INTERVIEW 'Zombieverse' creators react to mixed response from viewers

By Lee Gyu-lee

The creators of Netflix's new unscripted show “Zombieverse” spoke out on the mixed response from its viewers.

“It's really interesting to see how feedback shifts each day (from the viewers). We feel we've set ourselves a challenge to venture into a new genre,” the show's chief producer Park Jin-kyung told The Korea Times during a recent interview, held at a cafe in Jongno District.

“On the first day of its release, the reaction split into two like 'what is this?' and 'it's fun.' But over time, I'm seeing people coming around to being receptive towards the show on the internet and social media, which felt like a process of gaining people's support.”

The new reality show, which hit the platform on Aug. 8, follows 10 celebrities in Seoul, swept by a zombie virus outbreak. The cast members must go through different challenges and quests to outwit the undead and survive the chaos.

The 8-part show was created by Park, who previously worked on the reality show “My Little Television,” and Moon Sang-don, whose work includes the travel show “Hey! First Time in Korea?”

Park noted that the show isn't fully a reality show, but is more like a comedy variety show.

“As we were developing the show, we tried to find similar format shows. There are a lot of dramas based on zombies but almost none in reality format. I found a few that attempted to create a reality show with a strong realistic touch. But they were really hard to watch. So with 'Zombieverse,' we wanted to twist it around to create comedy and draw a laugh,” he said.

“This show's genre is more of variety comedy. We made this to laugh, which gives room for people to have split reactions. When people think of zombies, they are used to immersive scenes and seeing people die. But (this show) is a step beyond that, combining zombie, comedy, and variety.”

The creators spoke out on the question many people have been asking about the show: is it scripted or unscripted? They explained there was no script for the 10 cast members.

“To be specific, we never directed any lines or actions to those 10 cast members,” Park said, adding that they only provided the setting and surrounding actors to play zombies and fellow survivors.

“In episode 2 (for example), we blindfolded them and told them they had a car accident and we will start from you guys waking up, throwing them in a specific circumstance. The reaction they had when they woke up and saw the zombies was real. We tried to stir responses using special effects and so forth.”

Moon added that they had nothing to do with which cast members get bitten and turn into zombies in each setting.

“We absolutely did not set any plans to kill a specific person in each episode. The only setting we had is that if you get bit by a zombie, you will turn into one in 48 hours. And if you get bit so hard enough to get killed, you will turn into a zombie right away on the spot,” he said.

“The only variable that we can control was zombies. So for zombies, we've rented out a space to build a set and practice. We've trialed different situations. We think we did quite a meticulous job in simulating the zombies.”