K-Drama in the Spotlight: KCC brings together experts in 1st webinar 

As part of their Korea at Home campaign, the Embassy of the Republic of Korea and the Korean Cultural Center, together with MIND S-Cool and the BGC Arts Center, have organized a free, live webinar titled The Role of K-Dramas in Sharing and Shaping Culture Beyond Borders. The one-time event consists of a series of talks focused on discussing K-drama production with Korean entertainment industry professionals, featuring dialogue with some of the Philippines's celebrated entertainment practitioners. The webinar is open to everyone and will be streamed live on November 6-7 from 9:30 AM-12:30 PM on the Korean Cultural Center’s YouTube Channel and BGC Arts Center’s Facebook page.

Without a doubt, Pinoys have been fond of Korean dramas for a long time--in the early 2000s, shows such as Endless Love: Winter Sonata (2003-2004), Full House (2005), and Lovers in Paris (2005) gained popularity in the country, with all shows eventually gaining a Filipino teleserye remake. K-Dramas have helped spurred the Korean wave--also known as the Hallyu wave--in the Philippines, and have gained traction due to the accessibility of online streaming platforms. During the lockdown, Netflix Philippines' Top 10 trending consisted of mostly Korean dramas and movies. While this has caused quite a stir in the local film community, writer, director and webinar speaker Joey Reyes took the initiative to explain the uniqueness and wondrous worlds existing in K-drama. Indeed, there is so much more behind the love and appreciation that Filipinos show Korean content, which you can learn more about in KCC's two-day event.

The webinar is packed with talks to look forward to, with the first day covering the K-drama production, featuring Korea Creative Content Agency's Chief of Broadcasting Industry Team, Lee Young-hoon, and Pan Entertainment's Vice President and Head of Drama Production, Kim Hee-yeol. Pan Entertainment is the agency behind the iconic dramas Endless Love: Winter Sonata, Fight For My Way, Kill Me, Heal Me, Moon Embracing the Sun and the currently trending Record of Youth, among others. They will be joined by award-winning Filipino director and incumbent president of the Cinemalaya Foundation, Laurice Guillen.

 This is followed by day two's talks on K-Drama scriptwriting with renowned Korean screenwriter Kim Yoon-young who is behind the drama KAIST and award-winning writer, director, and professor, Jose Javier Reyes.

The webinar aims to become the platform that will ignite conversations between the Korean and local entertainment professionals and industries for the exchange in media knowledge and practices, with the hopes that both countries can improve and learn from each other to produce more substantial shows and content--and maybe even lead towards collaboration in the future.

Interested parties can take this chance to immerse themselves in the world of K-drama production, and have a conversation relative to our local teleseryes; KCC Philippines is open to receive questions from the audience before and during the event, from which they can prizes. K-drama enthusiasts ought to not miss this opportunity!

The Role of K-Dramas in Sharing and Shaping Culture Beyond Borders is done in partnership with Smart, the webinar’s official telecommunications partner, and Inquirer.net and Pop, the webinar’s online media partner.