Korean indie producer Astory, the creator of 2022 blockbuster “Extraordinary Attorney Woo”, says international partnerships and expansion offer Korean producers a way through economic challenges at home.
Speaking at Mip TV in Cannes, Astory chief executive, Sang-baek Lee, said small studios found it “nearly impossible to penetrate these [international] markets and yield results independently”.
In February this year, Astory announced the first international remake of “The Kidnapping Day” with Studio Hamburg UK (Shuk), a subsidiary of Europe’s Studio Hamburg Production Group.
The Korean original, a co-production between Astory and KT Studio Genie, ran on Korean cable channel ENA at the end of 2023 and streams on Amazon Prime Video in select markets.
“The Kidnapping Day” is about a bungling would-be kidnapper and a genius 11-year-old rich girl.
Shuk MD, Vivien Muller-Rommel said the U.K. version would be eight episodes, which is the U.K. standard – instead of the 12 in the Korean original.
The outline/episode breakdown is finished and partnership discussions are under way, Muller-Rommel said.
The U.K. version is being written by Ronan Blaney (“Boogaloo and Graham”), who said he chose “The Kidnapping Day” to adapt because of its humour and the “startling relationship” between the lead characters.
He also said there were elements in the story line that he had never seen before, such as the scene where Kim Myung-joon cleans the house where 11-year-old Choi Ro-hee’s parents were killed because he doesn’t want her to see all the blood.
“I've never seen that in the drama before. You know, it broke all the rules of police procedural. But it was the nature of their relationship,” he said.
“He was trying to keep the child alive within her… At the same time, he’s a bit of a child, a big child. And she tries to force him to confront his immaturity and irresponsibility and all those things which make him a child. So, he’s trying to keep her a child and she's trying to make h...
Korean indie producer Astory, the creator of 2022 blockbuster “Extraordinary Attorney Woo”, says international partnerships and expansion offer Korean producers a way through economic challenges at home.
Speaking at Mip TV in Cannes, Astory chief executive, Sang-baek Lee, said small studios found it “nearly impossible to penetrate these [international] markets and yield results independently”.
In February this year, Astory announced the first international remake of “The Kidnapping Day” with Studio Hamburg UK (Shuk), a subsidiary of Europe’s Studio Hamburg Production Group.
The Korean original, a co-production between Astory and KT Studio Genie, ran on Korean cable channel ENA at the end of 2023 and streams on Amazon Prime Video in select markets.
“The Kidnapping Day” is about a bungling would-be kidnapper and a genius 11-year-old rich girl.
Shuk MD, Vivien Muller-Rommel said the U.K. version would be eight episodes, which is the U.K. standard – instead of the 12 in the Korean original.
The outline/episode breakdown is finished and partnership discussions are under way, Muller-Rommel said.
The U.K. version is being written by Ronan Blaney (“Boogaloo and Graham”), who said he chose “The Kidnapping Day” to adapt because of its humour and the “startling relationship” between the lead characters.
He also said there were elements in the story line that he had never seen before, such as the scene where Kim Myung-joon cleans the house where 11-year-old Choi Ro-hee’s parents were killed because he doesn’t want her to see all the blood.
“I've never seen that in the drama before. You know, it broke all the rules of police procedural. But it was the nature of their relationship,” he said.
“He was trying to keep the child alive within her… At the same time, he’s a bit of a child, a big child. And she tries to force him to confront his immaturity and irresponsibility and all those things which make him a child. So, he’s trying to keep her a child and she's trying to make him into an adult. And it's beautifully done in the series.” he added.
He said his challenge in adapting the story was that it was already “very good… how do you make it even better, funnier, more compelling, and keep that emotional heart”.
Speaking through a translator, Lee said Korean companies had always had to grow internationally because of the small domestic market, with less than 60 million people, and “the pop culture industry is no exception”.
While relationships with global platforms had elevated Korean content, Lee said Korean creators have become dependent on streamers for international success.
He said exploring “untapped cultural markets like Europe, offering fresh opportunities and establishing new partnerships with top tier European creators” was essential for growth along with “enhancing and nurturing our production capabilities to Hollywood level”.