Seoul International Drama Awards
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The 2016 Seoul International Drama Awards were held on
September 8 to celebrate excellence in television drama production. This year marked the 11th anniversary
of the awards, and there were 265 entries from over 51 different countries that
were carefully reviewed and selected by a distinguished panel of judges. I was invited to present the awards for
“Excellent Korean Drama” and “Outstanding Korean Drama” The first award went to “Descendants of the
Sun (태양의 후예)” and the second award went to “The
Flower in Prison (옥중화).”
Presenting awards with Fujii Mina
My award presentation partner was the talented and well-known
Japanese actress Fujii Mina who was born in the United States and speaks
excellent Korean. Although we did not
have a chance to rehearse together, it was really interesting to get a glimpse
“behind-the-scenes” and see how the program was put together. I had a lot of fun meeting and being seated
next to the superstar actor and star of “Descendants of the Sun,” Song Joong-ki
– it was fantastic to spend part of the evening with him. The whole crowd cheered every time the camera
was on him. It was great to meet the
various people from the industry who work so hard to produce great television
dramas for millions of viewers all over the world.
I was seated next to Fujii Mina and Song
Joong-ki!
It was also nice to see my good friend Cho Yoon-sun, Minister
of Culture, Sports and Tourism, who also presented an award and gave a speech
at the reception after the award ceremony.
With my good friend Cho Yoon-sun
I also got to meet veteran actor
Yoo Dong-geun and comedian Bae Yun-jung!
It was amazing to experience the international nature of the
award ceremony. There were people there
from all over the world representing dozens of different countries and their
television work. It was a good reminder
of how Korean film and television is really a special part of the international
community.
It was also great to see U.S. programs represented at the
awards ceremony. Two U.S. programs won
awards for the Mini-Series Silver Bird Prize (“Mr. Robot”) and the Comedy
Golden Bird Prize (“Baskets”) in the Foreign Drama Category. In fact, Michelle Outlaw, a former U.S.
Embassy Seoul public affairs official who is now serving in Oman, returned to
accept the Best Comedy award on behalf of “Baskets.” She studied Korean in college and gave an
impassioned acceptance speech in Korean.
It was wonderful to see her once again representing America here in
Korea and accepting an award on behalf of our country’s cultural and artistic
leaders.
Many people asked me to name my favorite Korean drama at the
award ceremony. It was a difficult
question to answer because there are so many good ones. However, if I had to choose just two, they
would be “Descendants of the Sun” and “Dae Jang Geum”--one old, one new, and
both of them very different from one another. I am thankful for the opportunity to have
presented two awards, and I want to congratulate all of the winners and
nominees once more for all of their hard work and success.
