CJ ENM Appoints Koo Chang-gun CEO

Koo Chang-gun has been appointed CEO of CJ ENM, the leisure division of South Korean conglomerate CJ Group. He replaces Kang Sung-ho with fast impact.

Koo was promoted from inside the CJ group and, at 50, is considered one in every of its company rising stars. He was beforehand CEO of the group’s international meals service and tradition firm CJ Foodville from 2017. He adopted that by taking up as CEO of CJ Oliveyoung, the well being and wonder model that has shops throughout South Korea. Previous to becoming a member of CJ, Koo was a monetary analyst at Samsung Securities.

Kang, who was a lawyer earlier than becoming a member of taking on numerous posts inside the CJ conglomerate, is known to be returning to a task inside CJ Group.

“Koo will oversee CJ ENM’s plans for international enlargement and speed up future progress engines to steer a brand new paradigm within the leisure business,” the group mentioned in a press release.

Kang’s tenure noticed a fast acceleration of CJ ENM’s content material manufacturing capability, the blow that COVID dealt to the movie manufacturing and distribution division CJ Leisure, and abroad expansions. These included: acquisition of a minority stake in U.S.-based Skydance; acquisition of a majority stake in Endeavor Content material’s scripted division, since renamed Fifth Season; and buy of a stake in digital people software program agency Hyperreal.

Kang additionally just lately pointed the way in which to additional abroad progress, appointing a former Fox govt Steve W. Chung as CJ ENM’s international chief progress officer. He’s notably based mostly in Los Angeles, quite than Seoul.

CJ’s movie unit is driving excessive because the removing of COVID restrictions on Korean cinemas in Could. Its “Confidential Task 2: Worldwide” has a $49 million field workplace haul and is poised to grow to be the third greatest movie of the yr in Korea. It additionally backed “Choice to Depart” which picked up the directing award for Park Chan-wook in Cannes and has since been chosen as Korea’s Oscars contender.

The group has additionally been behind Tony Award-winning musical “Kinky Boots” and TV sequence equivalent to “Guardian: The Lonely and Nice God” and hit format “I Can See Your Voice.”

CJ ENM shares have been up 2.2% at KRW88,600 by mid-afternoon Monday.