Background artists at HanHo Studio. Photo courtesy of HanHo Company Ltd

The Business Men
Another interesting phenomenon of the Korean animation industry is the relatively large number of studio owners who have no particular interest in animation other than as an investment. These are men and women who have acquired their companies as business enterprises but have no more attachment to their studios than to their plumbing supply house or import/export companies. These business owners often buy into animation studios that need a cash infusion and, more often than not, end up taking over the company from its original owner.

There has also been a trend to form studio groups with one large studio taking smaller studios under its wing and presenting the group as one large holding. A most recent example of this was the Rainbow Animation Studio group (more recently renamed to Galaxy World, Inc.) which was put together by Ted Choi, a Korean business man who lives in Los Angeles and came from the garment business. This system is simply an extension of subcontracting but with the logical twist of doing it openly and telling the client that you own/have control of the smaller studios doing their work. The only problem is that often times, the group is made up of totally separate business entities, with completely different agendas, and the studio doing your work is not being paid a fee that will allow them to produce a solid show. The group is only held together by the main studio's ability to supply everyone shows at a reasonable fee. After a while, inevitably, the small studios grow unhappy with the large studio from which they receive work. The large studio naturally skims a percentage of the client's fees and the studio doing the work feels unappreciated and underpaid. Also, if the show is successful, the large studio takes the bows and egos can be fragile things.

A layout artist at Galaxy World animation studio (formerly Rainbow Animation). Photo courtesy of Galaxy World.

The New Studios and the `90s Boom
Like all businesses, success breeds competition, and there is nowhere more competitive when it comes to business than Asia. The `90s saw a rash of new studios enter the scene.

Disney Television brought its shows to a new, bright and aggressive studio called Sun Woo. In 1991, Michael Webster, who was then in charge of production for Disney Television Animation, told me that Sun Woo was producing some of the best work he had ever seen and that Disney was so impressed with the quality, they were putting them under an exclusive contract. This didn't work out for long, as Disney wanted exclusivity and Sun Woo wasn't prepared to be tied down in such a growing market.

Rough Draft Korea (RDK) started by doing an odd little show called Ren and Stimpy and soon were being sought after as a highly creative studio capable of producing the off-the-wall type productions that Klasky-Csupo and Nickelodeon were developing as their benchmarks.

Plus One, Koko (formerly Dong Yang), a revitalized Saerom and Daiwon, along with an ever-expanding AKOM, led the charge into the Nineties with Korea capturing up to 30% of the world market in animation production. From 1990 to 1996 the business has grown with last year reaching an all time high. AKOM alone reported a production run of 189 shows for the year. The little industry that started so quietly in 1968 with an educational film has grown into a major industry which by 1996 probably came close to grossing $120 million US.