U.S-Asian sales company EST N8 has picked up the international rights for “30 Minutes,” a Korean sci-fi thriller film that is currently in production.
The story revolves around a middle-aged man trapped in a time loop, repeatedly reliving the Christmas Eve of his murder. It stars Hong Kyeong In (long-running TV series “The Great Queen Seondeok,” “Voice 2”).
The film is directed by William Inhyuk Hyoung and sees Tiger Yeongseop Kim, the renowned producer and former head of Korea’s SBS TV, serve as the executive producer. The pair were previously paired on 2023 title “Chabak — Night of Murder and Romance.”
The new project is currently in production in Korea and EST N8 will launch it for the first time to potential buyers at the EFM, the rights sales market affiliated with the Berlin Film Festival.
EST N8 was established last year as a joint venture between U.S.-based EST Studios and Thailand’s N8 company. It has quickly made a mark by picking up a large and multicultural slate and attending all the major markets.
Other titles in the EST Studios sales lineup include the Philippine multi-award-winning film “ASOG,” which premiered at Tribeca 2023; the Busan official documentary selection “April Tragedy (The Daughters of That Day)”; the Cantonese-language thriller “Tape,” based on a Richard linklater film; Asian horror titles “Dead Boys Club” (aka “Geng Kubur”); Emmy-award winning director Jessica Q. Chen’s documentary “Surf Nation.”
EST’s production titles include “K-Pops!,” directed by Grammy winner Anderson .Paak; and “Hidden Letters,” Violet Du Feng’s 2023 Academy Award shortlisted feature documentary, which has its world premiere at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival.
“Asian sci-fi has become a new trend, and it’s our pleasure to be involved,” said Jaeson Ma, founder of EST Studios. “We’re glad to collaborate with the filmmakers we admire again to bring Korean voices to the world.”
The sales agreement was facilitated by Tenten Wei and Sophie Shi of EST N8.
