Kim Kwang-il (김광일)

2006/06/26 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

MBC's hugely popular special TV drama Prince of the Legend is attracting much interest in Japan. There is serious talk that the drama will most probably be broadcast on Japanese terrestrial television channels before the series ends.

"Japanese broadcasting officials are scheduled to visit MBC next week for a discussion", said on June 22 by a representative from CHOROKBAEK MEDIA Co., Ltd., a co-producer of Prince of the Legend ("Jumong"). "While they were reluctant about this because the drama is a long, 60-part series, they finally took serious notice as Prince of the Legend continues setting high ratings of over 30% even amid the World Cup season".

It has been said that Japanese officials are considering DENTSU, a major advertising company, to import the licensing and to broadcast the drama via NHK or TV Tokyo.

"We expect that the drama's highly probable storyline will attract Japanese viewers and that the revenue from the export will surpass that of Jewel in the Palace ("D...

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2005/09/08 | Source | Permalink |  Digg |  del.icio.us | Stumble It! | Share this news

By Joon Soh
Culture Editor

Given all the hype surrounding Bae Yong-joon, it would be easy to assume that the new movie "April Snow" would be nothing more than a lightweight cinematic vehicle for the mega-popular actor. After all, Bae even sports the shaggy-haircut-and-glasses look that's suspiciously similar to his fashion sensibilities in "Winter Sonata," the TV melodrama that made housewives all over Asia swoon and propelled the actor into superstardom.

But once one looks past the (probably intentional) evidences of Bae's commercial appeal, he or she will find a film that's surprisingly complex and vastly different from the cardboard sentimentality of "Winter Sonata." Within the first half hour, it becomes plain that it's director Hur Jin-ho, not Bae, who is setting the tone for "Snow."

With films like "Christmas in August" and "One Fine Spring Day," Hur has become one of the masters of the drama genre, and he certainly doesn't disappoint here. Known for weaving tightly c...

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