financed under a new business alliance between Park Road Post and Korean company Daesung Group announced in Seoul yesterday.

The investment agreement for Jonathan King’s debut feature, a comedy horror titled Black Sheep, included Chairman David Younghoon Kim for the Daesung Group; the CEO of Park Road Post, Sue Thompson; the Producer of the film, Philippa Campbell and Kathleen Drumm of the New Zealand Film Commission who is handling international sales of the film. 

The financial investors in Black Sheep are The New Zealand Film Commission, the Daesung Group and New Zealand On Air.

Black Sheep is set in New Zealand, a country of 4 million people, hugely outnumbered by 40 million sheep.  The story tells of a genetic experiment gone horribly wrong; the sheep start turning nasty and it’s the people that begin to bleat. Design work for the project will be provided by Oscar-winning Weta Workshop (The Lord of the Rings : The Motion Picture Trilogy).
 
The film has already created a buzz at international feature film markets this year with several sales already bagged by NZ Film.  UK, Australian and NZ rights have been sold to Icon Distribution while Jiants has acquired rights for Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia.  Several other sales are in advanced negotiation.

Korean venture capital company Daesung BiNEXT of the Daesung Group was established in 1987 and focuses on venture investments.  It has invested in around 30 feature films including Old Boy,Antarctic Journal,Around The World in 80 Days,Welcome to Dongmak-Gol and Blade 3.  In March 2005, Daesung forged a partnership with Wellington-based Park Road Post, whose high-tech and state-of-the-art post-production facilities will be used for larger budget Korean feature films, telemovies and TV series.  It is intended that Park Road Post will share its skills and technology with selected Korean personnel to enhance the quality of Korean post-production work.
 
“Park Road Post offers world-class post production services.  Recent films include The Lord of The Rings trilogy, The World’s Fastest Indian and King Kong,” said Park Road Post’s Sue Thompson.  “Black Sheep will provide the first of many exciting opportunities to work with the Daesung Group. We are confident that this original and highly entertaining project presents the perfect opportunity for us to work with this highly regarded Korean investor. This venture promises to be the first of many films in creative collaboration between talented New Zealand and Korean filmmakers.”

Prime Minister Helen Clark visited Seoul in 2003 as part of a joint promotion of the New Zealand and Korean film industries.

"I am delighted to see that the business alliance between Park Road Post and Daesung has resulted in an investment in upcoming Kiwi horror movie, Black Sheep. This alliance is exactly the kind of partnership that we hoped would come from the 2003 trade mission which accompanied me to Korea. I congratulate all those involved and look forward to seeing the film which results," Helen Clark said.

Black Sheep is being produced by Philippa Campbell (Rain, No. 2) of Escapade Pictures, and will be shot on location around Wellington with principal photography set to commence early 2006.

International sales are being handled by Kathleen Drumm of NZ Film, which is the sales arm of the NZ Film Commission. 

For more information or photos from the signing please contact:

Jasmin McSweeney jasmin@nzfilm.co.nz Tel: +64 4 382 7682

or Kathleen Drumm of NZ Film: Kathleen@nzfilm.co.nz  Korean cell until end October 14: +82 11 9659 3197

For Park Road Post: Sue Thompson sue@parkroadpost.com (until October 15 +82 19 6777879)