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EXCLUSIVE: Netflix Korea’s VP Don Kang talks Indian remakes of Korean series, unscripted shows & more
Pinkvilla spoke exclusively to Don Kang about Indian remakes of Korean series, unscripted shows and movies.
Zombies invading a High school in 'All of Us Are Dead' to the adventures of a special ops team in 'Seoul Vibe', the rom com 'Forecasting Love and Weather' and a unique Korean take on the much-awaited adaptation, 'Money Heist: Korea - Joint Economic Area', your K Drama binge list has only got better as Netflix announced it’s largest and very diverse slate of titles for the year 2022.
With the mega success of 'Squid Game' which not only broke viewership records globally, but went on to create history, as Oh Young Soo became the first Korean Actor to win a Golden Globe Award, the show has also received acting nods for actors Lee Jung Jae and Jung Ho Yeon at the Screen Actors Guild Awards. But, it was not just the dystopian drama 'Squid Game' which clocking in the views across 93 countries, the supernatural thriller 'Hellbound', the romantic entertainer 'Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha', legal suspense drama 'Vincenzo', and the recent sci fi mystery, 'The Silent Sea' made it to the top ten spot.
The global viewing hours of Korean shows has grown six-fold in 2021 in comparison to 2019. With the increasing fan base spawning interest and conversations around stories and narratives, the streaming platform has been tapping to invest in Korea’s creative ecosystem. Between 2016 to 2021, the platform has launched more than 130 titles.
Speaking exclusively to Pinkvilla, Don Kang, VP Content, Netflix Korea shared his insights:
With the growing popularity of South Korean content especially in non-English speaking countries, how has it influenced and impacted the kind of stories coming out of South Korea?
Most of the titles Netflix produced as originals in the recent years have been on the edgier side. Traditionally the Korean content that has travelled outside has been mostly romantic comedy series, there is an interesting parity. We have a concrete plan of expanding the type of content produced, we have several productions in line in the romantic comedy side. We are trying to get the right formula that is suitable, there has to be some uniqueness that's distinct from what we have seen on linear TV channels in terms of romantic comedies. We are trying to explore different genres. We have had great success especially beyond Korea with our unscripted show, 'Single's Inferno' launched in December 2021. We plan to produce more unscripted series. We also have a strong slate in the film sector, showcasing the work of regionally and globally known Korean Directors in different genres. Our endeavour is to bring the best stories out on screen and get people to watch them.
Given the recent popularity of dark gritty series like 'D.P.', 'Squid Game', 'Hellbound', 'My Name', do you see a trend which is moving away from the usual romantic stories which Korean Content was so synonymous with for many viewers and a specific genre being more popular than the other currently?
I don’t think it's a trend. We always wanted to produce great shows from romantic comedies, lean back and enjoy these kinds of shows. We have plans and productions on that front. Netflix has provided a playground for filmmakers and TV series makers to join hands and produce diverse shows. If you have been following Korean Content, a lot of these darker edgier themes were common to films. But, films as a format is limited to two hour format, but there are stories that could not be told within this format. We have provided filmmakers the platform to tell these untold stories which earlier were restricted due to formats and commercials. 'Squid Game' is the best example! When director Hwang wrote it, he couldn’t get it commissioned on other services and when we entered the market, we partnered with him and became the medium for his vision and we are giving that push to many such stories.
With the growing popularity of Korean content in India, we recently saw Indian actor Anupam Tripathi in 'Squid Game' and even the cast of 'The Silent Sea' admitted to having a Bollywood moment on set, so are there plans of remaking or adapting Korean shows for the international market?
The answer is yes but how to execute it, it's a complicated process. Especially for India, where the local content is strong and has a robust industry, it's sometimes a better strategy to remake a Korean story into an Indian story and make it more relevant to the local audiences. There are a few projects that we are actively discussing with Netflix India, whether it’s a remake or a spin off, there are a lot of discussions happening. But not just with India, we are in talks with the US and wherever Netflix is producing original shows.
What do you make of the surge in the Korean wave and popularity of Korean content? What is the X factor that’s made it so popular on Netflix?
I think Korea has a robust environment for creating great content. The audience expectation from the content is super high. It's a competitive environment and for creators to tell their stories and be loved by the audience they need to go through a lot of creative thought and processes. We have the belief that if you make great content for local audiences we have a shot in making it big in the world. Secondly, we in Netflix are happy to take this journey with content creators and producers but when we licence and produce a show we don’t just put it into our service we make sure the original vision of the creator is conveyed to the users not only in Korea but across that’s why we invest in globalisation, marketing, dubbing and subtitling because without that the content will just get lost. So, we are making an effort to get the creator’s vision across in the best way possible and that’s played a huge factor.
Popular shows like 'Squid Game' and 'D.P.' have been renewed for a Season 2. The other titles to watch out for are 'Juvenile Justice', 'Thirty Nine', 'Twenty-Five, Twenty-One' and movies like 'Love and Leashes', 'Jung-E' amongst many others.
The magnificent celebration of K-world culminates with The HallyuTalk Awards, watch here.
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