Chung-Ang University (CAU)’s students from the Department of Cultural Contents met with young French creators to promote international cooperation.
Young French creators from the A'sfored Academy, an educational institution under the French National Publishers Association (SNE, Syndicat National de l'Édition), visited CAU on the 16th.
Established in 1972, A’sfored, France's largest non-profit educational institution, is known for cultivating prime talent for the publishing industry. The academy is currently collaborating with over 550 publishers, 15 major media outlets, and 45 communication agencies and associations in over 60 countries. To date, more than 80,000 people belonging to more than 1,000 companies, associations, and public and private institutions received training at A’sfored.
The event was part of the “Creators United Academy,” CAU’s global youth creator program. Creators United Academy is CAU’s internationally differentiated, exclusive educational program operated by the Industrial Cooperation Center (ICC) in the specialized cultural content field, which is in line with the growing interest in K-content.
The first part was held at Hall 301 (CAU Cultural Arts Center) in the following order: ▲a welcoming ceremony, ▲an introduction of the Creators United Academy program, ▲a demonstration of “Tak Toon Lab” developed by CAU, and ▲a MOU signing ceremony between the academies. “Tak Toon Lab,” an AI platform for animation-webtoon content developed by Tak Toon Enterprise Co., Ltd. and CAU’s VILAB, was unveiled for the first time, receiving wide attention.
The second part of the program included open seminar sessions on K-content for OTT platforms and the European comics and webtoon market. These sessions were held in Daesin Hall, Hall 310 (100th Anniversary Memorial Hall), with the assistance of sequential interpretation.
Along with twenty young French creators, about 80 people from CAU’s cultural contents students, the Korea Webtoon Industry Association (KWIA) and the French Embassy in Korea attended the seminars.
The first session began with an introduction to A’sfored led by Nicolas Piccato. Mr. Piccato is the director of the Lyon BD Festival in France, and the founder of Panda Media, a content production and distribution company.
After discussing A’sfored, Director Piccato expressed his gratitude for the opportunity in which, “Twenty excellent talents from the academy came to Korea for field training on the K-content ecosystem.”
Many topics were discussed in the seminar, including: ▲French comics and the webtoon industry, ▲treatment of creators (artists), ▲occupations in relevant fields, ▲independent publishing, and ▲introduction to French content-related events.
The last part of the event featured a panel talk by Seo Gangbum, president of KWIA, and Chang Jeongsook, CEO of Red Ice Co., Ltd., followed by a Q&A session with CAU students. Other topics, such as the possibility of Korean content’s entry into the European market, the crisis in the paper publishing industry, and market changes following the changes in media and technology, such as AI, were also discussed.
One French creator who attended the program said, “It was quite impressive to talk to young Koreans and learn that they have similar concerns, though we are from different countries. It was great to hear stories about the cultural content industry in Korea and France, and expand my network through this exchange.”
Tak-Hoon Kim, head of Creators United ICC, said, “We expect Chung-Ang University’s differentiated global youth creator program to contribute to the steady dissemination of K-culture. One way of expanding our understanding of overseas markets is meeting and interacting with young people from other countries studying related fields. Chung-Ang University will continue to solidify its position as a higher education institution that is recognized not only domestically, but also overseas with its professional, high-quality programs.”
