The realistic legal drama “Law and City” is popular both domestically and internationally.
CJ ENM
Kim Ho-jun is a producer of Korean drama Law and the Citya CJ ENM drama, playing Lee Jong-Suk (W, romance is a bonus book), Mun Ka-Young (My dearest nemesis,it’s beautifulYes), Connello (Resident script), Ryu Hye-Young (Good man) and lim sung-jae (New Yorker). K-drama has attracted the audience because its fascinating storyline involves lawyers in Seocho-Dong community in Seoul. This isn’t the only successful drama Kim Ho-jun has produced recently. He is the producer in charge of 2024’s popular dramas Cute runner,,,,, Starring Kim Hye-Yoon and Byeon Woo-Seok, and No lovestarring Shin Min-Ah and Kim Young-Dae.
“and Cute runnerI joined the boat when most of the setup was in place, and the script itself was a textbook example of dramatic drama writing,” King said. “The character arc, emotional accumulation and rhythm were almost flawless, which led me to believe I was going to move on. But what really solidified my belief in success was seeing the shots of the main actors. Their performance is so natural and immersive – it feels like the sun and Thor is the real breather. ”
The audience agreed that the play became a fan favorite. No love Very popular too. Given that all the actors are perfect for their roles, it might surprise the audience that Kim Jong Il made an updated change in the game.
“and No harvest, no loveI actually made medium-term changes. “I’m confident because the new clues are very good at matching their roles in terms of personality and presence. This unity of real life makes the show feel real. This kind of actor-feature synergy is something I always prioritized when it comes to casting decisions. ”
What’s this Law and the City Is this deal sealed?
“The play comes from the desire to get rid of creative stagnation and connect with the audience through stories in daily life,” King said. “With so much content today, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to surprise or attract traditional narratives that make people wonder or attract people. While many producers have turned to fantasy, science fiction or sensational genres to stand out, only a few of them have tried to really resonate with the audience.”
When director Park Seung-woo first proposed Law and the CityKing decided to take a different approach by producing a realistic drama to push the characters to the forefront.
The romantic arc between Lee and Mun characters is incorporated into the legal drama.
CJ ENM
“That’s it Law and the City Kim started,” Kim said, “I have always believed that there is no greater fantasy than reality. No matter how spectacular a story is, it cannot compete with the real life thrill of winning the lottery itself. No matter how impressive the visual or storyline is, I believe there is no real person without real people. ”
As a result, he wonders about the moments of everyday life that might really shake the audience’s hearts. Lawyers are professionals, but also just salaried workers, and seem to be a perfect subject. The characters are familiar but distant, so relevant to the audience.
“I believe it has successfully resonated with viewers based on the show’s global record – the charts were removed in 150 regions of U-Next (Japan), Rakuten Viki, Iqiyi, TVN Asia, Asia, Disney+ and more.”
He makes dramas to cultivate plants. Sometimes it takes a while to see the true potential of the drama.
“Even if you start with a clear vision, directions often change in unexpected ways,” King said. “While the potential is sometimes obvious from the beginning, real confidence is more common in the development process and even in the production process.”
Law and the City It’s an experiment.
“Sometimes we have questions, especially because the show doesn’t follow the typical plot-driven structure, with huge dramatic twists and turns,” King said. “But richness and realism begin to come true as we develop detailed scenes around meals and flesh out the five protagonists, which makes us more and more confident.”
The role of the chief producer is to oversee the entire project.
“This includes choosing a director, casting, budgeting, ensuring programming slots, and setting the overall creative direction,” Kim said. “While I occasionally participate in choosing the project concept itself, the most critical responsibility of CP is to ensure programming slots. To do this, I analyze the needs of channels and platforms from the perspective of content in the content. As the ultimate decision maker, I then tailor the production setup to enhance the commercial value of the project.”
Kim attributes to TV drama director Park Seung-Woo (Adamas, Kairos, W: Two worlds apart) Pay great attention to details, which is absolutely essential. He described it Law and the City The team is experienced and proactive, and does not hesitate when developing independently and experimenting with ideas. One of the factors that leads to Law and the City What seems realistic is the script written by practicing lawyer Lee Seung-Hyun. His expertise has taken root in this story.
“One of the episodes sparked a real debate in the legal community,” King said. “It’s based on a controversial real-life case. His opinions add a certain level of credibility.”
Drama works often face some challenges, and the weather is an ongoing consideration when crew members need to shoot in Hong Kong. Also, when they were filming there, local police had to step in to help control the crowd. Lee Jong-Suk was also injured, slipping on the stairs while filming a romantic scene. His injury almost ended the shooting that day, but Lee worked hard like a real professional, focusing on his emotions
“Nevertheless, the scenes we captured were beautiful and became one of the outstanding elements of the show.”
The audience may not realize the script that initially focused on these two clues and eventually evolved into a five-character ensemble.
“We built the arc of each character and leaned towards their personal growth stories to make the audience equally adorable,” King said.
Additionally, the addition of romantic arcs to legal realism led to the shooting in Hong Kong, a scene from a meeting between Lee and Mun’s characters.
If Kim Ho-Jun had to choose a scene he liked, he narrowed it down to two.
“One of my favorite scenes was in episode 2, where Ju-Hyeong and Hui-ji argued about whether banks could forcefully collect loans from low-income housing residents,” King said. “It was this scene that convinced me of the project. It perfectly captured the dynamics of the characters, the themes of the drama, and marked the beginning of their relationship.”
The end of episode six also became one of his favorite scenes.
“Sangji faced the harsh reality of having to prove his poverty, he visited the modest restaurant where his mother worked, ate a bowl of soup, and quietly burst into tears,” Kim said. “Everyone in the editorial room was moved deeply – and it resonated with us all. The audience was also filled with overwhelming emotions. Lim Seong Jae’s performance was absolutely breathtaking. There were more memorable scenes. But these two people were still particularly close to my heart.”
The CJ ENM drama was originally aired on TVN in Korea. In the United States Law and the City aired on viki.com.
