Korean Herald




[THE HIGH TIDE OF THE KOREAN WAVE(24)] Producer believes in power of good storytelling



In the last few years, Korean films, TV dramas and pop music have become immensely popular abroad, a phenomenon known as the Korean Wave. This is the 24th in a series of essays by a select group of scholars and journalists looking at the spread of Korean pop culture in Southeast Asian countries and beyond. - Ed.

What comes up to your mind when you hear the word "Hallyu" or Korean Wave might be heartthrobs like Bae Yong-joon or Kwon Sang-woo.
What if, though, they couldn`t find the right dramas - "Winter Sonata" for Bae and "Stairway to Heaven" for Kwon - to turn them into pan-Asian stars?
They might or might not be "Hallyu stars" now, but the point is that there is far more than just star power involved in making a Korean cultural product a success in the Asian market, - for example brilliant storylines and good character development.
When Yoon Suk-ho, 50, producer of the massively popular television series "Winter Sonata" (2002), created "Spring Waltz" (2006), the final installment of his famous four-season series, he assigned the main characters of it to actor Seo Do-young and actress Han Hyo-joo - newcomers to the entertainment world.



▲Yoon Suk-ho [Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald]

His previous work, such as "Autumn In My Heart," and "Winter Sonata," featured top stars. "Spring Waltz" wasn`t exactly a smash hit here. But overseas, "Spring Waltz" added new momentum to the Korean Wave across Asia. Broadcasting contracts were signed with TV networks in nine Asian nations, even before the drama was shown in Korea.
"Right before his debut in 1994 with `Love Greeting,` Bae Yong-joon told me excitedly that there were people recognizing him. Bae Yong-joon and Won Bin were not stars from the beginning," Yoon told The Korea Herald. "Star-oriented producing deprives talented rookie entertainers of the opportunity to provide a fresh spin on the entertainment industry, and will do harm to the entire industry by increasing production costs."
Instead of depending on star power, the producer chose to turn the two rookie actors into stars, and the result was impressive. The profits from the initial export deal of the 20-episode drama - about young sweethearts who meet again after being out of touch for 15 years - was over 5 billion won ($4.9 million), covering the production costs of the drama.
Besides, "Spring Waltz" also made the two rookies far bigger stars in Japan than here, after the television series was aired on Japan`s NHK television last year.
Earlier this month, about 100 Japanese fans of Seo Do-young visited Korea to see him act in the new KBS sitcom "Unstoppable Wedding," a remake of the movie of the same title, in which he plays Wang Gi-baek, son of an overnight millionaire. Han Hyo-joo, 21, who won the Best Actress award at the 20th Singapore International Film Festival last year for her performance in director Lee Yoon-ki`s "Ad-lib Night," earned the delightful nickname of "The Nagasawa Masami of Korea" in Japan.
"Star power does generate revenue, but sometimes the power to create new stars comes from good storytelling," continued the producer, who enjoys rock-star-like popularity in Japan. Yoon says that the almost phenomenal success of "Winter Sonata" in Japan is because the story reminds Japanese viewers of something universal and time-transcending - pure love and self-sacrifice - which had become old virtues in Japanese television drama making.
The power of the storytelling outliving star power was proved when "Winter Sonata" was staged as musical drama in Sapporo, Japan two years ago. There - even without "Yonsama" or "Jiwoohime" in the cast - the musical version of the soap opera still had a magical hold on its Japanese fans, making audiences weep with its story of unfaltering love.
In fact, the true star of the evening was Yoon, who also attended the performance as the artistic director of the musical version. At the end of the show, many Japanese fans recognized him and surrounded him to get his autograph.
While television dramas mean much to him, he also has a good reason to carry on with the musical drama, despite his busy schedule.
"I thought it is worth trying to expand the realm of cultural content," the producer said. "A performing arts work like a musical drama often outlives television series, and the good thing is it can always be revised, performance after performance," he added.
At the invitation of the Japanese entertainment giant, Amuse Entertainment, the musical made its way to Tokyo and Osaka in the autumn of 2006 for what Yoon thinks is the true premiere of the musical. "Many plans are currently in my mind, though not many of them are finalized. We may remake it with Japanese actors to perform in Japanese later, or we will bring it to Korea, targeting foreign tourists," he said.
The musical doesn`t deviate much from the TV drama in the story. Different from the television series, where Jun-sang (Bae Yong-jun), Eu-jin (Choi Ji-woo), Sang-hyuk (Park Yong-ha) and Chae-rin (Park Sol-mi) are all school friends, the musical version made Chae-rin a stranger to Eu-jin, to good dramatic effect.
"They say `a little knowledge is a dangerous thing,` but I`ve come up with many new ideas about musical dramas while working on the musical," Yoon said. "Making new musical dramas out of my past television dramas is one of them."
In May of last year, Yoon`s Color, his production company located near Hongik University in Seoul, opened a Korean television drama theme park called "Four Seasons House" at its office building, which includes memorabilia from Yoon`s hit soap operas including the "Four Season Series." In less than a year`s time, the place has become a must visit for fans of Korean television dramas.
"I always try to bring a warm humanity to my works, and I believe this is what made `Winter Sonata` popular in Japan. Though television dramas here are becoming more and more sophisticated and commercial, in a sense, at the same time, I`d like to remain on track to create the best, based on my sense of what is right," said the producer.

By Lee Yong-sung

(danlee@heraldm.com)


2008.03.19