Working with new talent as an investment in the future

 ​Photo by Patrick Frater

Korean production and distribution company SLL is riding high on the current box office success of The Roundup: No Way Out, the only local film this year to sell more than 10 million tickets. In the larger TV production division, it is breathing a sigh of relief with the successes of Doctor Cha and The Good Bad Mother, shows which have achieved huge local ratings and placed in Netflix’s Global non-English Top 10 charts. 

For the company, which rebranded last year from JTBC Studio, and which acquired U.S. producer wiip, the renewed popularity of its shows represents something of a rebound after “the underperformance of JTBC dramas in 2022.” Now the challenge is to keep things fresh and original, while producing the high volumes of Korean content demanded by clients and frenemies that include Netflix, Prime Video and TVing — the Korean streaming platform in which JTBC is a junior partner behind CJ ENM and Naver.

At an event Tuesday at Seoul’s Gwanghwamun Press Center, executives including head of production Park Joon Suh, unveiled a slate of 15 shows that it will deliver in the second half of this year. These include Strong Woman Kang Nam Soon, a spin-off from the 2017 drama Strong Girl Bong Soon, Sing Again 3 and The Biography of Evil for various local broadcasters, including cabler ENA.

For streaming clients, the second half will hold Ballerina a movie being produced by its Climax Studios subsidiary for Netflix; a second season of D.P.; Daily Dose of Sunshine by Film Monster for Netflix; The Crime Scene Returns through Studio Slam for TVing; the SLL-branded Death’s Game, which is split between TVing in Korea and Prime Video in other territories; and wiip’s The Summer I Turned Pretty 2 for Prime Video.

Upcoming theatrical films include Kim Jee-woon’s Cobweb, which Anthology Studios launched out of competition in May at the Cannes festival, and the September-dated Kang Je-gyu-directed tear-jerker 1947 Boston from its B.A. Entertainment unit.

The company said that it operates a twin track strategy of working with established writers and directors, which could appear risky, though at the same time it is having positive results with bringing on new creative talent.

“There is a tension between increased production volumes and maintaining high quality, but that is a good reason to bring on new talent,” Park told Variety. “Also, we understand that all genres and nationalities of content go in cycles, and rise and fall in audience popularity over time. We’ve seen this with Marvel, for instance. The best response to that is to be prepared. And there too we see working with new talent as an investment in the future.” 

Park said that relations with Wiip were very healthy and involve two-way cooperation between the U.S. and Korean business units. Development activities, however, have been temporarily suspended in response to the Hollywood writers’ strike. 

By Patrick Frater 

Link: https://variety.com/2023/tv/asia/korea-tv-sll-production-slate-1235661040/