Gyeongsangbuk-do hosted the "Gyeongbuk K-Story Festival" from Thursday, September 17 to Friday, September 18 at the Andong Arts Center, aiming to connect local creators' outstanding stories with domestic production companies and explore the commercialization potential of the story content industry.

Now in its 5th year, this event is Gyeongbuk's sole story content festival, designed to promote exchanges between local creators and domestic broadcasting and production companies while revitalizing the local content industry ecosystem.

Under the theme "K-Story, the Beginning of Content," the festival focused on the value of storytelling as the source of globally acclaimed K-content, presenting programs that expand Gyeongbuk's diverse storytelling resources into convergence content.

The opening ceremony began with a gala show of the musical "Hero" by C-Classic, followed by the awards ceremony for the 24th Gyeongsangbuk-do Video Content Scenario Competition and an opening declaration ceremony.

Lectures and talk shows sharing experiences and know-hows from the creative field were also held. Author Kwak Jae-shik, Joo Dong-geun, the original author of the webtoon "All of Us Are Dead," and Kim Jae-hwan, director of the dramas "Your Honor" and "Boyhood," participated to share their creative stories.

At Gallery 34 of the Andong Arts Center, the "Gyeongbuk Representative Cartoonists Special Exhibition" was held to spotlight three Korean cartoon masters originating from Gyeongbuk. Through the works of Lee Doo-ho of "Mutter Dosap," the late Lee Sang-mu of the "Doggotak" series, and Lee Hyun-se of "Alien Baseball Team," visitors examined the footsteps of Korean cartoons and the value of Gyeongbuk's stories.

In the Story IP Matching and Biz-Matching sessions, outstanding works by local creators based on Gyeongbuk were showcased to officials from domestic production and broadcasting companies. On-site 1:1 business meetings were held to discover intellectual property (IP) and explore commercialization possibilities.

In addition, various programs were prepared for visitors to view and enjoy story content, including ▲ The Gyeongbuk K-Story Festival Thematic Exhibition, ▲ Story Creation Experience Zone, ▲ Screening of the animation "Gangchi Island," ▲ Gyeongbuk K-Story Picture Book Creation Competition, and ▲ Yeong-Honam Brand Webtoon Exhibition.

Kwon Chul-won, Head of the Cultural Industry Division of Gyeongsangbuk-do, stated, "A well-crafted story goes beyond a simple tale to become a powerful source resource encompassing both culture and industry," adding, "We will support the recreation of K-content using Gyeongbuk's rich cultural heritage and natural culture so that it can advance into the global market."

[Copyright (c) Global Economic Times. All Rights Reserved.]