Born in 1972, JEON received his B.A. in philosophy at Sogang University. Having discovered theater while he was in college, he took part in the activities of the college’s drama club, and sometimes lent a hand to friends who were making short movies, but he had already determined it would be “suicidal” to pursue an artistic career. After graduation, he was hired by an IT company based in Japan. Feeling particularly lonely during the two years he spent in that foreign l...More

Born in 1972, JEON received his B.A. in philosophy at Sogang University. Having discovered theater while he was in college, he took part in the activities of the college’s drama club, and sometimes lent a hand to friends who were making short movies, but he had already determined it would be “suicidal” to pursue an artistic career. After graduation, he was hired by an IT company based in Japan. Feeling particularly lonely during the two years he spent in that foreign land, he started watching a lot of movies, writing scenarios, and resolved to try his luck in the film industry. He moved back to Korea, produced and wrote several plays and short movies, and notably worked as an assistant director on <Singles> (2003), directed by KWON Chil-in. After studying filmmaking at the Hankyoreh Film School, he eventually made his feature debut with <Midnight Ballad for Ghost Theater> (2006), an odd horror musical that would become a cult movie and earn JEON the Baeksang Art Award for Best New Director. After a participation in the film omnibus <If You Were Me 4> (2008) and the release of his sophomore feature <Lost & Found> (2010), JEON made particular sensation with <Love Fiction> (2011), an anti romcom starring HA Jung-woo and KONG Hyo-jin that defied the odds to score 1.7 million admissions. Eight years later, JEON came back with <Vertigo>, a melodrama based on a script he wrote back when he was working in Japan, with CHUN Woo-hee in the lead.Less