INNOCEAN has today announced the launch of Cinema by Brand, a new initiative developed in partnership with the Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM), Asia’s largest content market held during the Busan International Film Festival in October. The platform will connect brands with filmmakers from around the world to develop and produce original film content.

Cinema by Brand is a business platform that draws on INNOCEAN’s distinctive experience and capabilities across brands and content, connecting brands with global creators to plan and produce original content. Rather than simply recasting conventional advertising in cinematic form, it places entertainment value and creative quality at the center from the earliest planning stage, opening up new possibilities for brand communication.

Filmmakers from around the world will submit proposals that interpret a single brand through their own cinematic perspectives and storytelling. The selected project will typically undergo at least six months of production and is expected to be released as early as summer 2027 in theaters or on global streaming platforms. A defining feature of Cinema by Brand is its integrated, year-long content development and production process, spanning brand selection, global creator briefings, project development and selection, film production, and theatrical or streaming release.

Building on its partnership with ACFM, INNOCEAN plans to make Cinema by Brand an annual initiative beginning this year and develop it into a sustainable business connecting brands and content. Through the platform, the company aims to secure sustainable IP, drive global distribution, and expand the range of content and IP options available to brands.

The Success of Night Fishing Validates the Model, Bringing Global Talent Together for the Next Breakthrough
Cinema by Brand grew out of INNOCEAN’s ambition to scale the new potential of brands and entertainment demonstrated by Night Fishing, the short film it produced with Hyundai Motor Company last year. The first cinematic branded content in Korea to receive a paid theatrical release, Night Fishing drew widespread attention at home and abroad for its groundbreaking production approach—telling the story entirely through cameras installed on a vehicle—and its original storytelling. With a 13-minute runtime and a ticket price of KRW 1,000, the film attracted 46,000 paying moviegoers nationwide.

Night Fishing won the Grand Prix, the highest honor, at Cannes Lions 2025, followed by the Best Editing Award at the Fantasia International Film Festival, earning international recognition as a new content model that blurred the boundaries between advertising and cinema. The project confirmed for INNOCEAN that a brand can be experienced not merely as advertising but as standalone entertainment content, while also demonstrating strong potential to become a sustainable business in the film and content industries rather than a one-off success.

INNOCEAN’s strategy is to combine its brand communication and creative capabilities with the film industry’s creative and production ecosystem, extending brand marketing into entertainment and unlocking a wide range of content and IP business opportunities.

Korea’s First Collaboration with ACFM Opens the Door to Filmmakers from 55 Countries
ACFM is one of Asia’s leading content business markets, bringing together film professionals—including directors and producers—from 55 countries and providing a forum for creators and production partners across the global film industry to connect.

Following a series of discussions with ACFM, INNOCEAN developed and finalized the Cinema by Brand model to contribute not only to brand growth but also to the growth of the film business. Positioned at the center between the very different worlds of brands and cinema, INNOCEAN will coordinate the process and focus its capabilities on delivering the strongest possible outcome.

Submitted project proposals will be reviewed jointly by experts from INNOCEAN, participating brands, ACFM—the official market of the Busan International Film Festival—and the Producers Guild of Korea (PGK). The final project will be selected through a comprehensive evaluation of the story’s originality and artistic merit, its fresh interpretation of the brand, production feasibility, and budget suitability.

Many branded films have traditionally either added cinematic elements to a conventional advertising format or relied heavily on a limited pool of directors, often diluting the brand in the process. Cinema by Brand is designed to structurally reinvent branded filmmaking through a competitive global pool of hundreds of directors, competition among diverse creative ideas, and multiple production plans and budgets that brands can compare before making a selection.

New Content Studio to Develop Content, IP and New Business Models
To support this business expansion, INNOCEAN recently established a Content Studio staffed by content specialists. Beyond Cinema by Brand, the team will expand and advance INNOCEAN’s IP business across television, drama, live performance, exhibitions, YouTube and influencer management.

“Starting with Cinema by Brand, we will continue to expand our creative capabilities beyond the traditional boundaries of advertising and marketing into film, entertainment, content and IP,” said Jung A Kim, Global CEO of INNOCEAN. “In particular, we will build a distinctive business model that connects brands, creators and the film industry, and continue to identify new growth opportunities.”