[Screen International] Korea's Management Companues Operate in Their Own Effective Way
2023.05.19
‘Korean talent management companies will discover nameless actors and fi nd projects for them’
Soyoung Lee, Saram Entertainment
Management companies in South Korea differ from those in the US and certain other parts of the world in that they are “total service” providers, from transport to acting as an aide for scheduling and maintenance of the talent’s physical condition. They will also handle the artist’s publicity and branding, deal-making, legal issues, project packaging and more. “Korean talent management companies will go out and discover nameless actors from the start, find [film and TV] projects and commercials for them and function as producers, matching up projects and packaging them in order to incubate and develop talent,” says Soyoung Lee, founder and CEO of Saram Entertainment. The company handles names such as Hoyeon of Netfl ix’s Squid Game, Kim Minha from Apple TV+’s Pachinko and Minari star Han Yeri.
Worldwide recognition
South Korea’s talent has been attracting global attention in recent years. The likes of Don Lee (Marvel’s Eternals), Lee Jung-jae (upcoming Star Wars series The Acolyte) and Park Chan-wook (BBC series The Little Drummer Girl) have also been crossing over to work overseas, mostly with US representation at companies like CAA and WME. In such cases, Soyoung Lee says it is important for overseas companies to be able to co-operate with the artist’s local management, especially on scheduling. “It is better to have representation in different countries and to have those business players communicating and collaborating, not just for Korean actors going to the US, but for US actors coming to Korea to make the best of the time they have and avoid potential pitfalls,” she says, having also started a joint venture between her company and David Unger’s Artist International Group in 2019 to work with artists and package local-language content. Local representation for writers and directors remains underdeveloped in Korea, with these artists more often working with producers or sales agents who will help out in getting overseas representation. Actors tend to get more hands-on and set up their own management companies — see Lee Jung-jae and Jung Woosung with Artist Studio, which also produced Lee Jung-jae’s Hunt, and Korean Wave star Bae Yong-joon (Winter Sonata) who founded Keyeast Entertainment, one of the best-known companies with a strong roster. Other management companies of note include Namoo Actors, BH Entertainment, CJeS and Management Soop, among others.