Na Young-seok

This is a Korean name; the family name is Na.
Na Young-seok

Na Young-seok at a lecture sponsored by the Korea Communications Commission.
Born (1976-04-15) April 15, 1976
Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province, South Korea
Education Yonsei University - Public Administration
Occupation Television producer, director
Korean name
Hangul 나영석
Hanja 羅䁐錫
Revised Romanization Na Yeong-seok
McCune–Reischauer Na Yŏng-sŏk

Na Young-seok (born April 15, 1976) is a South Korean television producer and director. Na is best known for producing the popular variety-reality shows 2 Days & 1 Night, Grandpas Over Flowers, Three Meals a Day and their spin-offs.

Career

2 Days & 1 Night

Na Young-seok majored in Public Administration at Yonsei University. In 2001, he joined KBS and began his career as an assistant director in the network's variety department, then was promoted to producer/director.[1]

Na made his breakthrough in 2007 with 2 Days & 1 Night, which introduced the road trip format to Korean reality programming, as a regular cast of comedians, singers and actors visit various towns across Korea and spend the eponymous one night and two days there, engaging in activities such as games, camping and sightseeing.[2] Starring Kang Ho-dong, Lee Soo-geun, Eun Ji-won, Kim Jong-min, Noh Hong-chul, and Ji Sang-ryeol (Kim C, Lee Seung-gi, MC Mong and Uhm Tae-woong later joined the cast), 2 Days & 1 Night quickly became the highest rated variety program on KBS and a national viewing pastime, reaching a peak viewership rating of 40%.[3] The show not only boosted tourism for the locations it featured, its massive popularity also extended to its cast and even the crew. Because Na often appeared onscreen during interactions with the cast, he himself soon became a household name among Korean audiences, who affectionately called him "Na PD" ("PD" is a commonly used term in Korean television that denotes "producer-director" or "production director").[4]

He also developed another KBS program in 2012, The Human Condition, in which six comedians (Kim Jun-hyun, Kim Joon-ho, Heo Kyung-hwan, Yang Sang-guk, Jung Tae-ho and Park Seong-ho) live together for seven days under certain restrictions, such as without gadgets, electricity, or water.[5] Na produced the four-episode pilot.

Na resigned from KBS on December 18, 2012, after working for the broadcaster for 12 years. His departure and that of other cast members marked the end of the first season of 2 Days & 1 Night (episodes 1-232); the second season was launched with a new crew and additional new cast members. The Human Condition also continued airing without Na's involvement.

Grandpas Over Flowers

On January 2, 2013, Na signed with media conglomerate CJ E&M, which owns cable channels such as tvN.[6] CJ E&M had reportedly wooed him with not just a bigger salary, but the assurance of greater creative control and clout. Na said, "I determined that there is more room for creativity (in cable). Things move at a fast pace. The programs come and go as does the attention of viewers. So we are forced to try different things."[4]

For his first cable program, Na again chose the concept of travel, but this time overseas.[7] In an increasingly youth-obsessed medium and culture, he surprised pundits by casting four actors in their seventies: Lee Soon-jae, Shin Goo, Park Geun-hyung and Baek Il-seob.[8] Since backpacking was mostly associated with the young, Na wanted to flip the idea and make it fresh. He said that by placing veteran actors (who are set in their ways) in exotic settings, it allowed for "unexpected" elements to unfold that made for great TV.[4] Titled Grandpas Over Flowers (a pun on the Japanese manga Boys Over Flowers), the show filmed the four actors traveling to France and Switzerland while accompanied by their "porter," 40-something actor Lee Seo-jin. It was immediately a ratings hit when it aired in 2013, and like 2 Days & 1 Night before it, became a cultural phenomenon.[9][10] The cast drew increased mainstream popularity among the younger generation, and the show sparked a trend of senior citizen-themed shows among rival networks.[11] tvN also leveraged the show's domestic popularity into international success, selling remake rights to China and the United States.[12] When asked why the show struck a chord with audiences, Na said, "It's because older people with a lot of experience, have lots of stories to tell. When you travel with people with a lot of experience who have gone through the success and failures in life, you learn a lot from them."[13]

With the success of Grandpas Over Flowers following 2 Days & 1 Night, Na cemented his reputation as the most influential creator and producer in Korean reality television.[14][1]

The next seasons were filmed in Taiwan (2013), Spain (2014), and Greece (2015).[15][16] Actress Choi Ji-woo joined the cast for the Greece trip.[17]

Sisters Over Flowers, Youth Over Flowers

While Grandpas Over Flowers went on hiatus in late 2013 (the cast was busy with their respective acting projects), Na produced the first spin-off, Sisters Over Flowers. Using the same format, he cast a group of top actresses (Youn Yuh-jung, Kim Ja-ok, Kim Hee-ae and Lee Mi-yeon) and pushed them out of their comfort zone as they traveled to Croatia.[18][19][20][21][22][15] The show also reunited Na with 2 Days & 1 Night alum Lee Seung-gi, who acted as this season's "porter."[23]

The second spin-off, which aired in 2014 after the Spain season of Grandpas Over Flowers, was Youth Over Flowers. It featured singer-songwriters Yoon Sang, You Hee-yeol and Lee Juck in Peru, and Reply 1994 actors Yoo Yeon-seok, Son Ho-jun and Baro in Laos.[24] Na only directed the Peru segments, while Reply 1994 director Shin Won-ho filmed in Laos. Both spin-offs likewise drew high ratings for cable.[10]

Na also made cameo appearances on two tvN scripted series. As a meta in-joke about his real-life alma mater, he played a boarder from Yonsei University in episode 2 of the nostalgic campus drama Reply 1994.[25] Reply 1994's director Shin Won-ho and screenwriter Lee Woo-jung had previously worked with Na on 2 Days & 1 Night. Then as a favor to Lee Soon-jae, Na played a police officer in episode 66 of Lee's sitcom Potato Star 2013QR3.[26]

Three Meals a Day

After Youth Over Flowers, Na wanted to continue to innovate. Inspired by Lee Seo-jin's complaints that he hated cooking while preparing meals in Grandpas Over Flowers, Na cast Lee opposite his Wonderful Days co-star Ok Taecyeon in Three Meals a Day.[27] The two men were tasked to cook three meals a day from home-grown ingredients while living three days a week in a rural village in Jeongseon County, Gangwon Province. Though the concept seemed simple, Lee and Ok, both city dwellers, had difficulty cultivating the vegetable garden and harvesting from the farm animals and the sorghum field, such that they struggled to feed themselves (and weekly celebrity guests) to comical results. Na said, "All cooking shows do not have to feature fancy, delicious food. We seek the sincerity that comes from cooking with all their hearts. I just wanted to work on a lighthearted show that can highlight the small pleasures of life. I wanted to talk about a meal that is made with vegetables from my garden and have these two guys share their homely foods with their friends. The main concept is that it is a cooking show but with no mouth-watering foods because these two guys can't cook."[28][29]

For the second season in 2015, Na added a third cast member, Kim Kwang-kyu. The show's difficulty level was increased with an additional four-month project depicting the process of growing food, from cultivation to harvest (the cast was strictly prohibited from grocery shopping). Na said, "Nature itself is incredible. I wanted to show the audience how hard it is to harvest the materials for our daily meals that can now be easily purchased at supermarkets near our homes."[30][31]

Three Meals a Day: Fishing Village

In 2015, Na produced the spin-off Three Meals a Day: Fishing Village, set on the remote island of Manjae, which takes six hours to reach by ferry from the mainland.[32] Besides the isolated location, the seaside setting meant more intensive physical labor for cast members Cha Seung-won, Yoo Hae-jin, and Son Ho-jun (Son replaced Jang Keun-suk when Jang was edited out of the show after a tax evasion controversy).[33] Viewers were impressed with Cha's cooking skills amidst minimal ingredients and implements (hence his nickname "Chajumma"), and the show received a record-high 14.2% rating.[34][35] Season 1 had a winter setting, while the second season was filmed in the summer.[36]

Na later said that his rural upbringing in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province influenced his work ("I'm the perfect opposite of trendy and sophisticated"), and that he specializes in reality shows because he "can take a story from anyone" by editing footage given to him by cameramen and making any story out of it. He said, "Everyone has their own personality and their view on life, which naturally creates stories when they are put together with other people. [...] The viewer ratings can always decline. I don't want to make a fancy reality show where I just think about the ratings. I want to keep my tone when I make a reality show."[37]

New Journey to the West

Na then reunited with his former 2 Days & 1 Night stars Lee Seung-gi, Kang Ho-dong, Eun Ji-won and Lee Soo-geun, as the quartet took on characters from the 16th century classic Chinese novel Journey to the West and traveled for five days through Xi'an, once the capital of China during the Tang Dynasty.[38][39][40] New Journey to the West was the first project of tvN Go (the cable channel's digital content brand), and it was unprecedented for a variety show to be distributed solely through online streaming (on the web portals Naver TV Cast and QQ).[41] Instead of the usual one-hour episode length, each uploaded video clip lasted from five to ten minutes, and the Internet provided freedom from broadcast television's restrictions, such as a ban on indirect advertising of certain brands and adult language (including references to the tax evasion and illegal gambling controversies Kang and Lee, respectively, had been involved in).[42]

Filmography

As assistant director

As producer-director

Acting cameos

Books

Awards

References

  1. 1 2 "Na Young Suk". Entertainment Master Class. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  2. ↑ Chung, Ah-young (21 August 2011). "1 Night, 2 Days to end in 6 months". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  3. ↑ "Variety show Two Nights eyeing March for South Pole shoot". 10Asia. 12 January 2010. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  4. 1 2 3 Park, Jin-hai (23 July 2013). "'I want to flip ideas'". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  5. ↑ "Real Experience Project: The Human Condition". KBS Global. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  6. ↑ Lee, Sun-min (19 April 2013). "1 Night, 2 Days producer returns". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  7. ↑ Lee, Sun-min (24 May 2013). "New hiking reality show gets a name". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  8. ↑ Chung, Ah-young (7 July 2013). "Cable channel's reality show lifts old stars". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  9. ↑ Jin, Eun-soo (1 August 2013). "Unpredictable seniors entertain Flower H4 viewers". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  10. 1 2 Baek, Byung-yeul (24 August 2014). "tvN leads cable network boom". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  11. ↑ Chung, Ah-young (10 March 2014). "Copycat or trend?". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  12. ↑ Lee, Hyo-won (2 September 2014). "NBC to Remake South Korean Variety Show Grandpas Over Flowers". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  13. ↑ Yun, Suh-young (18 March 2014). "Old, unscripted and fun". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  14. ↑ "CJ E&M to Host "Asia Variety TV Forum" in Tokyo with Renowned Asian Variety TV Producers Young-Suk Na and Tadahisa Fujimura". Hancinema. 4 February 2014. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  15. 1 2 Yun, Suh-young (4 March 2014). "Joy of the road". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  16. ↑ Jin, Eun-soo (7 March 2014). "Grandpas back, but as abuelos". Korea Joongang Daily. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  17. ↑ Jin, Eun-soo (27 March 2015). "Korea's 4 favorite Grandpas return". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  18. ↑ Cha, Yo-rim (22 October 2013). "Lee Seung-gi to visit Croatia with veteran actresses". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  19. ↑ Lee, Sun-min (22 October 2013). "Actresses heading to Eastern Europe". Korea Joongang Daily. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  20. ↑ Lee, Sun-min (31 October 2013). "Na Young-suk chooses Sisters Over Flowers as name for Grandpas follow-up". Korea Joongang Daily. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  21. ↑ Cha, Yo-rim (27 November 2013). "Sisters over Flowers to showcase actresses' feminine charm". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2015-04-15.
  22. ↑ Sunwoo, Carla (29 November 2013). "Hit travel show tries with 'sisters'". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2015-04-15.
  23. ↑ Choi, Shin-ae (3 September 2013). "Lee Seung Gi Confirmed to Go Backpacking with Na PD". enewsWorld. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  24. ↑ Jang, Seo-young (1 August 2014). "Flowers takes on a youthful twist". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  25. ↑ Lee, Sun-min (10 October 2013). "Producer makes a cameo". Korea Joongang Daily. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  26. ↑ "Grandpa Over Flower Producer Na Young Suk Supports Potato Star". KDramaStars. 29 January 2014. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  27. ↑ Yoon, Ji-soo (15 October 2014). "tvN's new food variety show to launch Friday". K-pop Herald. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  28. ↑ Sung, So-young (16 October 2014). "After Grandpas, new show presents slice of rural life". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  29. ↑ Baek, Byung-yeul (9 November 2014). "Lights, camera, cook!". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  30. ↑ Lee, Woo-young (14 May 2015). "Farming challenge awaits Three Meals stars". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  31. ↑ Kim, Jae-heun (15 May 2015). "Three Meals a Day kicks off new season". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2015-05-20.
  32. ↑ Won, Ho-jung (7 October 2015). "Manjaedo Island welcomes back Three Meals a Day for season 2". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2015-10-11.
  33. ↑ Sung, So-young (16 December 2014). "Three Meals a Day to launch spinoff". Korea Joongang Daily. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  34. ↑ Sung, So-young (9 February 2015). "3 Meals spinoff hits a record". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  35. ↑ Kwon, Ji-youn (10 March 2015). "Growing appetite for Cook TV". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  36. ↑ Won, Ho-jung (7 October 2015). "Manjaedo Island welcomes back Three Meals a Day for season 2". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2015-11-06.
  37. ↑ Jeong, A-ram (2 April 2015). "Star producer Na Young-seok reveals secrets to his success". Korea Joongang Daily. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  38. ↑ Won, Ho-jung (1 September 2015). "Star producer reunites old crew for New Journey to the West". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
  39. ↑ Kim, Jae-heun (2 September 2015). "2 Days & 1 Night members reunite for New Journey to the West". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
  40. ↑ Jin, Eun-soo (3 September 2015). "Exploring a new frontier in content". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
  41. ↑ "'New Journey to the West' to be shown on Chinese portal". Yonhap. 31 August 2015. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
  42. ↑ Kwon, Ji-youn (13 September 2015). "New Journey to the West dodges controversy". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2015-09-16.
  43. ↑ Joo, Kyung-don (17 October 2011). "1 Night, 2 Days producer awarded prime minister's commendation". Korea Joongang Daily. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  44. ↑ Chung, Hyun-chae (25 October 2013). "G-Dragon awarded 'Style Icon' of 2013". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  45. ↑ Hicap, Jonathan M. (13 November 2014). "2014 Korean Popular Culture and Arts Awards recipients revealed". Manila Bulletin. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  46. ↑ "Cable TV Awards: Incomplete Life and producer Na Young-seok sweep awards". Hancinema. 13 March 2015. Retrieved 2015-04-10.
  47. ↑ Lee, Hoo-nam; Kim, Hyung-eun (28 May 2015). "Baeksang honors new, veteran stars". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2015-05-28.

External links

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