Director Seong Baek-hyeob and the late producer Jo Bong-Nam were named as the winners of the first Shindonghyeon Animation Awards.
The Animation Society of Korea (Chair: Lee, Sang-Won) announced on Nov. 6 that it had selected director Seong and the late producer Cho as the first Shindonghyeon Animation Awardees in the artist and special categories.
Director Seong first gained public renown with his TV animation series "White Baekgu" (2000) and became one of the most respected Korean animation directors, receiving the Grand Prix at the Annecy International Animation Festival in France with his work "Oseam" (2003), an animation for theater. He has recently worked as an executive director of "Princess Bari", a full-length animation set to premiere in theaters next year.
The late producer Jo is the one who planned and produced Kachi the Wanderer, Korea's first original animation for TV, while he was working for KBS. His filmography includes some of the most prominent animation works in the Korean animation history, such as Baby Dinosaur Dooley, Run Hani Run, and Wonder Kid in 2000.
"Director Seong Baek-hyeob has opened the possibility of original Korean animation, thereby marking the turning point in Korean animation history by discovering materials that are uniquely Korean. He achieved these through his passion and will despite the very challenging production environments", said Kim, Yun, professor at Hanseo University, who chaired the jury. As for the late producer Jo, he said that "Jo's contribution to the promotion of original Korean animation for TV" was the main reason for the award.
The Shindonghyeon Animation Awards was established to commemorate the life and works of director Shin Dong-Hyeon, creator of Hong Gil-Dong. The awarding ceremony will be held on Nov. 15 at the Korea Press Center in Shinmunro, Seoul.
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