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| Actors Park Jeong-min, left, and Lee Je-hoon / Courtesy of Lotte Entertainment, Company ON |
By Kwak Yeon-soo
Four young actors are expanding their expertise behind the camera for their directorial debuts.
Actors Park Jeong-min, Lee Je-hoon, Son Suk-ku and Choi Hee-seo will create short films as part of the "Unframed Project," which will be released exclusively on local streaming platform, Watcha. The project allows each actor to write his or her script and direct the creation of their movie.
"Through the 'Unframed Project,' the actors will be able to go beyond acting and expand their artistic world to the new field of directing. They will highlight relationships and emotions we've been missing out on," Watcha said in a statement.
Park has had a tight work schedule since playing a groundbreaking role on "Dongju: The Portrait of a Poet" in 2015, but kept his writing jobs on the sideline.
After years of writing columns for a magazine and a film blog, Park published his own book of essays, titled "Usable Human," in 2018. The 34-year-old actor's new film "Miracle," in which he stars as a math prodigy, will be released in theaters on Sept. 15.
Park's short film "Class Representative Election" (working title), about childhood friendships, will feature child actors Kim Dam-ho, well-known for his role in Netflix's series "Kingdom: Ashin of the North" (2021), and Kang Ji-seok, who previously appeared in tvN's "Prison Playbook" (2017).
Lee first revealed his ambition to move behind the camera when he set up his own film production company Hardcut this year. Hardcut is in charge of the production of "Unframed."
"I've always been keen on creating content. I'm interested in making not only feature films but videos in general. The actors, including myself, have written their own scripts for the project," he said.
Lee's film "Blue Happiness," which explores how the younger generation perceives life, boasts a star-studded cast that includes Jung Hae-in, Lee Dong-hwi and Tang Joon-sang.
Jung, who shot to fame through tvN's series "Something in the Rain," reportedly agreed to participate in the project without receiving any payment for acting. Most recently, he starred in Netflix's series "D.P.," which delves into the dark side of the Korean Army.
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| Actors Choi Hee-seo, left, and Son Suk-ku / Courtesy of Woongbin ENS, SBD Entertainment |
Son, who debuted in the second season of American sci-fi TV series "Sense 8," will helm short film "Rerun." Plot details are being kept under wraps. Son, who majored in visual arts and film at the School of Art Institute of Chicago, has performed on stage and worked as art director for the play "Burning Love" before shifting his focus to TV and film.
Choi, who garnered praise from critics for her role in "Anarchist from Colony" (2017), will helm a project called "Bandi." In recent interviews, the budding content creator expressed her desire to make her own films.
"Actors always wait to be chosen. So, I'm excited about taking an active position in writing my own story and directing a movie," she said.
The 35-year-old actress will direct herself as well as a few other actors, including Shin Hyun-soo and child actor Park So-yi.
Filming will finish within this year and the "Unframed Project" will be released exclusively on Watcha in December.
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