Jung Il-woo, Yeon Sang-ho lead a wave of Korea-Japan OTT collaborations
Jung Il-woo stars in Amazon Prime's 'Criminals' in his first Japanese series, while Yeon Sang-ho produces Netflix Japan's 'Gas Human' and Disney+ casts Japanese actors in a Korean production.
Three OTT projects are putting Korea-Japan co-production on the map at once.
Jung Il-woo is drawing positive notices in Japan for Criminals, an Amazon Prime Video series — his first Japanese production since his debut. Director Matsunaga Daishi cast him for the project. Matsunaga has been candid about his motivation: "I came to have the thought that I need to upgrade the level of my work compared to overseas works."
On the Netflix side, director Yeon Sang-ho co-wrote the screenplay for the Netflix Japan original Gas Human alongside writer Ryu Yong-jae, and serves as overall producer. Yeon traced the project back to a long-standing interest in Toho Studio's tokusatsu films. "I thought we could make that into a contemporary story," he said, "so I made 'Gas Human' into a contemporary story."
Disney+ rounds out the trend with Killers' Shopping Mall 2, produced in Korea but featuring Japanese actor Okada Masaki and Korean-Japanese actor Hyunri in the cast.
Jung Il-woo put it simply: "If we make them together across Asia, I think we'll have more opportunities." Three major platforms are already doing exactly that.
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