‘Squid Game’ Producer Reads Founding Declaration as Asian Independent Producers Form Cross-Border Alliance at Busan

Independent producers from five Asian territories joined forces on Sunday, launching the Asian Producers Alliance (APA) at the Busan International Film Festival‘s Asian Contents & Film Market to push for cross-border co-production and stronger protection of creators’ rights. Today we choose to face them together,” the declaration read. Its members are independent producers, with no studios, conglomerates or state bodies involved.

PGK and APROFI initiated the group, whose formation was approved online by all five organizations. The announcement came at the close of “Empowering Asian Cinema: Solidarity and Creative Alliance,” a seminar hosted by PGK at the ACFM Producers Hub. Moderated by PGK International Committee director Han Jin, the panel brought together producers Yulia Evina Bhara of Indonesia’s KawanKawan Media, Rhee Handae, CEO of Korea’s Sidus, Yamaguchi Shin of Tokyo-based Knockonwood and Bianca Balbuena, co-founder and COO of the Philippines’ Epicmedia Productions, to discuss co-production in an industry upended by streaming and short-form content.

Yamaguchi offered a concise direction for the conversation: “Think globally.” As producers in each market face the realities of cross-border production, he said, international co-production is becoming an unavoidable part of the industry’s future. That shift is already reflected in the panelists’ work. Yamaguchi has spent more than two decades structuring international co-productions across Asia, Europe and North America.

Rhee leads Sidus’s Korea-Vietnam co-productions, including projects developed through a joint venture with director Phan Gia Nhat Linh. Bhara’s credits include Cannes winner “Tiger Stripes” and Venice-winning “Autobiography,” while Balbuena has produced films that have screened at major festivals including Sundance, Venice, Cannes and Berlin. APA will begin as a consultative coalition, with co-production across Asia and creators’ IP rights among its priorities, and aims to develop into a body with a formal decision-making structure.

Producer organizations across Asia can join during its first year, and more than one organization per territory may join. Members plan to meet online quarterly and hold an annual general assembly during ACFM. PGK president Lee Dong-ha and APROFI chair Edwin Nazir are the alliance’s inaugural co-representatives, with Han Jin and Bhara leading its secretariat as co-secretary generals.

All four serve one-year terms, with elections held at each year’s general assembly. HKMPEA chair Johnny Wang said producers had long been accustomed to following paths paved by their predecessors. APA will hold its second seminar at the JAFF Market in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, in December, hosted by APROFI and focused on creators’ IP.