Jooyoung Ahn, the director behind sex-meets-dystopian-tech drama sequence S Line, has drawn consideration to the tempo of change in Korean TV because the Covid-19 pandemic.
In an interview with Deadline, Ahn mentioned the worldwide growth in Okay-drama and whether or not funding may proceed at present charges.
“The market is altering so rapidly that it’s loopy,” she stated. “Because the pandemic, Korean drama has been in some methods oversupplied internationally, however the demand has stood up. Some motion pictures and reveals fully disappear after which emerge once more, and the change feels prefer it comes each two or three months, so it is extremely onerous to foretell what comes subsequent.”
Netflix has dedicated billions of {dollars} to content material from Korea, which now solely trails motion pictures and TV reveals from the U.S. on the service, in keeping with current evaluation. The likes of Disney+ and Paramount+ have made inroads into the Asia nation, whereas native gamers resembling Tving are additional driving demand and distributors includig CJ ENM have performed a great job of buying Korean content material internationally.
Ahn was in France over the weekend to advertise her new present S Line, which is taking part in in competitors at Canneseries towards the likes of Belgium’s Finish Recreation, Iceland’s Reykjavik Fusion. The present – which stars the likes of Lee Soo Hyuk, Arin, Eunsaem Lee and Nam Kyu Hee – had its world premiere yesterday.
The present follows a girl who, since delivery, has been capable of see pink traces that join sexual companions. When a pair of glasses is developed that offers the wearer the identical energy, it plunges Korea into disaster as societal boundaries are damaged down. The girl, Hyun-heup, performed by Okay-pop star Arin, groups up with a detective to cease the disaster and discover the particular person behind the glasses.
“It’s a completely authentic idea based mostly on the webtoon the place pink traces present how persons are related,” stated Ahn. “The principle theme that audiences ought to take away is how human society may collapse when the boundaries are stepped on.”
The present leans closely on themes resembling sexual disgrace, the risks of expertise and surveillance in society to create a novel Okay-drama story, however this initially apprehensive Ahn that it may restrict its attain. She had been involved about western audiences understanding the method, provided that “the east is historically extra sexually conservative.”
Nevertheless, with the present chosen for competitors out of a big variety of entries, she stated: “Given folks really feel the theme is recent and authentic, what’s vital is what you possibly can draw from the themes that serve folks’s frequent curiosity.
The sequence, which is being shopped internationally by Korean distributor Sidus, doesn’t but have a platform. It’s based mostly on a webtoon of the identical identify, although Ahn, who co-created the sequence, has deviated considerably from the supply materials, wherein everyone seems to be instantly capable of see the S-lines.
Ahn revealed that she is now engaged on a challenge that mixes “melodrama and fantasy,” and famous she needs to discover a narrative that “reveals one thing about human nature via creatures and vampires, one thing very style heavy.”
