Korean provincial government to invest in movies

LOS ANGELES—The South Korean province of Gyeonggi plans to announce Tuesday a $98.5 million fund to promote joint ventures between Hollywood producers and graphic artists based in Seoul.

The investment fund seeks to reproduce the Korean-U.S. partnerships behind movies such as "The Forbidden Kingdom," "Son of the Mask" and "Shark Bait."

The government says graphic arts enterprises are burgeoning in and around Seoul -- which is surrounded by Gyeonggi province -- partly helped by the wave of popularity enjoyed abroad by Korean films and TV shows since the late 1990s.

The first film to benefit from the fund will be "Dino Mom," a computer animated feature film about three children who step into an egg-shaped time machine and encounter a Tyrannosaurus Rex-like dinosaur with maternal instincts.

The Korean partner in "Dino Mom" is Seoul-based Toiion Inc., but the U.S. producer was not named before the announcement scheduled Tuesday evening.