Major tech companies including Google DeepMind, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Kling AI and Alibaba Group have signed up to participate in the InnoAsia program of this year’s Asian Contents & Film Market (ACFM).
The official market of Busan International Film Festival, ACFM says it is expanding its scope around the vision of “an innovative ecosystem in which cinema and technology co-evolve.” InnoAsia aims to connect storytelling with emerging technologies, including AI and the rapidly growing microdrama ecosystem.
As part of this, ACFM is partnering with global marketing and advertising agency Innocean to co-host the ‘Cinema by Brand 2026’ competition, with the Producers Guild of Korea (PGK) responsible for the selection process and production supervision.
Cinema by Brand is described as “an innovative investment and production support platform that connects client brands with film creators from worldwide to develop and produce new film content.”
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This year, the competition is seeking 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, with final selections 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.
Meanwhile, in addition to Google, Kling AI and Alibaba, other AI-driven tech companies attending InnoAsia will include BytePlus, Netflix’s VFX studio Eyeline Studios, MegazoneCloud, OPIM Digital, the Korean Film Archive’s VFX asset trading platform i.AM, 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, including Berlin film festival’s European Film Market (EFM). Lux AI, an EFM-participating startup developing an intelligent lighting solution for virtual production, and Tanja Meissner, Director Berlinale Pro and EFM, are set to 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.
ACFM and InnoAsia 2026 are taking place October 10-13 at the BEXO exhibition centre, during Busan International Film Festival, which is running October 6-15.
