ACFM x INNOCEAN Launch

‘Cinema by Brand 2026’ Competition
An Innovative Platform Reimagining Advertising

as Film Debuts at InnoAsia
Short Film Projects Featuring Hanwha Group’s

‘Space Solar Power’

ACFM and INNOCEAN, a global marketing and advertising agency, will co-host ‘Cinema by Brand 2026’, with the Producers Guild of Korea (PGK) responsible for the selection process and production supervision. Cinema by Brand is an innovative investment and production support platform that connects client brands with film creators from worldwide to develop and produce new film content. As a branded content initiative, it expands brand messages beyond conventional advertising into films with independent narratives and cinematic quality, rather than confining them to conventional advertising formats.

 

This year, the competition seeks 20-minute short film projects featuring Hanwha Group’s ‘Space Solar Power’. The first-round selections will be announced in early September, followed by final pitching in late September. The final selections will be announced during ACFM. Each selected project will receive production funding, and the selected projects will then be produced and presented to audiences in Korea and worldwide. A session during the market will also explore the significance and potential of branded content in the content business, as well as the background to the initiative. Hanwha and INNOCEAN, along with the directors of the selected projects, are set to participate.

 

Stronger Collaboration with Global Companies
and International Markets

Connecting Startup Technology Validation
with International Expansion

Collaboration will extend beyond brands and creators to global technology companies and international markets. This year’s InnoAsia participants include the following AI-driven technology companies: AWS, Google DeepMind, BytePlus, Alibaba Cloud, Netflix’s VFX studio Eyeline Studios, MegazoneCloud, OPIM Digital, the Korean Film Archive’s VFX asset trading platform i.AM, Kling AI and INSHORTS. AI-driven content production companies joining the program include France-based AI/XR content studio Atlas V, Korea’s Mateo AI Studio, MBC C&I, Climax Studio, For Entertainment, K-Dragon and MooAm. Microdrama platforms Mango TV, FlickReels and Vigloo have also confirmed their participation.

 

Kling AI will co-host ‘New Cinematic Possibilities: Reimagining Filmmaking with Kling AI’ and ‘Kling AI Networking Reception: From Production Needs Across Asia to Industry Partnerships’ with ACFM. AWS and MegazoneCloud will launch the ‘AWS Awards’, linked to startup pitching. Winning companies will be selected following a PoC process and receive AWS cloud vouchers.

 

InnoAsia will also continue its partnerships with international markets. Lux AI, an EFM-participating startup developing an intelligent lighting solution for virtual production, and Tanja Meissner, Director Berlinale Pro and EFM, will visit Busan. Through collaboration with TAICCA School under the Taiwan Creative Content Agency, imCore, a startup developing an AI solution to improve VFX production efficiency, will also participate. 

 

From Content Development to Exhibition

and Audience Analysis
Seven Startups Selected through an Open Call

ACFM selected seven Korean startups through an open call conducted in partnership with the Busan Center for Creative Economy & Innovation and AWS. Together, their technologies cover the full content pipeline, from development and production to localization, exhibition and audience analysis.

 

In development and production, Lumicraft’s AI casting platform ‘CASTLINK’ links actor discovery with contracting and settlement, while Reproduction’s ‘PRE-FLOW’ supports screenplay analysis and production data sharing. For localization, Voithru’s ‘Totus’ offers AI dubbing in up to 29 languages, while XL8’s ‘MediaCAT’ and ‘EventCAT’ support video localization and real-time interpretation and translation.

 

For exhibition and audience experience, Digion Cinema will showcase an online cinema platform and AR smart glasses for film viewing. MyStarChain will present the blockchain voting platform ‘MyStarPick’, while HiStranger will introduce ‘Insight Flow’, which uses biosignals to analyze audiences’ emotional responses.

 

From Technology Demonstrations to Content Production, Investment and Policy

InnoAsia 2026 will present around 12  programs, combining ACFM-curated and externally presented initiatives. The lineup is organized around three strands: technology proof of concept (PoC) and investment; creators and production; and industry and policy. Together, they examine changes across the content and technology industries from multiple perspectives.

 

At the center of technology PoC is the ‘InnoAsia Startup Demo Jam’. Nine companies, including startups selected through the open call and recommended by international partner organizations, will present technologies in AI, virtual production and digital assets and discuss PoC and investment opportunities with global investors and buyers. The ‘InnoAsia WIP Showcase’ will unveil previews of AI-based feature films, animation, series and interactive content in production by directors including Pierre Zandrowicz, Mark Wachholz and Kang Yunsung. The showcase will also include a colloquium sharing insights into AI production pipelines and technology solutions.

 

The ‘Cinematic AI’ conference and ‘AI Creators Camp’ will explore how creative and production practices are evolving. ‘Cinematic AI’ will center on Google DeepMind’s AI animation and an AI film by director Darren Aronofsky, both highlighted at Cannes Next. The session will also explore AI filmmaking workspaces and ecosystems, featuring Alibaba Cloud, Kling AI and others. ‘AI Creators Camp’ will offer in-depth production workshops led by VFX supervisors from global studios and award-winning creators from AI film festivals. The discussion then turns to distribution and policy. ‘Microdrama – Data, AI, Formats and Audiences: China and Beyond’ will bring together C-level executives from Mango TV, FlickReels and Vigloo as panelists to examine key issues in the microdrama industry and the USD 18 billion shortdrama market. At ‘Next Foundation’, representatives from the technology, policy and academic sectors, including the National IT Industry Promotion Agency (NIPA), will examine industry challenges surrounding the development of independent AI foundation models, AI assets, IP and copyright in the era of AI transformation (AX).

 

ACFM is the official market of the BIFF and is held in Busan every October. At its 20th edition in 2025, 1,222 companies and 3,024 industry professionals from 55 countries registered, while total on-site attendance reached 30,006, marking the largest edition in ACFM’s history. The Sales Market recorded 8,438 business meetings, with an estimated transaction value of approximately USD 71.16 million.

 

The 2026 Asian Contents & Film Market will be held from October 10 to 13 at Exhibition Center 2, BEXCO in Busan.