Baek Byung-yeul is a journalist at The Korea Times focused on cultural content, including films and cultural events in South Korea. You can contact him at baekby@koreatimes.co.kr to share your insights.
Veteran director Lee Joon-ik ventures into vertical short-form drama
Actors Jung Jin-young, left, and Lee Jung-eun in a scene from "My Father's Table" / Courtesy of KidariStudio
By Baek Byung-yeul
Renowned director Lee Joon-ik, best known for historical blockbusters such as "King And The Clown" (2005), "The Throne" (2015) and "Anarchist from Colony" (2017), has made his first foray into vertical short-form drama with "My Father's Table."
"I wanted to expand the simple and warm stories we used to capture in traditional movies into the short-form format," Lee said during a press conference in Seoul, Thursday. “I really wanted to try this so that even people who usually do not watch short-form content could enjoy it."
Based on the popular webtoon of the same name, "My Father's Table" follows Ha-ung (Jung Jin-young) a traditional husband who has insisted on home-cooked meals for 40 years. When his wife, Sun-ae (Lee Jung-eun), suddenly develops an inability to cook, Ha-ung enters the kitchen for the first time in his life in order to survive.
The vertical short-form series will be released exclusively at Lotte Cinema on Sept. 9, followed by its release on Lezhin Snack, a new short-form drama platform launched by the webtoon platform Lezhin Comics, with Part 1 on Sept. 17 and Part 2 on Sept. 24.
The rise of vertical short-form content represents a rapidly growing segment in the media industry, driven by smartphone-centered viewing habits.
While most short-form series rely on shocking twists and fast-paced drama to grab attention within two minutes, "My Father's Table" seeks to differentiate itself by offering a warm family story.
Director Lee Joon-ik speaks during a press conference for his short-form drama "My Father's Table" at a theater in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap
Lee said the two-minute episode format required a fundamentally different approach to storytelling compared to traditional movies.
"From the screenwriting process, it was different from movies because each two-minute episode had to continuously contain a short narrative structure," Lee said. "Even though it looks like an ordinary story of a family film, I tried to make the story fun within those two minutes.”
Jung, who plays the husband, described his experience working on the new format alongside the director.
"I felt I should not overact for cheap laughs because comedy works best when played with a serious heart," Jung said. "I asked artificial intelligence about acting methods for short-form, and it actually gave me an answer. As an actor, I did not distinguish between long-form and short-form while acting, but it was interesting that the crew was very close, so I could feel their heat and temperature while acting."
Actor Jung Jin-young, left, speaks alongside co-star Lee Jung-eun during a press conference for the short-form drama "My Father's Table" at a theater in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap
Actor Lee, who plays the wife, said she focused on keeping audiences curious.
"Because two-minute episodes are connected one by one, each episode ends in a way that makes you curious about the next," Lee said. "I focused on maintaining that curiosity at the end. I live with my parents, and my mother recently said she was tired of cooking, which gave me many hints from daily life to understand my role."