One of the largest and most well-known German film studios – Studio Babelsberg – is aiming to secure fruitful cooperation opportunities with Ukraine in the future, according to Charlie Woebcken, CEO of Studio Babelsberg AG, Managing Director of Studio Babelsberg Motion Pictures and Babelsberg Film (Germany) at the international “Film Business” conference held at the media forum KIEV MEDIA WEEK.

“We have long wanted to visit Ukraine, because we know that it has very professional film crews and a lot of interesting locations. Also, we are seriously interested in the possibility of cooperation with Ukrainian partners in the production of joint projects. Perhaps today will mark the beginning of one of such joint projects”, said Charlie. According to him, the strategic objectives of his company include closer cooperation with the countries of Eastern Europe – both with productions and providers of production services.

Ukraine, according to Charlie Woebcken, is, at the moment, a “dark horse” for most of the major European productions. However, “uncharted territories” like Ukraine have good chances to attract foreign film and television producers. At the same time, the diversity and uniqueness of Ukrainian locations may be the most interesting factor that can persuade European filmmakers to film Ukraine. “You have a multitude of interesting locations, especially in Kiev, and it would be very good to provide foreign productions with access to them. I think that is very promising”, said the head of Studio Babelsberg.

KIEV MEDIA WEEK also featured a round table devoted to the prospects and new opportunities for cooperation between Ukraine and South Korea in the field of media.

“At the moment, the cooperation between Ukraine and Korea is very active, and I hope that in the media sphere, it will also be expanded significantly in the future”, said the Ambassador of Korea Lee Yang-Goo. According to him, unfortunately, at the moment the people of Korea do not know much about Ukraine, as well as the people of Ukraine about Korea. But the cooperation between the countries is becoming frequent, including through cultural rapprochement of our countries through cooperation in the media sphere.

Film.UA producer Olesia Lukianenko spoke about the seriesThreads of Fate, an adaptation of the Korean format Glass Slippers, the production of which will last until the end of October. The series will premiere on the Inter TV channel, which is also participating in the production of the project.

Olga Zakharova noted that in 2015, Ukraina premiered the series Everlasting – an adaptation of the Korean format Ice Adonis (produced by Front Cinema). Prior to this, the channel successfully aired several local versions of Korean soap operas – Save the Boss, an adaptation of the Korean format Protect the Boss, Queen of the Game and Stairway to Heaven, adapted from the eponymous Korean formats. Media Group Ukraine has also acquired a number of Korean-made TV series for broadcast on the TV channel Indigo.