The adorably apple-cheeked director with the resounding belly laugh — Coffee Prince’s PD Lee Yoon Jung, that is — is taking on her next project: a figure-skating drama for MBC titled Triple.

The drama may not be that much of a stretch for her; prior to hitting it big with Coffee Prince, Lee Yoon Jung directed the Olympic-sports-themed short series Taereung National Village, which also showed her trademark ability to mine small moments out of big events and highlight emotion with a humanistic touch.

The drama will likely air near the end of the year as a Wednesday-Thursday series, and centers around 18-year-old figure skaters who aspire to success in a competitive field. The drama’s currently searching for its young female leads, and will cast till the end of the month.

Despite not having named its writer(s) or set its cast, you can be sure you’ll get a few things out of a Lee Yoon Jung drama: lots of poignant moments and a great soundtrack featuring lots of Western artists amidst indie Korean ones.

Via Star News

SONG OF THE DAY

Bluedawn - “보옴이 오면” (When spring comes). If you recall, Bluedawn had a prominently placed song in episode 9 of Coffee Prince in that key nighttime beach scene. [ Download ]

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• More awards for Coffee Prince
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Filed under: Directors/Producers/Writers, Coffee Prince, K-Drama by javabeans - 12 Comments →

[And now for Dahee Fanel’s comprehensive take on the past year! –javabeans]

First of all, I’d like to bow my head in deep gratitude to Javabeans, the highly esteemed writer of this blog, for inviting me to post a few thoughts here. I hope she won’t regret her decision after reading what I have to say, hehe.

2007 was an interesting year, at least for me, particularly when it comes to Korean dramas. I’ve watched dramas on a regular basis since I was old enough to walk and talk (I am, after all, Korean), but I’ve never undergone such a transformation in terms of how I approach dramas as I have in the past couple of years…although I suppose you could argue that it’s turned me into nothing but a picky bitch. (But weren’t you always a picky bitch, Dahee?)

Still, despite my pickiness, I managed to watch quite a handful of dramas this year, although I certainly didn’t manage to finish them all (blame school and the crappy work that some PDs and writers dish out, putting off viewers like me). In fact, I watched so many, I can’t possibly talk about them all here. So I’ll just pick a few notables and dish out some kudos, as well as one or two boos. Because boos are just as fun as kudos, if not as well-received.

DAHEE’S SONG OF THE DAY

Jo Kwan Woo - “천년애” (chun nyun ae), from the soundtrack of the drama The King & I. [ zShare download ]

In which I am embarrassingly long-winded

Filed under: Yi San, Madam Ah Hyun Dong, Mixed-up Investigative Agency, King & I, Dae Jang Geum, My Man's Woman, Surgeon Bong Dal Hee, White Tower, Insoon Is Pretty, Directors/Producers/Writers, Devil, Thank You, Dal Ja's Spring, Coffee Prince, Taereung National Village, Legend, Time of Dog and Wolf, K-Drama by Dahee_Fanel - 40 Comments →

A month ago, I asked y’all, How was 2007 for you? I was thinking of the year-end wrap-up I would be writing, and wanted to see how you thought the dramas were this past year. I’ll be rolling out my year-in-review posts over the next few days (because one post just isn’t enough!).

I also am THRILLED to be presenting a couple guest bloggers, Thunderbolt and Dahee Fanel, whom I’ve asked to join me in this 2007 retrospective. (I’ll be putting up their reviews in the following posts.) Not only are these ladies extremely well-versed in the art of Ye Olde K-Drama, they’re both also chock-full of witty, interesting, opinionated insights about ‘em. We’re also not afraid to contradict each other and are perfectly fine with having dissonant opinions. I hope you’ll enjoy their thoughts as much as I do.

As an added plus, they’ve both seen a bunch of the dramas I missed, so we’ll be able to cover a wider breadth of material. As none of us could be accused of brevity, between the three of us, we’ve have got 2007 covered. Possibly a couple times over.

SONG OF THE DAY

Bubble Sisters - “사랑을 찾아서” (Looking for love) from the OST of Mixed-up Investigative Agency.
[ zShare download ]

Let the rambling begin! >>

Filed under: Hyang Dan Jeon, Mixed-up Investigative Agency, Coffee Prince, Flowers For My Life, Que Sera Sera, Dal Ja's Spring, K-Drama by javabeans - 54 Comments →

Lee Yeon Hee: NOT in Girls Generation

This article’s a little harsh, but I can’t say I disagree. I’m getting a little bored by the constant reporting of such non-news too:

“Almost was? Would’ve been?” We’re overrun with meaningless confessions!

“I was almost a member…” “I would’ve been in that…”

These days, there are lots of stars making unseemly confessions — after-the-fact secret stories like, “I was almost ___.” These stars make such statements to appeal to the public’s sense of curiosity, but only leave bitterness behind.

Recently, comedian Hong Rok Gi taped an episode of MBC Everyone’s Neverending Show and revealed, “I was supposed to be a member of [hit ’90s pop group] Clon.” Not too long ago, Lee Yeon Hee caught people’s attention when she said on KBS2’s Sang Sang Plus, “I was almost a member of Girls Generation.” …

SONG OF THE DAY

The Name - “웃으며 만나” (meeting while laughing) [ zShare download ]

Who else is an “almost-was” or a “coulda-been”? >>

Filed under: Actors, Stars, Legend, Coffee Prince, Fantasy Couple, K-Drama by javabeans - 15 Comments →

Glad to see that the actors aren’t the only ones reaping the praise for one of the biggest dramas of the year, and the biggest romantic comedy overall. Which is only apt, since a tremendous amount of its success is owed to its behind-the-scenes magicians, who are if not MORE important than the stars, then surely just as.

To that end, Coffee Prince director and producer Lee Yoon Jung was selected as one of two award winners by the Yoido Club of broadcasters (made up of the main players in the broadcast industry), which is headed by KBS vice president Lee Won Gun. The other winner is Jang Young Chul, writer of the large-scale KBS historical drama Dae Jo Young.

The award ceremony takes place on the 11th (in Yoido’s 63 Building, which should ring a bell for some drama-lovers as a common Seoul setting). The jury committee explained their reason for selecting PD Lee: “She has explored new ground in making a miniseries with her fresh sensibilities and directing technique.”

Source: Newsen

SONG OF THE DAY

The Melody - “Crazy” [ zShare download ]

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Filed under: Directors/Producers/Writers, Coffee Prince, K-Drama by javabeans - 15 Comments →