There were times when ParasiteIt shakes the world film industry and wins the Oscars. So, there was Squid game.
It’s been three years since Korean content, a nation that has long enjoyed an illustrious reputation for producing the highest quality entertainment, was still struggling to travel outside Asia, with few exceptions. This changed dramatically last September when Hwang Don-Hooks squid game It began, setting records that no one would have thought were overwhelming and stealing a spirit of the times like no other show has done in recent memory. If you didn’t know someone who was dressed squid game Halloween character, you probably haven’t been invited to a Halloween party.
Hwang is portrayed in the character after a six-month storm during which his show rocked the global television landscape, prompting Steven Spielberg to tell him, “I stole your brain.”
“I feel like I’ve been hit by Niagara Falls for the past six months and fallen off a cliff,” he says. “Such praises of Steven Spielberg were beyond my imagination. I still don’t know if it’s real or a dream. “
Success squid game It could have happened at the speed of light, but it took a little longer for the idea to go green. As a comic reader in the late 2000s, penniless in his pocket, Hwang read stories of people risking their lives for money. “So if they asked me to play one of the games, I would probably get it,” he said. “As the creator who pushed me to think about how to develop such a game. So I started building a story and I made a survival game. I’m not smart or physically strong, so I decided to play simple games; Games for children”.
Hwang was fascinated by the contrast between people risking their lives for simple games they hadn’t thought of since childhood, and spent a year working on a film version of what would eventually become. Squid game. But then there was no appetite for such a violent film, and after hitting a few spots, Hwang put his script aside and worked on other projects.
Seven fast years and the Korean launch of Netflix provided the setting. squid game What Hwang wanted. Streamer has produced local content globally in many different languages and enjoyed walking around very dark places with the tone of their programs. squid game A feature film was made from it squid game The 10-part series and Hwang got the green light.
He fully tolerates the fact that he will have to wait so long for his exciting project to hit the screen and mentions another reason why he needed time. “This story is much more realistic in 2021 than in 2011,” she said. “Then it occurred to us. We have seen that the gap between “has” and “has not” has widened due to Covid, so given these global circumstances, I see why people are more immersed in this story and it is resonant.
Hwang was praised for the autonomy Netflix allowed him to do his business (“I could do things more freely,” he said), but the deal the show provided was publicly criticized for not providing it. The creator received a bonus for the millions of subscribers he attracted to the service.
Reports estimate the show’s shock value to be nearly $ 1 billion for the service, but the production only cost $ 20 million, which is streamer theft. If he still had time, Hwang says he would do “absolutely anything” for a deal that would allow him to keep some of the show’s intellectual property.
“I’ll get paid because I’ve been successful and I can do something bigger as a next step, but if I could get back to the table, I’d make sure it was an intellectual property sharing deal,” he says.
Netflix is no stranger to this form of criticism. British multi-hypnotist Michael Coel has announced that he is leaving Netflix’s multimillion-dollar deal for a global breakthrough. I can destroy Which would leave him without IP. This show ended the BBC and HBO and the rest, as they say, is history. But unsure of his potential success, Hwang signed the deal and squid game It became what it has become, taking a spot on Netflix’s most viewed list in 94 countries.
How did Hwang break into the global market like no other creator has ever done before? Think for a long time before finding three important factors: “Overcoming linguistic and cultural barriers with a simple visual message”; “Focus on the emotional aspect of the characters”; And play with familiar colors and shapes that are “intuitive”.
On the first topic, he explains: “The games are very simple, they are games for children, so no matter how old you are, you can understand the rules in 20 seconds. “Whether it’s a red light, a green light or a tug of war, everyone has experienced one of these games, so I wanted to rely on the memories of so many people around the world.”
Focusing on the characters’ emotions avoids the need to overcomplicate the game, he adds, noting the viewer’s strong bond with many of these characters, both in adoration of protagonist Seong Gi-hoon (played by Lee Jong-un). jae) or direct hatred of the main villain Jang Deok-su (Heo Sung-tae).
“I also wanted familiar colors and shapes, with an emphasis on pink, circles, triangles,” he says of the third factor. “They are used intuitively to determine the character hierarchy of the show.”
The show’s success has contributed to the flowering of Korean culture around the world, not only on television and film, but also in K-pop, says Hwang. He hopes this feeling will last for a long time as the world keeps returning to the archives of TV shows, movies and music that have been popular at home for many years.
The world is obsessed with what Hwang will do next, and even though the deal hasn’t been signed yet, it takes a lot of mental energy. squid game Season 2. “The success of Season 1 has put a lot of pressure on me and I have nightmares that Season 2 isn’t great,” he admitted candidly.
Hwang says he comes up with ideas and thinks of new games and characters to put on the show, and the first series is left with many unanswered questions. His goal is to launch Halloween 2024, and he recently confirmed to Deadline that fan favorite Guy-Hoon will be returning with a previous dark man, played by Lee By-Hoon.
away from the franchise, Hwang develops an artistic function inspired by a novel by the respected Italian essayist Umberto Eco, entitled Work. Kill the Elders Club. He described the project as “even more violent” than squid game But read no further.
As for the light side, Hwang exclusively revealed that he is working on a comedy with the temporary title. The best show on the planet! A satire based on his personal experience in creating global success overnight.
As for the inheritance squid gameNetflix with countries outside the US / UK, including Spain The robbery of money is French Lupine, Hwang believes the show could be one of the founding shows that will shift the balance of global content from English to non-English.
“There are unused parts of the world that don’t speak English and you just have to think about the size of their market,” he said. “This is a huge and growing population. “Non-English titles will not be able to catch up with English titles yet due to lack of investment, but if the trend continues, I personally think there will come a time when content in other languages will go beyond English content.”
Source: Deadline
