SBS Inkigayo Filming Team Wins at 2026 Popular Culture and Arts Production Staff Awards
SBS Inkigayo's filming crew won the Korea Creative Content Agency Director's Award on Nov. 12 for cinema-grade stage cinematography.
Inkigayo crew takes the crew award
The SBS Inkigayo filming team won the Korea Creative Content Agency Director's Award at the 2026 Popular Culture and Arts Production Staff Awards on November 12 at Stanford Hotel in Mapo-gu, Seoul.
They were recognized for two things: building a performance-focused visual grammar through diverse filming techniques, and pushing stage video quality to global OTT standards using cinema camera systems. (Behind-the-scenes crews rarely get this kind of formal recognition, so the citation language matters.)
The full winner list
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency opened nominations in May, narrowed the field to 36 candidates, then ran expert and public review committees before selecting 10 recipients.
Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism commendations went to four individuals:
- Kim Sang-mi, KBS CP — Gag Concert revival and Music Bank World Tour
- Song Jong-hee, makeup director — films Decision to Leave and The Man Living with the King
- Yoo Sang-seop, martial arts director — The Gangster, the Cop, the Devil (남산의 부장들) and Humint
- Lee Su-heon, stage director — musicals Billy Elliot and Chicago (one source lists Les Misérables instead of Chicago; sources disagree on this credit)
Korea Creative Content Agency Director's Awards went to five individuals plus the Inkigayo team:
- Jung Dong-pil, JTBC Broadcasting Stage Art Director — art direction
- Choi Tae-young, Livetone CEO — film sound
- Kim Sang-wook, Plan A CEO — concert direction
- Bae Jin-hee, Amberin CEO — stage video
- Lee Jae-jin, production director — performance production
10th year for a behind-the-scenes award
The Popular Culture and Arts Production Staff Awards launched in 2017 to honor crews working off-camera and off-stage. This was the 10th edition.
Kim Jae-hyun, Director of Cultural Media Industry at the Ministry, said: "Thanks to the dedication of production staff, our popular culture and arts have gained recognition for competitiveness in the world." He added that the ministry would support safer and fairer working conditions for production crews.
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