Scene from CJ ENM 2026 AI Culture Talk. Courtesy of CJ ENM
“Whether it is a scene of drinking coffee in a cafe or one where a monster appears, for AI there is almost no difference in production cost. The era in which the imagination of creators was constrained by cost is over.”
At the ‘CJ ENM Culture TALK’ event held on the 30th at CGV Yongsan IPark Mall in Seoul, the film ‘Apartment’, which implemented all backgrounds and elements with AI except for the performances of real actors, was unveiled. On site, the production crew, technical staff, and actors attended and held a candid conversation about the future of content production that AI will reshape.
■ “A 60-minute film made for 500 million won”… proof of disruptive production efficiency
Jeong Chang-ik, Head of CJ ENM AI Studio. Courtesy of CJ ENM
The core of this project is ‘efficiency’. Jeong Chang-ik, head of CJ ENM AI Studio who directed the film, revealed that the total production cost was 500 million won. He emphasized, “With a standard process, it would have cost at least five times more,” and especially, “the more a work requires heavy post-production, such as genre pieces or disaster films, the more the efficiency of AI is maximized.”
Actor Kim Shin-young. Courtesy of CJ ENM
The production period was also drastically shortened. Kim Shin-young, who plays a security guard in the film, said, “The entire shoot lasted only four days,” adding, “Unlike conventional chroma-key shoots where an actor has to rely solely on imagination, I could perform while seeing the completed backgrounds in real time, which made immersion much better.”
■ “‘Nano Banana’ becomes the dividing line” How new AI technology from Google split the production floor
Technically, the latest AI solutions from Google were deployed in force. In particular, ‘Nano Banana’, used for image correction and optimization, drew repeated praise. Jeong recalled, “Within the production team, people even say AI content production is divided into before and after ‘Nano Banana’,” noting that the dramatic advances in technology solved tough problems that had remained unresolved during the work.
Ahn Sung-min, Director of Customer Engineering at Google Cloud. Courtesy of CJ ENM
Ahn Sung-min, Engineering Director at Google Cloud, explained, “We did not just provide tools; we focused on discovering concrete use cases through collaboration with content companies,” adding, “Our goal is to implement the intent of creators precisely in the language of technology to produce consistent outcomes.”
■ “Expansion, not a replacement, for creators”… a new pipeline for K-content
Regarding concerns about job losses caused by AI adoption, they again stressed ‘AI as a tool’. Engineer Ahn said, “It is not engineers who make movies,” making it clear that AI is an auxiliary means that blends into existing workflows to maximize efficiency.
Baek Hyun-jung, Head of Content Innovation at CJ ENM. Courtesy of CJ ENM
Baek Hyun-jung, Head of Content Innovation at CJ ENM, said, “Following last year’s 100% AI animation, this time we applied AI to a professional content format, film, and confirmed its potential,” adding, “AI is an unstoppable future, and CJ ENM will pursue AI advancement not only in production but across all business areas, including distribution and marketing, to secure global competitiveness.”
There were also candid answers about technical limitations, such as the difficulty of realizing a Korean-style apartment background. Jeong added, “Amid AI sources centered on the West, implementing Korean depictions without awkwardness was a major challenge,” and, “there are regrets, but we will continue to incorporate daily technology updates into the pipeline and present even more astonishing content.”
‘Apartment’, the outcome of the next-generation production method proposed by CJ ENM, will be released on May 1 via TVING (TVING).
