“In order to convey the stories of the guests resonantly, narratives must be accumulated… We can show their story properly only when we put things that are piled up one following another.”
I will try to tell more interesting and resonant stories in the future.”
As the online video service (OTT) market expands and content pours in, it is providing a different kind of fun that might not be felt on TV platforms. It is fun for creators to try new things, but the process of pioneering another path is not easy. We met and listened to the stories of PDs who are struggling to give viewers fresh fun.
Watcha’s original entertainment show ‘Goblin Stealing Wisdom’ is a wisdom robbery talk show in which three goblins, Kang Ho-dong, Yong-jin Lee, and Yang Se-chan, steal the wisdom of successful people and teach them the secret of life.
PD Uhm Jin-seok, who is currently directing entertainment on Discovery Channel Korea, joined hands with Watcha and entered the OTT (online video service) for the first time. He will meet new viewers on the platform called Watcha, as well as meet viewers on the Discovery Channel in the future. Through Discovery+, I also meet Asian viewers.
PD Uhm believes that ‘Goblin Who Steals Wisdom’ is a program that solves a universal theme that anyone can relate to through talk, so it will be able to induce sympathy from various viewers.
“Of course, dramas and movies are the same, but the codes can be different for variety shows. It’s a laugh code. Of course, it was planned to gain sympathy from domestic viewers. However, since it is a story that deals with people’s lives, I think that if there is an echo here, it will work for everyone.”
It was also pointed out that the format of a talk program, which conveys a message through conversations between MCs and guests, is already common. In particular, as it is a program that is released through OTT, there was a question regarding choosing a rather ordinary subject called talk rather than an unconventional setting. PD Uhm believed that a new charm might be created through the differentiation of the theme, Alex Reed, and MC of the program.
“It’s a talk show where we talk regarding success. And we thought regarding our own device that might deliver this in a fun and comfortable way. When you go to a restaurant, don’t you wonder what the secret is? I thought of the concept of stealing someone’s secret of success through a talk. If the extortion was solved in an artistic way, it seemed like a laughing code would be created. The same goes for the setting of the goblin. I have a daughter, and she is reading a goblin book. It felt like going back to my childhood. I thought it would be fun if Kang Ho-dong put on makeup here.”
ⓒWatchaThe long running time of an hour, or well over an hour, was also different from other OTT contents. However, this was also PD Um’s intention. From the married couple Yeondon, to actors Nam Woo-hyun and Jae-chan, who were active in the original Watcha series, to the group Seventeen. Because it was a program that contained the colorful stories of various guests regardless of genre and age, it was because they focused only on capturing their talk. And in the end, PD Uhm’s choice was making the distinction of ‘Goblin Who Steals Wisdom’.
“There are talk shows that are short, regarding 20 or 25 minutes, but I thought that narratives need to be accumulated in order to convey the stories of the guests resonantly. I thought that I might show their story properly only by putting things that were piled up one following another. Of course, those who are familiar with the short form may get bored and skip it. In this regard, the talk was intended to divide the content, but to make it organically intertwined. Care was taken to ensure that you do not get bored.”
PD Uhm was also able to experience and learn new things that he had never felt before in this process. She was able to directly experience the intention of the program through the guests that ‘Goblin Who Steals Wisdom’ invites successful people, but that does not necessarily mean material things. And I hoped that these messages would reach the viewers as well.
“It was also the case with Yeondon. Earning a billion won is not happiness. You live in a small space and live in a spacious apartment, but you can feel the joy of seeing the happy faces of your children rather than being happy living there. There is no end to people’s greed, and I think it’s important to feel love and live. I felt it too. Everyone has different standards of love and happiness, but I want you to feel hope and feel ‘I have to live like this tomorrow’ just by looking at this content.”
It was PD Um who wanted to continue to convey the meaning by having more diverse conversations with many people in the future. Now that more options are available following the transition to Endemic, I also wanted to expand the message by talking with other people in a new place.
“I was stuck in the set right now, but now that the Corona 19 situation improves, I think it would be good to talk abroad. Of course, I’m sticking with what I’m doing right now. But in the future, I will try to tell more interesting and resonant stories.”
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