Foreign studios seek increased presence in Korean productions

Guest speakers at Broadcast Worldwide 2016 (BCWW) gather during a press conference at the Convention and Exhibition Center in southern Seoul, Aug. 31. From left are Sean Richard Dulake, actor and producer of web drama “Dramaworld,” Gene Klein, executive producer of cable network USA’s popular legal drama series “Suits”; and Michael Ellenberg, HBO’s former drama chief who oversaw production of some globally popular dramas, including “Game of Thrones.”/ Yonhap

“Signal”

“W-Two Worlds”

“Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo”

“Descendants of the Sun”

“Uncontrollably Fond."

By Park Jin-hai

Warner Bros Television Group, the TV arm of Warner Bros. Entertainment that produced Kim Jee-woon’s film “The Age of Shadows,” a Korean contender for next year’s Academy Awards, says the U.S. production company is taking big steps to increase its presence in Korea and distribute K-dramas online.

Craig Hunegs, president of business and strategy at Warner Bros Television Group, said the company has “a long term commitment to Korean talent, producers, and storytelling excellence of the Korean film and television industry,” in a keynote address at the Broadcast Worldwide (BCWW) convention held at COEX in Seoul, last month.

At a time when K-dramas’ international viewership is surging and foreign studios are vying to take them abroad and even participate in their production, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism hosted the 16th BCWW from Aug. 31 to Sept. 2. The convention aims to promote and export Korean TV content overseas.

For this year’s convention under the theme of “Content, Infinite Possibilities,” some 240 broadcasting companies from 40 countries participated in the three-day event to discuss media trends in one of the world's most rapidly growing cultural powerhouses. Renowned speakers included Hunegs; Michael Ellenberg, HBO’s former drama chief who oversaw the production of globally popular dramas, including “Game of Thrones”; Gene Klein, executive producer of cable network USA’ s popular legal drama series “Suits”; and Sean Richard Dulake, producer and actor of web-based drama “Dramaworld.”

“Korean content carries much weight with the global market. This is the right time to plan, develop, and produce works jointly with Korea. We, together with DramaFever, will take aggressive action to make Korean content gain recognition as a mainstream culture,” Hunegs said.

Warner Bros Television Group acquired the K-drama web streaming platform DramaFever in February. Since then it has dramatically increased the site’s programming budget, exclusively licensing titles such as “Jealousy Incarnate” and “Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo,” which are currently airing on Korean TV networks.

According to Hunegs, the U.S. production company plans to produce four Korean-language titles in 2017.

Appeals for wholesome sexiness

Sean Richard Dulake, who plays the romantic male lead Joon Park in the online drama series “Dramaworld,” which made headlines with its punchy parodies of K-dramas’ cliches, said the global appeal of K-dramas lies in their wholesome sexiness.

“I had always wondered why Korean content was connecting to outsiders,” said the actor-producer during the interview with The Korea Times on the opening day of the BCWW, a media convention hosted by the culture ministry.

Dulake said most of the K-drama fans are in their teens to mid-20s who are “hopeless romantics.”

“A lot of content they find in (their) local market is very gritty, with a lot of antihero stuff. Characters are having sex in the first episodes,” he said. “What K-drama offers to fans is this wholesome way to fall in love and it brings a different kind of joy to their lives,” he said.

In 2013, Dulake directed “Finding Hallyuwood,” a documentary about the Korean wave phenomenon. In April, he and his American friend Chris Martin, who was also working in the Korean film industry, paired up to make an interesting web drama “Dramaworld” on the video streaming site Viki.

As this is his first work as an independent producer, Dulake didn’t expect the 10 episode fantasy series about a 20-year-old American college student who falls in love with Korean drama could become such a big sensation.

K-drama is still a sub-culture but it’s a “big” sub-culture in the U.S, which might be regarded as the next hippest thing after Hong Kong films years ago, according to Dulake.

The drama got translated into 30 different languages within 24 hours of its release, which is by far the biggest number in the shortest period of time, according to him. On Viki, users voluntarily provide subtitles for their respective languages.

"Korean drama fans in America don't hide that they are watching K-drama. They are proud (of being a fan) and think it is cool, hot, and unique," said Dulake. "Some people said that they accidentally began watching it out of curiosity and became hooked on Korean dramas."

For this year’s Broadcast Worldwide 2016 (BCWW), under the theme of “Content, Infinite Possibilities,” some 240 broadcasting companies from 40 countries participated in the three-day event in Seoul to discuss media trends. / Yonhap

Specificities matter

Ellenberg said that the success of the drama’s international appeal comes from specificities.

“The success was looking at the specifics in great detail, something like that is what it really takes to get into the story,” said Ellenberg during the interview with The Korea Times. “The more the shows feel specific and unique, the more details are well-drawn and authentic. That’s what helps a show become universal. It is really important to first understand who your target audiences are and really make something that those people will love and that hopefully others will love it too.”

A fan of South Korean directors Bong Joon-ho and Park Chan-wook, he said watching the two directors' movies "The Host" and "The Handmaiden" knocked him out.

“Korean television and movie talent seem to take really big risks and do things differently," Ellenberg said. "Korean artists frequently take a traditional genre and do it very differently," and watching them do it is "always exciting and inspiring," he said.

Asked about the future of TV in the new media era what with all its digital devices, Ellenberg said TV still has future since it hasn’t yet reached its peak.

“Television is almost too broad a term now to have much meaning ultimately... More and more, producers are less concerned with the platform,” he said.

What Netflex, Amazon, Hulu, the biggest streaming sites in U.S. are really changing, however, is distribution, not the form, according to Ellengerg. “The form hasn’t changed that much _ half-hour shows or hour-long shows. I don’t think the short-form will replace what has been done with the long-form.”