‘Jinny’s Kitchen’ Producer Nah Yung Suk on the Rise of Korean Content

Nah Yung Suk, one in all South Korea’s most profitable TV producers, says the content material market in his dwelling nation has been divided into two distinct eras: “Earlier than Netflix” and “After Netflix.”

On the most recent episode of Selection podcast “Strictly Enterprise,” Nah Yung Suk affords his observations on the rise of Korean well-liked tradition all through the world. The producer’s newest sequence displays the unimaginable world progress of content material imports and exports: “Jinny’s Kitchen,” an unscripted sequence for Amazon Prime Video, revolves across the opening of Korean road meals restaurant in a small city in southeastern Mexico.

The Netflix impact cited by Producer Nah, as he’s extensively recognized, started about 5 years in the past when the streaming large started investing in authentic Korean-language content material. That inflow of capital into the spurred extra outdoors coin to move into Korean producers, and it additionally inspired home corporations comparable to CJ ENM to step up their ambition.

“Netflix is dominating. They’re united the content material kingdom,” Producer Nah, as he’s extensively recognized, says in an interview carried out by translator Sumi Choi on Aug. 18, through the CJ ENM-produced KCON fan conference dedicated to Korean tradition in downtown Los Angeles.

When Nah and his crew have been in Mexico capturing “Jinny’s Kitchen,” he was pleasantly shocked to be taught what number of locals have been conscious of Netflix’s hit Korean thriller sequence “Squid Sport.”

“It was very unimaginable a couple of years in the past however now individuals are watching the identical content material and having fun with the identical content material and sharing their emotions on the identical time,” Producer Nah says. “If somebody writes a textbook in 10 years, I feel there will likely be an space in it for ‘Earlier than Netflix’ and ‘After Netflix.’ “

Producer Nah additionally weighs in on his expertise in having his actuality codecs tailored in different markets, as NBC did in 2016 with “Higher Late Than By no means,” a U.S. spin on Producer Nah’s reality-expedition present “Grandpa Over Flowers.” (“My first impression after watching the primary episode was that it was extra like scripted sitcom content material,” he says.) He reveals why he solely lately began working with Ok-pop stars, aka “idols,” in his TV exhibits. And he explains how a love of manga and comedian books as a youth set him on the trail to working in tv.

“Strictly Enterprise” is Selection’s weekly podcast that includes conversations with business leaders concerning the enterprise of media and leisure. New episodes debut each Wednesday and might be downloaded on iTunes, Amazon Music, Spotify, Google Play and SoundCloud.