He has been involved in films such as Kim Jee-woon's A Tale of Two Sisters and The Good, the Bad, the Weird (2008); as well as Bong Joon-ho's Memories of Murder, The Host, and Mother.
Additionally, he was involved in Yang Woo-suk's The Attorney (2013) which is ranked 16th in South Korean box office of all time and had sold more than ten million tickets.
In his early 30s, Choi made the decision to leave his career as a securities analyst at a venture capital firm, where he earned a substantial annual salary, in order to pursue film investment.
Despite the financial challenges he faced, such as selling his apartment in Gangnam and relocating to a rented house on the outskirts of Seoul, he remained resolute in his determination to create at least one exceptional production that would deeply resonate with audiences.
Around June of that year, Choi met with Sidus Pictures' CEO, Cha Seung-jae [Ko] and they started working with CJ Entertainment.
Subsequently, in mid-December, Cha Seung-jae met Director Kang Woo-seok (Showbox CEO) and sought his assistance in creating a venture fund.
[6][7] Choi, who serves as a director at Infinite Technology Investment, and Cha Seung-jae [Ko], the CEO of Sidus Pictures, jointly lead iPictures.
The company specializes in practical investments in the visual content industry that covers film planning, production, marketing, overseas distribution, and merchandise.
They also invested in a total of 20 films and animations, including box office hit Kick the Moon, as well as Musa, and Indian Summer [Ko].
Initially, Cha Seung-jae [Ko] was responsible for selecting works, but as box office performance worsened, he eventually withdrew from the fund.
In a situation where the company's survival was uncertain, film A Tale of Two Sisters was released and garnered 3.15 million viewers nationwide, bringing in at least ₩3 billion to i-Pictures.
[11] Choi's investment in Kim Jee-woon's film A Tale of Two Sisters is noteworthy because the lead actors, Lim Soo-jung and Moon Geun-young were newcomers at that time.
[18] Following the failure of their latest film, The President's Barber, iPictures experienced bankruptcy, prompting Choi to consider a return to the financial world.
Prior to the acquisition, iPictures had been involved in the film business since 2000 through a Venture Fund and had ranked as the third-largest company in terms of investment performance, trailing behind Cinema Service and CJ Entertainment.
At the time, Choi signed a contract with directors Kim Jee-woon and Bong Joon-ho for two films each, which was an unprecedented move in the industry.
[21] It garnered immediate public attention due to the presence of three renowned actors: Song Kang-ho, Lee Byung-hun, and Jung Woo-sung.
As the CEO of Barunson Entertainment, Choi personally experienced the hardships and pressures endured by both actors and directors, from the initial stages of film production to the screening phase.
He was chosen for his ability to quickly adapt to director branding trends and for his innovative approach of combining capital and talent directly, without relying on a production company as an intermediary.
Although his experimental film business model, which involved investing based on the abundant capital of a listed company and establishing a production unit directly, had yet to be fully proven.
Despite a lack of interest from other importers and major distributors, who believed the film had low domestic awareness and had already been widely seen, Uni Korea Literary Investment acquired the copyright after it topped the charts for illegal downloads in late 2007.
Although the import price was not disclosed, it was mentioned that the total investment, including copyright and marketing costs, amounted to approximately ₩1.2 billion—a surprisingly low figure.
[7] Based on the novel "Secret of the Virtuous Women's Gate" by Kim Tak-hwan, the film centers on a mystery that portrays the clandestine power struggle among political factions during King Jeongjo's reign, focusing on the death of a woman.
[33]CJ ENM and Showbox had expressed their interest in distributing The Attorney, but Jang Kyung-ik, the CEO of NEW's film division, reached out to Choi to inquire why the proposal had not been shared with him.
[42] On August 3, 2015, Warner Bros. Korea announced their involvement in financing and distributing their first Korean-language film set in the 1930s, tentatively titled "Secret Agent."
[48] Securing the top position holds great significance, considering that it was the first film produced domestically by a direct Hollywood distribution company.
The Subversion, which attracted 3.18 million viewers, Illang: The Wolf Brigade, Jesters: The Game Changers, and The Battle of Jangsari received disappointing result, leading Choi to think hard about what kind of movie to make.
[66] Following his departure from Warner Bros. Korea, Choi, together with director Kim Jee-woon and actor Song Kang-ho, founded a film production company named Anthology Studio (앤솔로지스튜디오).
[70] Anthology Studio first work, where Choi also served as producer was Kim Jee-woon's Cobweb, a period black comedy-drama film directed starring Song Kang-ho, Im Soo-jung, Oh Jung-se, Jeon Yeo-been, and Krystal Jung.
In the case of D-1, which is adapted from the novel "Oh Sister" and produced by SLL global label Wiip and Anthology Studio, the plan is to develop it as a film in Korea and as a series in the United States.
Prior to this challenging period, Choi was raised in a non-devout Buddhist family, only visiting the temple on events like Buddha's Birthday.