A+E Networks launches first Korean premium scripted drama
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Joseph O'Halloran
| 15 June 2020
Marking the local division’s first foray into premium scripted drama, A+E Networks International has launched Korean drama Backstreet Rookie.

Backstreet Rookie AE 15June2020Since launching in South Korea in 2017, A+E Networks has made strategic investments in the Korean content market, producing original content across linear and digital platforms. The move into premium scripted marks the realisation of A+E’s objective to create and aggregate premium Korean content across all genres for representation worldwide.

Backstreet Rookie, A is based on the hit webtoon and with internationally recognised A-list talent on both sides of the camera, it is designed to appeal to a wide global demographic. Changwook Ji stars as Dae-hyun Choi, a thirty-something store owner, and Yoojung Kim is college co-ed Saetbyul, who Dae-hyun hires as a part-time employee against his better judgment. It is directed by former SBS director Myoungwoo Lee.

The series will air from 19 June as a Friday-Saturday drama on SBS in Korea, followed by Lifetime Korea. A+E Networks Korea holds worldwide distribution rights to the show for which it was first investor in 2019, paving the way for its development and production.

It has now signed global SVOD partners for a worldwide premiere including Taewon Entertainment, said to be a pioneer in the Korean content market across film and TV. In addition, A+E Networks International has signed its longstanding content partner U-NEXT for a simultaneous SVOD launch of the series in Japan. iQIYI, the worldwide partner for the drama excluding Japan, will air Backstreet Rookie simultaneously with the Korean window around the globe, excluding China.

The launch was a proud moment for A+E Networks Korea said Youngsun Soh, the company’s general manager. “In a short span of time, we have brought together the spirit of a global media company and a local Korean enterprise to create a 360 media organisation,” she said. “We now cover content investments in premium scripted, linear unscripted, and digital originals, with a multimedia audience footprint in Korea and the international marketplace. We hope that the audience will appreciate the hard work that has gone into adapting Backstreet Rookie from its webtoon origins and the onscreen chemistry of the series’ stars.”