With the phenomenal global success of Psy’s “Gangnam Style”, a lot of attention is now focused on the equally popular K-Pop genre.
The so-called Korean Wave has been around for more than a decade, providing a diverse offering of increasingly popular entertainment. Unlike Psy, its most popular entertainer today, the Korean Wave is certainly far from being an overnight sensation.
This is what “Korea Next”, a new series from the Discovery Channel, aims to explore in detail in five documentaries that will air starting December 16. Created by the winners of Discovery Channel’s First Time Filmmakers (FTFM) Korea, the premiere of “Korea Next” will showcase the heart and soul of Korean culture, cuisine, medicine, entertainment and technology.
One of these filmmakers is Sean Richard, a half-British and half-Korean actor who only moved to Korea in 2007. Richard will present “Finding Hallyuwood”, an episode that zeroes in on the inner workings of the Korean entertainment scene. So why does he call it “Hallyuwood”?
“The word ‘Hallyu’ is Korean for “the Korean Wave”. I wanted to do a play on words. Instead of saying “Hollywood”, I wanted to say “Hallyu-wood”, because I do feel like Seoul is just like – you know, Hollywood for the States is this hub of entertainment in Asia,” Richard told InterAksyon and other Asian journalists during a recent roundtable teleconference to promote the show.
“I wanted to make a point of it. I didn’t want to just make a documentary about, ‘Look how popular everyone is, and let’s just show screaming fans in Europe for Super Junior, and things like that,” he added.
In his documentary, Richard talked directly and in a very intimate way with the actual artists who are responsible for this Korean Wave. They include rapper Tiger JK, singer Yoon-Mirae and the manager of popular girl group Kara, who happen to be the rivals of 2NE1, another all-girl group where Sandara Park (known as Dara in Korea) is a member.
These artists did not just talk about how popular everything is, but they also provided some criticism and concerns as to how the Korean Wave will continue in the future.
“So I think in that way it will give viewers, especially foreign audiences, some interesting insider’s looks into this phenomenon right now”, he concluded.
Richard, who immediately starred in Korean dramas that rapidly found thier way in dubbed format in other countries including, yes, the Philippines thinks there’s definitely something special going on right now in his country.
“I definitely don’t think it’s going to go away. It’s been a blessing for me to be a part of the Korean Wave. I came in 2007 when the wave was going on, like basically the TV drama wave was at its prime at that time. But then right after, a few years later we had the K-Pop boom.
“And so the thing about Korea is that it’s always reinventing itself, and always giving something new to the world. And so just they’re constantly changing and finding new things to show.”
Asked to comment what to make of the huge overnight success of Psy and “Gangman Style”, Richard said he’s not surprised that people think of it as a “definite phenomenon”.
“I just checked, Psy has about over 945 million views on You Tube. I mean, I don’t think it’s something anyone really even believes right now is definitely going on. Especially in Korea, just it’s Psy every day on the news. You know, everyone’s so proud of what he’s done,” he enthused.
Of course, Richard, who was raised in the US, also wanted to present a bigger picture of what the Korean Wave is also about. So he also followed the conceptualization and training process of B.A.P., a rising six-member hip hop South Korean all-male act.
He also investigated the creation and production of a Korean television drama that revealed a deeper truth and critique of the Korean attributes that have made Hallyu what it is today. In the course of filming the project, one thing stood out to him.
“There is something special about being Korean. Usually artists are about being individuals and expressing themselves, but it’s funny that no matter what kind of job you’re doing, like I said you could be a chef, an athlete or a singer or anything, but if you’re Korean, then it comes back to representing your country. And you don’t see that kind of mentality a lot but it’s really strong in this country,” he observed.
“That was interesting for me, because I came from the States, it’s like a melting pot, you don’t see American stars going around the world trying to promote their country, right?
“But Korean stars are very much – you know, it’s K-Pop, that’s like Siwon Choi from Super Junior, he said like the word intrinsically is so interesting, because ‘K-Pop’ means ‘Korean Pop’, it’s another representative of Korea, you know? So it was really interesting to immerse myself in that mentality when I was doing this documentary.”
“Korea Next” premieres on Sunday, December 16, with two 30-minute episodes airing back to back from 10PM. Encores every Monday at 9AM and 3PM, and Saturday at noon.
source: interaksyon.com
