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Gyeonggi Province opened on Apr. 30. The structure was designed by architect Seung H-Sang featuring offices

Paju is getting a new “book and film town.”

The project is the second phase of an effort that has already seen the creation of a book hub in the Gyeonggi Province city. Now some 30 film-related businesses are set to move in, while additional venues are built for residents to enjoy films. Having already established its reputation as a publishing center, Paju is about to become a “cinema town” too.

Myung Films unveiled the buildings for its eponymous art center and film school in Paju to the media for the first time in an opening ceremony on the morning of Apr. 30. The company, chaired by Lee Eun and Shim Jae-myung, is the producer of films such as “Architecture 101” and “Revivre.”

The complex consists of two four-story blocks with two basement levels each. Covering a total area of 7,941 square meters, the structure was designed by architect Seung H-Sang.

Myung Films is the second film-related company to move into Paju, after the special visual effects firm Demolition last year. More than 30 more are set to finish move-in procedures through the end of 2016. It would be the second setting in the country to house a large concentration of film-related businesses, after Seoul’s Chungmu-ro.

Film industry professionals began work on the second-stage of the Paju Book City effort in 2007 with the aim of turning the community into a “book and film city.” Around 110 film and publishing companies have formed a Paju publishing complex cooperative and begun clearing the ground to build a construction headquarters for the town. The first stage of the project, covering an area of 250,000 pyeong (826,500 square meters), brought around 300 publishing and printing companies into Paju Book City.

“We’re planning to turn this into a space for communicating and creating culture through film,” explained Myung Films chairman Lee Eun.

The film professionals are hoping the film village in Paju Book City, once established, will help give South Korea a studio system on par with Hollywood. It would allow for all the steps of the filmmaking process - from planning to photography, editing, sound recording, computer graphics, and color compensating - to be performed in one place. Most of the US’s large production companies have similar full-service systems set up within them already; the South Korean system, in contrast, requires cooperation between different small businesses.

The film city would also be a place for members of the public to enjoy watching films. The Myung Films Art Center includes a 160-seat cinema and a 250-seat performance theater, along with a book cafe with a film and architecture theme. Other film-related businesses are planning to set up culture spaces in line with their own focuses - much like the “Forest of Wisdom” library set up in the publishing town. The Korean Film Archive is also building a second storage center that could eventually serve as a cinematheque showing classic films. Once in place, the new centers would allow for film production and enjoyment all in one place.

The architecture has its own significance. The buildings for the Myung Films Art Center and Film Institute boast accessibility, transparency, and an open structure. They combine various purposes in one place, including offices, dormitories, and performance venues.

“I wanted to make a place that you could use to make and enjoy movies at the same time,” explained architect Seung H-Sang. “I hope the filmmakers will fill the rest of it out themselves.”

Another anticipated effect is Paju’s transformation into an architectural showcase, as the new structures joins major existing ones like the Portuguese architect Alvaro Siza’s Mimesis Art Museum in the book city.

Meanwhile, the Myung Films Film Institute went into operation early this year, offering free education, lodging, and filmmaking opportunities as part of a two-year program for 10 selected students each year. Visual designer Ahn Sang-soo previously opened the Paju Typography Institute (PaTI) in Paju in 2012. It’s part a push by the city to explore new possibilities for learning centers.

By Ahn Chang-hyun, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]