▣ Conference Theme : Drama Content Challenges in the Multi-Platform Age.

The best drama protagonists of “Signal,” “W,” “Another O Hae-Young,” and “Mindlessly Loving,” which made 2016 dazzling, gathered in one place. “The 11th Asia Drama Conference organized by the Korea Foundation for International Culture Exchange and sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, was held in Fukuoka, Japan, for four days from November 21–24 (Monday–Thursday). About 150 drama masters, who made popular dramas in eight Asian countries, such as South Korea, China, and Japan, attended the conference, which celebrates its 11th anniversary in 2016.

The theme of the conference, whose 11th anniversary was commemorated, was “Drama Content Challenges in the Multi-Platform Age.” Therefore, around 150 representative drama writers and producers from eight Southeast Asian countries, including South Korea, China, and Japan, had a discussion about drama production conditions, which have severely changed with the arrival of the recent  digital revolution, and sought after cooperation ideas that go beyond national borders such as advancement into overseas markets and joint production.

On the first day (November 21, Monday), the “Asia Drama Conference Awards Ceremony” was held to award prizes to actors and directors who have contributed to the revitalization of culture exchange in Asia through dramas. In-Kook Seo, a South Korean singer and actor, who is very popular in Asian countries like Taiwan and Japan as he displayed his world-class talent in works in 2016 like “Shopping King Louis”; Mina Fujii, a Japanese actress who is simultaneously loved in Japan and South Korea as she won the Woman Star Award in the Seoul Drama Awards; and Swiyajin, a Chinese character actor, who left a strong impression on South Korean viewers as he appeared in the Chinese drama, “Daehosigwang,” were selected as the winners of the awarding ceremony.

In addition to them, a total of five participants like South Korean director Dong-Hwa Han of “38 Police Squad,” who contributed to the diversity of South Korean dramas with differentiated materials pinpointing social issues in South Korea, and Yenjigang, a renowned Chinese drama master, who won the the Emmy Award for US TV won the special award for making enormous contributions to the development of Asian dramas.

In the writer section, Masato Gato, the president of the Japanese Scenario Writers Association, and Wangriping, a writer of the Shanghai Media Group in China, presented the process in which they wrote “Flame” and “Daehosigwang,” both of which was hailed in Japan and China. In particular, Hae-Young Park, who wrote “Another O Hae-Young,” a sensational drama in South Korea, attracted much attention as the writer explained the secret as to why the drama came first all the time in the contents index while it was broadcasted and became tremendously popular, in particular, online.

On the other hand, the conference became more meaningful as Broadcast Thai Television from Thailand and MRTV from Myanmar made a presentation as a special invitation session in an attempt to increase the number of participatory nations transcending the existing South Korea–China–Japan oriented network. The two teams introduced the use conditions of multi-platform and the current trends of the drama industry in their own countries, enhancing the diversity of Asian drama contents and extending the cooperation path.