Program
Theme of 2026
This year's forum will serve as a historic stage for initiating substantive and productive cultural exchanges between Suseong-gu, a leading cultural and educational hub in Korea, and Shibukawa City in Gunma Prefecture, Japan. We are confident that the active collaborative initiatives launched by these two cities will transcend borders, establishing a landmark model for culture-driven regional development worldwide.
Theme of 2024
The 5th WCIF in 2024 will be held under the theme "Our Futures and Education: Culture plus Technology" aiming to explore the future opportunities and educational prospects emerging in the AI era. By examining the strategic implications for talent cultivation and educational directions across various fields such as culture, content, science, and technology, we aspire to contribute to the realization of WCIF's vision of a "Culture Universe"—a world united through culture.
Theme of 2023
The 4th WCIF in 2023 aims to discuss innovative entities such as creators, producers, and consumers, and prospect the future changes, focusing on the topic of "Creator Economy & Sustainability." Through this, WCIF seeks to contribute to the realization of its vision, the "Culture Universe," where culture unites people.
The World Cultural Industry Forum seeks to create a platform where producers, experts, and entrepreneurs in the cultural industry gather to share knowledge and information, and engage in discussions for the global prosperity of culture, fostering cultural exchange. To achieve this, WCIF aims to establish collaborative networks among content creators, producers, and distributors. And we also aims to promote mutual engagement and cooperation between cultural cities in Asia and the West, ultimately contributing to global peace and the common good of humanity.
Theme of 2022
The 3rd of World Cultural Industry Forum (WCIF) in 2022 will be held under the theme of
‘The Era of Metaverse: Music & Entertainment’,
and it aims to prospect the movement of the future cultural industries,
while world-wide famous music producers and domestic and foreign entrepreneurs attending together.
At Session 1, three of keynote speakers, the CEO of Export Music Sweden AB Jesper Thorsson,
CEO of EKKO Music Rights Europe Robin Jensson and the CEO of SM Entertainment Lee Sung-su,
will address the speeches on the subject of ‘Global Cooperations in Music & Entertainment Industry’.
During this session, the speakers will discuss how important establishing global cooperation is in connection
with the growth of global music industry, by emphasizing a vital role of Sweden in the development of K-pop:
Sweden is the best known as the pop group ABBA but is also one of the most contributing countries to compositing and producing K-pop music as well.
At Session 2, beginning with a congratulations video featuring girl group easpa,
the session will be conducted under the topic of ‘Metaverse and the Future of the Entertainment Industry’.
Sooman Lee, an Executive producer of SM Entertainment, will unveil ‘Genesis; the Metaverse Origin Story’ as a new universe
that will open the era of Metaverse in earnest. This whole new universe is a story
that deals with the origins of the SM Culture Universe (SMCU) such as EXO, NCT, and Espa,
and it is expected to present a future direction for an ecosystem of cultural content towards the rise of Metaverse world.
Soon after, Sebastian Borget, Co-founder & COO of The Sandbox; a global metaverse platform,
will present as a guest speaker and give a lecture on ‘New Opportunities in the Metaverse Era’.
At Session 3, the main theme of this session will be ‘The Use of AI and NFT Technologies in the Entertainment Industry’,
and the president of CJ OliveNetworks Inhyok Cha will address a keynote speech under
the topic of ‘the Impact of AI and NFT technology on the Entertainment Industry’.
Subsequently, the CEO of Hyperreal Digital Remington Scott, who possesses a Hollywood 3D technology production team
which has created such blockbuster ‘Avatar’ and ‘Spider-Man’, will deliver a speech and discuss
the topic of ‘the Future of the Entertainment Industry in the Era of Metaverse’.
In the following NFT special session, SM Entertainment, CREDIA MUSIC&ARTISTS, Kansong Art and Culture Foundation,
The SMC Group and Galerystan will engage in the event. The participants will select the one of the most representative contents
among the cultural industries and aim to show the NFT cultural products accordingly.
Hayden Bell, the founder of The Kennel AB, has been selected as a winner of the 3rd WCIF Award,
which is awarded to those of who have contributed to exchanges and cooperation in East and West,
in order to promote the global cooperative relationship. Hayden Bell has spent most of his career
as a world-class music producer as well as an entrepreneur for over 30 years, and he’s been contributing
to the development of K-pop, especially by working on producing music for BTS, Girls’ Generation, EXO and etc.
Finally, this event will come to a great finale with a special performance by KAI,
one of the members of world-famous idol group EXO, and the closing remarks by Seung-hwan Song,
Executive Creative Director of the PyeongChang Winter Olympics 2018.
Theme of 2021
The 2nd WCIF of 2021, "The Convergence of Culture and Technology," aims to prospect the changes we face and build stronger partnerships
in the music and entertainment industry among content creators, producers, and distributors. Its goal is to contribute to global cooperation
in the entertainment industry in the post-pandemic era. Especially following last year's success of 1st WCIF "K-pop and Culture Universe,"
we consistently hope to serve as a bridge between the east and west.
In Session1, "Changes in Music and Entertainment industry after COVID-19", there are three keynote speeches and a panel discussion.
The first keynote speaker is the K-pop pioneer, executive producer of the culture industry's leading firm, SM entertainment, Sooman Lee.
The second is chairman Mark Burnett of MGM group. He is the producer of America's famous audition programs like 'the voice' and 'survivor.'
The last is Teddy zee. He is a renowned Hollywood producer with more than 30 years of working experience.
Next, in Korea Foundation special talks to celebrate its 30th anniversary, president Geun Lee of KF participates as the moderator.
After comes Session 2 with the title, "Business opportunities following the convergence of 4th industrial revolution and culture".
It starts with a special segment led by Korea's representative culture firm, CJ ENM's managing director, Sangyeop Kim. And in the panel discussion,
Chief Joohee Cho of ABC news Seoul participates as a moderator, and other distinguished guests also join as a panelist.
The panelists are Professor Michael Peyser of USC Cinematic Arts, Director Sangyeop Kim of CJ ENM, and President Kelly Lee of Givenchy Korea.
Next, the president Huyu of iFLYTEK, a lead firm of AI in all Asia, will address the keynote. In the special talks following this keynote,
President Youngsam Kim of Korea Electronics Technology Institute is the moderator, President Inhyok Cha of CJ Olivenetworks,
CEO Sungsu Lee of SM Entertainment, and Indian Lawyer Nikita Engheepi are the panelists.
The next is Session 3, "Entertainment world reshaped by the convergence of culture and technology."
We have a special performance by 'black mamba' and 'next level' artist, AESPA, to show the new concert culture
enabled by the convergence of the real and virtual world. After the performance,
minister Hee Huang of the ministry of culture, tour, and sports gives a celebratory remark,
and we discuss production issues related to online performance and surreal content. In the 'WCIF award,'
we award a figure who showed extensive effort to bind the East and West culture.
After all, Director Seunghwan Song of the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics leads the closing ceremony to introduce the following year's WCIF outlines.
Theme of 2020
Under the theme of "K-pop and Culture Universe,"
the first WCIF in 2020 is to invite world-renowned producers and CEOs to promote partnerships
among content creators, producers, and distributors. In particular, we hope to serve as a bridge between
the East and West following the recent success of K-pop - BTS and SuperM being chart-toppers on Billboard.
We also hope to contribute to solidifying international cooperation in response to changes in the global
entertainment industry triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The opening event consists of congratulatory speeches followed by SuperM's online performance.
Three sessions with different themes come after the opening event.
The theme for the first session
is "K-pop and Culture Universe."
In this session, SM Entertainment executive producer Sooman Lee and CMG group
chairman Steve Barnett will address the keynote speech. Special Talks hosted by Korea Foundation will follow this.
Korea Foundation Chairman Geun Lee would lead this talk, and the leader of both SuperM and EXO, BAEKHYUN, will also
participate in the talks. (Overseas speakers participate online)
The second session's theme is
"East Meets West in the Entertainment Industry of the 21st Century." CEO of Japan's largest entertainment company AVEX,
and officials from the world's biggest agency, CAA, will deliver the keynote speech in this session.
Special talks hosted by Joo Hee Cho, director of ABC News' Seoul Bureau, will follow this. CAA executives
who have managed K-pop Star's US tours will deliver the Idol's recent activities in the talks. Besides, Mark Lippert,
YouTube's Asia-Pacific policy chief (former US ambassador to South Korea), will participate in the talks to discuss Asian artists'
potential in the English-American music market.
The third session's theme is
"Future City Development with a Fusion of Culture and Technology." This session will mainly cover
the impact of cultural and technological convergence on the development of future cities. We will go through
the recent case of Suseong-gu, Daegu, which has newly established a future city plan based on the convergence of culture and technology.
The President of iFlytek, Asia's largest AI and voice recognition company, will participate in this session to discuss
business opportunities that arise by combining AI technology, music, and entertainment.