CJ ENM appoints former Fox executive Steve Chung to US-based growth role [EXCLUSIVE]

Leading South Korean entertainment group CJ ENM has appointed Steve W. Chung as director of global growth. He will be based in Los Angeles.

Previously, Chung served as Chief Growth Officer at Fox Corporation. Prior to that, Chung was the founder and CEO of Frankly, a publicly traded media technology company based in San Francisco. He was also a venture capitalist in Silicon Valley and an executive producer in China.

Chung is currently a board member of the National Asia Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA) for the purpose of nonprofit and received his B.A. from Harvard College and an M.B.A. from Stanford University.

Chung will work with all (related) divisions to create synergy for global growth - based on our the company's vision to position ENM as a global total entertainment company,” a source from CJ told Variety. "At the same time, growth in the Americas will be one of many priorities that [Chung] will focus on, given [CJ's] market share and market size."

The Korean company has a long presence in the United States with film production and distribution operations in the country. Sister company CJ-CGV, which is one of the largest movie theater operators in the world, also owns a small group of mini-multiplexes in the United States.

In recent years, propelled by Korean contemporary culture that has become a multinational phenomenon, CJ ENM has made milestones towards a more global scope of operations. These include taking a minority stake in David Ellison's Skydance Media, buying majority control of Endeavor Content's scripted division, and teaming up with Viacom CBS.

In other recent moves in the US, CJ ENM recently invested in US-based Hyperreal United, a human digital solutions provider, has relaunched the in-person K-pop convention KCON LA and advanced development of the feature film “K-Pop: Lost in America,” which is produced by JK Youn, Lynda Obst (“ Interstellar") and CJ ENM's own California - VP Miky Lee.

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