Lotte Group, one of the country’s largest conglomerates, signed a deal with the City of Los Angeles on Wednesday for economic and cultural cooperation in the film industry, company officials said.

Under the MOU between the group’s chairman Shin Dong-bin and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, the U.S. city will support Lotte Group’s affiliate, Lotte Cinema, to launch its first office in the city.

The city of Los Angeles will also help Lotte Cinema find and set up connections within the Hollywood film industry, the officials added.

In association with Redrover, a U.S. stereoscopic image producer, Lotte Cinema is providing opportunities with U.S. blockbuster movie producers to experience 4-D movies at their joint lab in LA.

The company is currently investing in Sony’s “Smurf 3”, “Men in Black 3” and Paramount Pictures’ “TinTin: The Secret of the Unicorn,” according to the officials.

(monicasuk@herlamd.com)