Bad Love, Rivals

Perhaps as a corollary to this discussion of why ratings are important, for better or for worse (usually for worse), here’s an article that discusses one such ramification: actors who come attached with high price tags that the drama then is unable to recoup when a drama flops in the ratings.

(One thing to note: Despite the high numbers listed, Korean actors find most of their paychecks going to management companies, as actress Choi Jin-shil recently gained attention for mentioning. In the U.S., agents are only allowed to take 10% — though more fees get siphoned off to managers, publicists, lawyers, and the like — but that percentage is much higher for Korean celebs.)

Even if a drama flops, stars’ asking prices continue to soar. It’s not as though market theory applies, and those prices keep rising, defying logic. Even when a drama meets with crushing failure, hurting the production company behind it, a star’s fee still climbs.

This year saw many dramas that failed to draw in good results or produce high ratings, such as the dramas Single Papa in Love, Bad Love, Rivals, Three Dads, One Mom, Who Are You?, Spotlight, I Love You, Robbers, and many others. …

SONG OF THE DAY

Rivals OST - “지켜줄게” (I’ll protect you) by Lee Shin-sung [ Download ]

 
More disappointing dramas with highly paid actors >>

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The Korean Foundation of International Cultural Exchange is working with the Japan Broadcast Writers Association in a joint “TV drama project,” which was announced at the TV Drama Writers’ Conference of East Asia, held in the city of Sasebo in Nagasaki Prefecture on June 10 and 11.

Plans were announced for a drama series in which eight Japanese drama writers will each be responsible for scriptwriting two hours’ worth of material, to be produced by a Korean production company and air as early as December. Writers include Inoue Yumiko (Pandora, First Kiss) and Oishi Shizuka (Kunitori Monogatari, Komyo ga Tsuji). Casting is unconfirmed, although the names being thrown around for consideration include Lee Byung Heon, while director Yoon Seok-ho of Winter Sonata has given his informal assent.

Given the success of Winter Sonata (and by extension, Yonsama) in Japan, I suppose the director was an obvious choice. There have been other joint-production attempts to capitalize on the Hallyu craze, but they haven’t had the success they were aiming for. There was the 2004 short drama Friends pairing Won Bin with Fukada Kyoko, and, more recently, Tokyo Shower. (I believe 2006’s Japanese drama Rondo with Choi Ji Woo fared better, although it perhaps didn’t live up the hope of becoming a runaway hit.)

Meanwhile, production house Olive Nine is already working on a drama to be filmed in Japan, tentatively titled Lovers in Asuka. The 20-episode series is set in the town of Asuka in Nara Prefecture and will be written by Kang Eun Jung, one of the writers of Lovers in Paris. I suppose they figured they hadn’t milked the “lovers in [insert city]” concept enough yet.

I’m not sure about Asuka, but I’m curious to see how Japanese scriptwriters bring (or don’t bring) a different feel to a kdrama production. (Also, the rotating writers thing worries me — although it’s not an automatic detractor, it’s a risky move.)

Via Hankook Ilbo

SONG OF THE DAY

Lamp - “ムード・ロマンティカ Ｎｏ.２” (Mood Romantica No. 2) [ Download ]

RELATED POSTS

• A king’s welcome for Legend’s king Yonsama
• Korean-Japanese co-production Tokyo Showers
• Animating Winter Sonata

Filed under: Drama Casting & News, J-Drama by javabeans - 11 Comments →

The following is interesting to me because I don’t know much of the Chosun background during which Hong Gil Dong takes place, and because I had this exact conversation with my parents in discussing the drama’s historical accuracy. On a separate level, there’s also the question of how many liberties one can take when dramatizing factual events, which is probably something that’ll never be answered to satisfaction.

Personally, I vacillate on how much I care about historical purity in terms of a fictionalized bit of entertainment. On one hand, I’m perfectly fine with new takes on history I’m familiar with (i.e., Western history) because I know enough of the factual version to be able to distinguish the differences in the fictionalized version. On the other hand, I’m a little leery when concerning histories I’m less versed in, because I have little way of knowing how much is poetic license and therefore a contradiction of verified fact.

In any case, my parents (who’ve only seen a few scenes here and there of Hong Gil Dong) voiced the same issues with the series’ departure from history, and in particular the portrayal of Kwang Whe, who’s based on the king Kwanghaegun (1574-1641). My mother’s more forgiving, although she had issues with the disparity between truth and drama, while my father haaaates it, citing Kwanghaegun’s widely recognized brilliance and political pragmatism. The Crazy Kwang Whe routine has gotten old for me too, and I don’t even have the same kind of knowledge base to offend; I can only imagine how grating it would be for those who disagree with the portrayal.

I hope I’ve managed the translation decently; I did a lot of researching and cross-checking to make sure the facts and names aligned. As always, corrections for mistakes are welcome.

Hong Gil Dong criticized for distorting Kwanghaegun’s history

KBS2 Television’s Wednesday-Thursday fusion sageuk drama Hong Gil Dong, which has risen to the #1 rating position, is gathering criticism for distorting history. …

 
SONG OF THE DAY

Cloud Cuckoo Land - “휴식” (rest) [ zShare download ]

Read on: Historical inaccuracy, or dramatization? >>

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Lee Hye Young

Actors’ editing woes

After an enjoyable movie comes to a close, sometimes we’re left with a letdown feeling at its end. Some actors whose roles are cut down in the final products also express disappointment when seeing the finished film. We’ve gathered the thoughts of directors and actors from film sets to talk about the dilemma of editing.

Report

Audiences are first introduced to the endless string of movies to be released over the year in the film’s initial press conference. Excepting special circumstances, the media event is when actors who’ve participated in the making of the movies first see their roles onscreen.

 
SONG OF THE DAY

Slow Jam - “가르쳐 줘요” (Teach Me)
[ zShare download ]

Actors react to their roles for the first time >>

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Actors Lee Seung Gi, Lee Junki

 
Iljimae is one of those folk-legend heroes, a real-life Robin Hood kinda guy dating back to the Chosun era who’s an ever-popular source of dramatic material.

Jang Dong Gun played him in one film version in 1993, and Choi Su Jong played him in a modernized version in 1990. Even Super Junior star Choi Si Won gave him a cheeky nod in the recent fusion sageuk parody The Story of Hyang Dan (the brief reference comes at the end of the second episode). A brief internet search also brings up the 1976 film version Righteous Fighter Il Ji Mae, a 1978 Flying Il Ji Mae, a 1961 title The Chivalrous Robber Il Ji Mae, and several animated versions to boot.

So when it became known that both MBC and SBS were preparing drama series based on the folk legend, both starring young rising stars, both to broadcast in early 2008, well, it’s no wonder the comparisons are flying and speculation rampant over which version will, to borrow a figure of speech, reign supreme. Not to mention that both Iljimae series will have to battle it out with yet another historical figure based on another Robin Hood-y popular hero, Hong Gil Dong.

SONG OF THE DAY

Pia - “The Oracle.” To be honest, I don’t really like Pia — their brand of loud, energetic rock music is often too loud and discordant for me to enjoy, and reminds me of a lot of American rock bands I don’t particularly care for. But I do like this song. [ zShare download ]

So which version will it be? >>

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