SHIN FILMS PRESENTS: THE ‘KOREAN-STYLE’ STUDIO SYSTEM AND THE MODERNIZATION OF THE FILM INDUSTRY In SOUTH KOREA, 1952–1975

Shin Films is known as the largest film studio ever operated in South Korea. Shin Films was a symbolic landmark of South Korean cinema’s so-called “Golden Age.” Shin Sang-ok, the founder and de facto owner of Shin Films, aspired to build a Hollywood-style film studio and catch up with the current filming technologies of the West. Under his direction, Shin Films produced 238 films between 1952 and 1975. The studio even expanded its market to Southeast Asia, where it actively co- produced and exported many of its films. Shin Films, however, was liquidated by decree of the Park Chung Hee government in 1975 due to the regime’s ever- changing film regulations. However, instead of focusing on the state’s oppressive intervention in the film industry, this article argues that multiple factors contributed to the rise and demise of the studio. Shin Films was not just a victim of the autocratic government. Rather, the studio engaged with the Park regime while negotiating with the authorities. And Shin Films was the most successful beneficiary of the authoritarian state’s film policy. This study demonstrates that the fall of Shin Films was more attributed to the studio leaders’ mismanagement, a lack of talent pool, fluctuating market conditions, and regional film studios’ collaboration and competition. Using archival materials, in-person interviews, newspaper and magazine articles, and available film scripts, this article examines the studio’s business structure, management system, human factors, dominant genres, distribution and exhibition subsidiaries, and imports and exports business, which together constitute Shin Film’s mode of production,... © 2024 IAMHIST & Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.