On the sidelines of the 2023 Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed today at a closed-door ceremony between Singapore’s Ochre Pictures and South Korea’s One Entertainment to acquire the Intellectual Property (IP) rights for Café Verita, a drama series that blends romance and fantasy, as well as potential IPs of current and new works by Ochre Pictures.

The signing of this MoU witnessed by Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), marks a landmark milestone for the nation’s creative content sector. It is the first time that the IP rights of original Singapore content is being acquired by a Korean company, in a market that is constantly focused on producing high-quality, ready-to-export content at a pace most other countries have not matched.

“We are absolutely overjoyed to learn of the IP acquisition of Ochre Pictures’ Café Verita by South Korea’s One Entertainment as well as other potential IPs of works by Ochre Pictures in the future,” said Mr Justin Ang, Assistant Chief Executive of IMDA’s Media, Innovation, Communications and Marketing. “A first for Singapore’s content industry, this is a significant milestone and a powerful testament to Singapore’s capability to produce quality content that can appeal to audiences far beyond our shores. I am eagerly looking forward to our strong pipeline of high-quality original IP over the next few years, making their mark on the global stage.”

In 2022, South Korea exported USD13 billion worth of content, including broadcasting, music and video games according to the Korea Economic Research Institute1. The country has created some of global streaming platform Netflix’s biggest shows, with 60% of global users watching at least one title last year. With just 52 million people in the trend-driven Korean market, entertainment companies’ growth rely on creating a constant stream of fresh, high-quality content that has universal appeal.

This augurs well for Ochre Pictures, which conceptualized Café Verita with these needs in mind, and now looks to further develop the IP with One Entertainment to ensure that it will appeal to and resonate with discerning Korean audiences, as well as K-drama fans around the world.

The story was conceived by Ochre Pictures a year ago, during one of their regular in-house brainstorming sessions organised to roll out a continual pipeline of new content. The drama is centred around the mystical Café Verita, where its patrons are compelled to speak only the truth. Run by the enigmatic Im Hae Sol who is on her own quest for the truth, she hires a part-timer Jeong Woo whom she finds out is immune to the café’s powers. Unbeknownst to them, they are to become a part of a tug-of-war between the twin gods of Truth and Lies, where their fates become further entangled.

Ms Chae-Lin Park, CEO of One Entertainment, which has produced award-winning over-the-top (OTT) blockbusters and worked with some of Korea’s biggest stars said: “When we received the story outline from Ochre Pictures, we were immediately impressed with how it blended together romance and heartfelt drama. We are confident that Café Verita will appeal to both Korean viewers and K-drama fans, as they are brought through a whole gamut of emotions – from laughing and crying, to being intrigued by the twists and turns, and being touched by the uplifting messages of healing and doing the right thing. We also look forward to acquiring other potential IPs of current and new works by Ochre Pictures as well.”

Ms Jean Yeo, Executive Producer and Creative Director of Ochre Pictures shared: “Everyone at Ochre Pictures is truly privileged to be accorded this honour of working with the dynamic Chae-Lin and her team at One Entertainment. This is the first time that a Korean company is acquiring the rights to an original Singapore story. It is indeed a significant achievement for Ochre Pictures, to have our original IP recognized for its potential for a leading content market like Korea. We’re also delighted that moving forward, One Entertainment would consider acquiring the IPs of our other works as well!

“This partnership with One Entertainment comes on the back of the nominations for our two recent bodies of work – the hostage thriller, THIRD RAIL, and the prequel to the award-winning Last Madame, SISTERS OF THE NIGHT. Our leading ladies for each of these two series – Rebecca Lim, and Gini Chang, have been nominated respectively for Best Leading Actress and Best Newcomer Actress at the Asia Contents Awards and Global OTT (ACA & G.OTT) Awards to be held this Sunday night (8 Oct) right here in Busan. We wait with bated breath for the results – but whether Rebecca and Gini win or not, this is affirmation that our work can stand shoulder to shoulder with the biggest global players.”

For Ochre Pictures, the signing of this MoU with One Entertainment caps an exciting time for the company.