Lisa See’s ‘Woman Island in the Sea’ is set to become a K-drama

As soon as producer Joseph Chan read Lisa Xi’s novel island of divershe thought it deserved a screen adaptation.

“I fell in love with this book right away,” said Chan, a producer at Seoul-based production company IMTV. “We knew this was a story that needed to be developed and adapted for the screen because it needed to be screened.” “She fell in love with this and we reached out to Lisa right away.

See is an American author. Gold Mountain: My Chinese-American Family’s 100-Year Journey, Snowflakes and a secret fan, peony in love, shanghai girl When Hummingbird Lane Tea Girl. her 2019 novel island of divers is a story about the friendship between two haenyeo (woman divers) on Jeju Island before, during and after the Korean War.

Such drivers traditionally began their underwater training at a young age and learned to dive up to 65 feet You must hold your breath for at least 3 minutes without diving equipment. They also learn not to inhale seawater or get caught in the water. Such mistakes are often fatal. When it became easier for girls to attend school after the Korean War, fewer women chose the difficult and dangerous life of haenyeo. Most of the divers are elderly and many work in the tourism industry, showing visitors what ama used to do.

“I know there aren’t many ama left who are actually freediving for a living,” Chan said. “So unfortunately the whole lineage and heritage is slowly dying. I think it’s worth sharing.”

According to See, UNESCO Ama It was registered as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2016, but this culture is expected to disappear within 10 years.

“How wonderful it would be if this TV series could bring the unique culture of Ama to the world,” she said. It’s a great story of love, with exciting and sometimes frightening scenes on land as well as in the water.”

Shi’s acclaimed book also touches on the harrowing history of the April 3 Incident, when protesters attacked a Jeju police station, killing thousands of islanders and burning many villages in retaliation. For years no one was allowed to talk about the incident.

“Unless you’ve studied Korean history, you don’t know much about it,” Chan said. “So when I was reading it in the book, it was shocking to me, a Korean American, that these atrocities happened. And seeing the impact it had on their lives made an even more vivid impression.

island of divers It’s not the first English-language novel to adapt Korean characters for the small screen.Apple earlier this year
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TV launched a series based on the novel pachinko By Min Jin Lee. It was an international production set in New York, Tokyo and Busan.Zhang sees the production of island of divers Take a more k-drama centric approach.

“I love pachinkosaid Chan. “It was a great show, but we felt like it was Korean and not Korean. I ask them to write in Korean.Korean dramas are very emotional, very human drama related, focused and character driven.Lisa has a very passionate and emotional character. You did a great job creating it.

The show differs from the usual one-season k-drama format. It is planned as a multi-season series set in Jeju Island.

“When it comes to character development, I feel that one season is not enough to tell all the stories contained in the book.” We address seasonal and episodic breakdowns in our treatments because they are quite different methods.

On her first encounter with Chang, Shi was struck by the history of the divers and their connection to the matrilineal culture.

“When I met IMTV’s Young Sook Lee and Joseph on Zoom, I knew I was inspiring them in the same way that Ama inspired me,” See said. . “Divers are endowed with incredible physical and psychological courage, bravery, tenacity and endurance. Overcoming wars and other upheavals, our world has been shaken by many upheavals over the past few years, and the qualities that the Haenyeo showed during their lives on Jeju Island are now appreciated by people around the world. I hope I can inspire you.”

The growing global popularity of Korean dramas is providing new opportunities for Korean storytelling and IMTV, an independent production company that works with major Korean networks such as KBS, SBS and MBC.

“This year, IMTV filmed a show on Netflix

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It’s in post-production now,” says Jang. “Our show was his second biggest budget show on Netflix Korea, so it was really big. With Korean dramas becoming a global trend, IMTV has been on the global radar. We were given the opportunity to position ourselves.”

island of divers has been translated into 16 languages ​​so far.