Film, Publishing, Performance... Award-Winning Works as K-Content This Year [The Driving Force is Story③]

Writer Kang Minseon’s 'Cheer Girl' and the movie 'Victory'
Published works including 'Cheonggyesan Jang's Trial' and 'Hell's Designer'
Writer Shin Jaea’s 'Romantic Ballad' adapted into a musical

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Creative Content Agency support the commercialization of award-winning works from the 'Korea Story Contest' into various content formats. This year, eight works were guided toward commercialization, including one film, six publications, and one performance. Each has achieved significant results in their respective fields.

"Cheer Girl," written by Kang Min-seon, who won the Excellence Award in 2015, was produced as the film "Victory." Directed by Park Beom-su, known for "Single in Seoul (2023)," it starred Hyeri, Park Se-wan, Lee Jeong-ha, and Jo A-ram. Released on August 14, it attracted about 500,000 viewers. It was selected as the opening film of the New York Asian Film Festival and screened in North America. Distribution contracts were also signed with Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, and Cambodia.

After winning the award, Kang has been actively working in the video field. In 2017, she co-wrote "The Arrest King Family," which won the Excellence Award in the KBS TV Drama Mini-Series Experienced Writer Script Contest, and in 2021, she wrote the script for the drama "Secret Royal Inspector: Joseon Secret Investigation Team."

"Trial at Cheonggye Mountain Lodge," written by Park Eun-woo, who won the Excellence Award in 2016, was published as a novel of the same name and sold over 4,000 copies. It was also produced as an audiobook on Willa. The work deals with an unprecedented hostage crisis at a secret party of the upper class. It received favorable reviews, being selected for the Busan International Film Festival's "Story to Film" and Kyobo Bookstore's "MD's Choice Books." It was also published in France through the publisher Martin Cam. Currently, discussions are underway for a drama adaptation with Apple TV and Universal TV.

The 2022 Grand Prize-winning work "Hell's Architect" was also published as a novel. It attracted attention by being selected as Kyobo Bookstore's "MD's Choice Book" and has entered the drama adaptation stage. Writer Kyung Min-seon is directly writing the script. The story depicts a hell created by humans in a world that has overcome death. Kyung is a creative writer who won the Excellence Award in the Kyobo Bookstore Story Contest's novel category in 2020 with "Purgatory Repairman." The following year, she won an award in the Megabox Plus M x Safe House Story Contest with "Convenience Store Operating Principles," and in 2022, she received the Grand Prize in the mystery category of the K-Story Contest with "I Accidentally Killed an Invisible Man." This year, she also published "The Story of Seven Tarot Cards."

"I Came from Moulin Rouge," written by Choi Nan-young, who won the Excellence Award in 2022, was also published as a novel. It tells the story of a protagonist who was shunned by the world but regains warmth and grows by meeting people to share her heart at Moulin Rouge. After winning the Korea Story Contest, Choi has been actively working. She published "Good Luck" that year, "Cafe Neverland" last year, and "Miserere" this year. "Cafe Neverland" is also scheduled to be published in Thailand.

"Romantic Ballad," written by Shin Jae-ah, who won the Grand Prize in 2022, was produced as a musical. Park Company performed it at Yes24 Art One from March to June. The work adds imagination to the historical record in the Annals of King Taejong that Yi Do (Sejong) enjoyed playing musical instruments, even though reading books was not easily allowed. It ended successfully, receiving ratings of 9.5 and 9.3 on Interpark and Yes24, respectively. A drama adaptation is currently under discussion.

"Hard Carry Park Dong-pal," written by Jung Jae-hwi, who won the Excellence Award in 2020, was produced as an e-book. It tells the story of a university student and unknown rock band vocalist whose life goal was to succeed as a singer, who time-slips (a supernatural phenomenon involving time travel for unknown reasons) to the present about 30 years later and realizes a new value of life. Jung has shown prominence in the video field, winning the Excellence Award in the SBS Drama Script Contest's one-act play category in 2022 with "Mr. Jeong Jang-pyo's Proxy."

"Ouroboros," written by Heo Gwan, who won the Excellence Award in 2022, was published as "Oymyakon Project." It is a novel set in a future Earth devastated by severe climate change. It depicts the process of a female scientist and a mysterious mercenary uncovering a conspiracy in Oymyakon, the coldest city in the world. It has gained popularity by delivering rich entertainment with a realistic background of the climate crisis, an exciting story, and three-dimensional characters. Heo won the New Writer Recommendation Award in the novel category of Hyundai Literature in 2011. He is currently preparing to publish "Antarctic Penguin Capture Operation."

"Chipless," written by Kim Sun-mi, who won the Excellence Award in 2022, was also published as a novel of the same name. The setting is the near future where bionic microchips containing various personal information are implanted. It depicts the process of people who have not implanted chips maintaining hope and humanity despite unfortunate circumstances. Novelist Jang Kang-myung praised it, saying, "It delicately and intensely asks what it means to be human," and "I applaud the writer who created characters and stories that confront violence itself with determination and sacrifice in a violent atmosphere." After winning the Korea Story Contest, Kim has been on a successful path. The following year, she published the novel "Biscuit" and plans to release a sequel soon. She will also serialize "Event Horizon," which won the Grand Prize in the Searchlight Contest last year, starting next year.