The “Understanding VFX and Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of Dexter Studios” exhibition hosted by visual effects (VFX) and content company Dexter Studios (CEO: Kim Wook, Kang Jong-ik), and the Korean Federation of Film Archives ended in great success after a busy week.
The exhibition, hosted at Cinema Tech KOFA in Mapo-gu, Seoul, from December 14 to 21 celebrated the 10th anniversary of Dexter Studios, which has managed to establish itself as an all-in-one comprehensive content producer and a leader in the Korean VFX market, and explored the birth and evolution of VFX in Korea.
Seven feature films, including “Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds” (2017), “Along With the Gods: The Last 49 Days” (2018), “Ashfall” (2019), as well as “The Soul Guardians” (1998) and “Taegukgi” (2004), which introduced the Korean film industry to digital VFX, were screened at the exhibition to showcase Dexter Studios VFX technology refined over the past decade years as well as its growth as a production company.
In particular, on December 15 and 16, Dexter Studios CEOs Kim Wook and Kang Jong-ik took part in a guest visit (GW) session after the screening of “The Good, the Bad, the Weird” (2008) and “The Pirates” (2014). At the GV with Cine21 reporter Song Kyung-won, Kim Wook and Kang Jong-ik talked about their work on the two films, and discussed the past, present, and future of Dexter Studios.
Kim Wook said, “We dreamed of producing our own film instead of simply working on the VFX part of a film, and so far, we have managed to produce five feature films. At the moment, we are planning and developing some new content, and we have something we are co-producing with another producer. We will continue to release content that feels unique and exclusive to our company. We are going to do our best in becoming a producer audiences can trust and count on for good content, so we hope everyone can keep an eye out for our new movies and content.”
Kang Jong-ik added, “We are always thinking about stories we can only do and tell. We plan on doing this in the future as well. In the long term, we want to grow into an IT company and not just a VFX specialist or a general content company. We are hoping to leverage our strengths in technology to expand and grow, and to become a company that can share its achievements with all of its employees.”
Founded in January 2011, Dexter Studios has been setting new trends and leading the industry by focusing on developing VFX technology over the past decade or so. The company’s best-known productions include “The Pirates,” “1987: When the Day Comes” (2017), “Take Point” (2019), “Parasite” (2019), and “Space Sweepers” (2021). Currently, Dexter Studios says it is working on “The Moon,” “Silence,” ‘The Pirates: Goblin Flag,” “Emergency Declaration,” “Extraterrestrial,” and “Wonderland.”
Meanwhile, Dexter Studios has also grown remarkably as a comprehensive content company over the past ten years. It now boasts a “one-stop system,” which spans the entire content production process from content planning, filming, production, and post-production. Using this one-stop system, Dexter Studios has produced “Mr. Go” (2013), “Along with the Gods: The Two Worlds,” “Along With the Gods: The Last 49 Days”, “Ashfall,” and “Escape from Mogadishu” (2021). Of these movies, the Along with the Gods series brought in more than 10 million viewers each for the first time in Korean box office history. Also, Ashfall and Escape from Mogadishu became the highest-grossing films and attracted the largest number of audiences among the films released in their respective years.
In addition, Dexter Studios recently expanded its Digital Intermediate (DI) and sound studio lines to add to its competitiveness in the global OTT market. Moreover, by launching the first virtual production studio “D1” (661m2) in Paju, Gyeonggi-do, the company is taking the lead in the development of virtual content production and Mixed Reality (MR) technology in Korea.
Meanwhile, for the “Understanding VFX and Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of Dexter Studios” special exhibition, audience capacity was limited to 30% of full capacity in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Also, in compliance with the government’s implementation of the COVID-19 vaccination pass, only those who had tested negative for COVID-19 with a PCR test within the past 48 hours or those who had completed their vaccination at least 14 days prior to their visit were allowed in the exhibition halls.
