Reforms for Korea's producers, agencies

<p>The Korea Commercial Film Makers Union (KCFMU) has forced the Korea </p><p>Association of Advertising Agencies (KAAA) to make reforms on billing </p><p>practices. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The KCFMU - representing 124 member companies or 70 per cent of the </p><p>industry - labelled the previous practices as unfair and out-of-date and </p><p>had threatened to refuse advertising work if its demands were </p><p>rejected. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>In the past, producers suffered from unfair and unreasonable pay terms </p><p>because agencies frequently did not sign contracts. A work stoppage </p><p>against the ad industry was averted after the KAAA agreed that agencies </p><p>had to sign contracts before any work could be initiated by </p><p>producers. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>According to KCFMU general manager Bae Sukbong, producers will no longer </p><p>come under pressure from agencies to reduce costs after a price had </p><p>already been agreed on. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"The contract leaves room for ad agencies to change creative and </p><p>expressions freely," he said. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Also, producers can ask ad agencies for prepayment in case of overseas </p><p>shooting or big-budget productions." </p><p><BR><BR> </p>