Actors, Directors and Productions Take on Dramas

Movie producers are jumping into the drama market. Actors and directors who have been in the drama market have expanded their presence to production companies through online video services (OTT).

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Film studio MOONLIGHT FILM caught the eye of viewers, alongside the Netflix series "Karma" and the Disney+ series "Nine Puzzles", which were also released this year. Film studio MOONLIGHT FILM, which has shown strength in titles such as "KUNDO : Age of the Rampant" and "Nameless Gangster", and noir movies, melted those strengths into series and presented 'movie-like' dramas to viewers.

"Nine Puzzles", which was released on the 4th, is revitalizing Disney+, which was in recession. Solid storylines, exciting suspense, and actors' good acting have met and are said to be well-made. "Nine Puzzles" ranked second in Korean content watched the most by Disney+ after "Moving". "Karma" which was released last month, also ranked second in Netflix's global top 10 series (non-English).

Hive Media Corp, which has drawn attention as a leading film producer by producing the films "12.12: The Day", "Harbin", and the recently released "Yadang: The Snitch", which attracted 3.37 million viewers, will also present series works this year. The Disney+ series "Made in Korea", which is produced by taking advantage of its strengths in capturing Korea's times and social images, will be unveiled in the second half of this year. "Made in Korea" is set in the 1970s and is a time when stories surrounding wealth and power are unfolded. The film is also drawing attention as the first series by director Woo Min-ho, who produced the movie "Inside Men".

The movement of movie industry workers started in earnest last year. Last year, actors Sul Kyung-gu, Kim Yun-seok and Song Kang-ho made headlines by appearing in dramas for the first time in 30 years with the Netflix series "The Whirlwind", "The Frog" and the Disney+ series "Uncle Sam-sik". The same applies to movie directors. Director Shin Yeon-shick's "Uncle Sam-sik", Byun Young-joo's "Black Out" and Han Jae-rim's "The 8 Show" were all films that directors tried to direct for the first time.

The drama "Oh My Ghost Clients" which began airing on MBC on April 30th, is the first drama by director Yim Soon-rye, who is well-known for the movies "Forever the Moment", and "Little Forest". "I liked the script of the drama", Yim Soon-rye said at a recent production presentation, but added, "I did it (directed the drama) to challenge new changes because movies haven't been getting much investment these days".

The trend will continue this year. The Disney+ series "The Murky Stream" which will be released in the second half of this year, is the first historical drama produced by director Choo Chang-min, who made the movies "Masquerade" and "The Land of Happiness". Actor Gang Dong-won is making his first attempt at a drama through "Tempest", which will be released on Disney+.

Jung Deok-hyun, a pop culture critic, said on the 5th, "As a large number of movie workers flow into the drama industry, there is a positive aspect in which systems that the drama industry did not have before are introduced or the quality of content is improved", but added, "There is a limitation that various possible cinematic attempts are reduced by the release of movies of various sizes, from blockbusters to intermediate and small scale. The drama industry has also been reduced a lot, and investment is almost unified to Netflix, so the government and industry must come forward and create a virtuous cycle of investment and production".