S. Korea:'Emperor of the Sea' Drawing Attention of International TV Market

Chosun Ilbo ^ | 05/15/05

[TigerLikesRooster]

'Emperor of the Sea' Drawing Attention of International TV Market

The popular drama "Emperor of the Sea" is getting rave reviews in the overseas market. The KBS 2TV drama is up for an Emmy, the prestigious U.S. TV award, and recently, at the major international TV market MIPTV, it received concentrated attention from the entire world.

MIPTV is an international TV program market that opens every April in Cannes, France. This year's festival, convened from Monday to Friday at the Palais des Festivals -- the same venue as the Cannes International Film Festival -- and attended by about 10,000 broadcast officials from about 100 countries worldwide, was a smashing success.

"Emperor of the Sea" banner hung outside the Palais des Festivals, venue for the MIPTV market

According to a KBS official who attended the event, there was an endless line of officials from overseas broadcast companies leading to the KBS booth. From the opening day of the festival, officials were flooding in, and not just from "Korean Wave" markets like Japan and China, but also from markets where Korean dramas have yet to penetrate deeply, like Europe and the United States.

The 25-meter-long, 12-meter-wide "Emperor of the Sea" banner hanging outside the Palais des Festivals also drew the attention of visitors. A former Universal Studios marketing manager said, "U.S. and European broadcasters are busy with reality programs, which can be made on the cheap and draw many viewers, and sitcoms. They cannot even picture doing movie-quality dramas like 'Emperor of the Sea'... The market competitiveness and chances for success for 'Emperor of the Sea' are highly evaluated."

Meanwhile, perhaps reflecting this interest, 17 journalists with the Seoul Foreign Press Club from 13 media outlets like Reuters, CNN and the Asahi Shimbun visited the KBS drama set in Suwon, where "Emperor of the Sea" is filmed. Their fierce coverage war once again reaffirmed the popularity of the drama.

http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200504/200504150015.html

[AmericanInTokyo]

That could make sense.

Bae Yong Jun sure plays to the Japanese women's "cycles", that's for sure! (raking in the Yen hand over fist, all the while)

[risk]

What's the historic backdrop of this drama, if any? Or is it kind of timeless?

[Mount Athos]

It is unbelievable how many people here are totally possessed by FUYU NO SONATA. I have never heard of such an addictive TV show in my life. I think these Korean dramas are a secret plot to take over the world or something. Probably will work too.

[SevenofNine]

YOu know what Tiger I used watch Japansese soap opera back in 1980s when they were on especially Sonny Chiba from Bill Bill Vol 1 his show Dark Warrior

[TigerLikesRooster]

It was a drama(long series: 50 episodes?) set in 9th century Korea, and China. A epic story of a lowly slave at a shipyard eventually rising to a man presiding over vast trading empire, which links up Korea, China, and Japan.

He is a historical figure. However, much of drama's content is a fiction. Two merchant rivals, a powerful Marchiavellian noble lady and ruthless slave trader constantly show up as his adversaries. It shows a lot of episodes in China during Tang Dynasty. The main character got caught and sent to China as a slave, and has to battle back as a gladiator to his eventual freedom, and set his foot in trading business and occasional military exploits.

[nw_arizona_granny]

TigerLikesRooster
wrote:
I am not sure if you are into this kind of thing. However, I will ping you
anyway.:-)<<

My interests are in the entire world, so please feel free to ping me to anything you find interesting.....

I have learned a great deal by reading your pings.

Thank you,

Ruth

[SevenofNine]

OH GOD I hope Channel 18 or Channel 44 here in LA buy the rights for this

All their shows are subtitle to English

I want see this Emperor of Sea