'What? Kim Hyeyoon, Kim Jun Han are becoming actors? Hooray, yay!' The film Salmokji: Whispering Water surpassed 3 million viewers in 23 years and is receiving audiences' love as a Korean horror film. Amid this, Park Eun Kyung, CEO of the production company The Lamp that made the film, personally expressed her feelings and behind-the-scenes production stories and offered deep thanks to the audience, cast, and crew.
Recently the film Salmokji: Whispering Water (director Lee Sang-min, provided/distributed by SHOWBOX, produced by The Lamp) surpassed 3 million viewers and is doing well at the box office. A Korean horror film reaching 3 million viewers is a remarkable record for the first time in 23 years since the 2003 film A Tale of Two Sisters drew about 3.1 million viewers. As of the morning of the 12th, Salmokji: Whispering Water had recorded a cumulative audience of 3,037,403 and still ranks high in the domestic box office. OSEN met with Park Eun Kyung, CEO of the production company The Lamp, to hear the film's behind-the-scenes story.
I'm so grateful, Park Eun Kyung said with a bright smile, and regarding her feelings after the film surpassed 3 million viewers she said, I feel like young people accomplished this together, so I place more meaning on that. The director was a newcomer, the producer was young, and even many of the actors and staff were young people. I am especially pleased because it is an achievement born of youth and the power of young people.
She said there was another joy and energy in seeing the results of young colleagues in the film industry. There were many acting choices. I liked that they boldly omitted parts of the story and focused near the reservoir while also trying to take some parts deeply with concentration. They used some conventional horror forms but also boldly departed from them. It was new in that it did not follow a particular grammar by opening up an adventure-like feeling in a space unfolded beyond the constricting structure of a closed, narrow space.
Park Eun Kyung said, I am glad because it seems another door has opened for more good horror films and for new directors to emerge into the world. Salmokji: Whispering Water is a work led by a new director and new actors. It feels like it opened a door for more directors and actors to come out, and that is very exciting, she said with a laugh.
Above all, she emphasized, At the beginning of the year, because Once We Were Us did well and The King's Warden did well, it feels like the doors of theaters opened. We need audiences to make going to the theater a kind of habit. Once they go to the theater and find satisfying content and experience it, they will then ponder what to watch next. In that sense, Salmokji: Whispering Water's achievement is not just its own; there is gratitude for the earlier hit films.
Furthermore, regarding Salmokji: Whispering Water, which still remains in the top ranks of the box office, Park Eun Kyung said plainly, Every time you make a film they often call it the pain of childbirth. Truly, each work feels like a child. I hope Salmokji: Whispering Water receives even more love. But there is nothing grand. I hope it continues to be remembered as an entertaining horror film, she said with a modest smile.
She continued, I always feel that a true appreciation of a work is not known right away. After about a year or two you look back and ask, What kind of film was it? All works live longer than I do. I hope it survives to the end and remains a horror film people enjoy later on. I hope someone opens the door from Salmokji: Whispering Water and more new directors and actors emerge. I wish everyone who worked on it well, she added.
Recalling that Salmokji: Whispering Water was unusually fast from planning, Park Eun Kyung said about the film's start, The first draft came out in February last year. She noted, The day the film surpassed 3 million viewers, the 10th, was exactly the first day of last year's crank-in. It rained that day, and although it was the first shoot we only shot three cuts and stopped; at that time I wondered what to do. But in a year the fortunes flipped like a twist, she said, eyes lighting up.
She said particularly, On the actual set there was no cellphone reception. We had to go to the end of the road where cars could enter to barely get a signal, and in modern society having no phone signal while having to do night shoots and underwater shoots was itself terrifying. I can only say that everyone overcame it with fighting spirit, and later someone even set up an antenna where one person could get a signal, she said with a laugh.
The start of the film began from Park Eun Kyung's desire for the horror genre in September 204. Park Eun Kyung said, While watching some horror films I suddenly wanted to make a horror film. We had done many human dramas, and I also wanted to try diversifying genres, she began.
She said, Personally, I wouldn't call myself a horror movie fanatic, but when I'm stressed I find them enjoyable and good. I think horror is the smallest unit of fantasy. It is a genre that offers the joy of realizing an independent fantasy and worldview with relatively low budget. Above all, audiences believe it. That's a point only the horror genre can have. There is a strange power that allows people to enter that setting familiarly, she said emphatically.
She added, There must be many concerns about what to watch at the theater, but horror is a genre you can all enjoy together in a closed space without anyone criticizing you for screaming. Also, because it touches on humans' instinctive emotions, it has worldwide appeal beyond Korea and is attractive as a worldwide genre.
Afterward, Park Eun Kyung, who had served as a juror at the Chungmuro Film Festival, was impressed by director Lee Sang-min's Dolimchong and their relationship began. It was just a story about a trembling gun that had a horror feeling, which was very fun, she said. Park Eun Kyung said, I actually don't usually sign contracts with new directors. I would have to take responsibility for someone's life and I didn't know how I could help. But I decided I wanted to make a horror film and proposed doing it with director Lee Sang-min.
At first, Park Eun Kyung said she proposed a story about Salmokji: Whispering Water and the twin reservoir. But director Lee Sang-min cut it off flatly, saying it was boring. Park Eun Kyung laughed and said, I was rather grateful. Then couldn't he be told to try something more interesting? After spending about a year together, the first draft came out in February last year and the current structure of Salmokji: Whispering Water was born.
Although the relationship grew deep over time, from the first draft to crank-in to the film's release and success, Salmokji: Whispering Water quickly found success in just about a year. Considering that horror films traditionally open in summer, this is an even more unusual achievement. On the quick work and decisions, Park Eun Kyung said, It was important that Salmokji: Whispering Water be shot in summer. And I try to make decisions I can make as quickly as possible. I usually read directors' scripts the same day. Fast doesn't mean always right, but because they ask me more than I expect without trusting me, that's how it goes.
Nonetheless, she said, Salmokji: Whispering Water was unusually fast. There was no moment of agonizing. It was odd. Maybe because director Lee Sang-min and I had a lead time, it sped things up. Many of the staff were people who had worked together before, so thanks to that everyone could trust and work quickly, she said.
From actor Kim Hyeyoon to Lee Jong Won, Kim Jun Han, Kim Young Seong, Oh Dong Min, Yoon Jae Chan, and Jang Da Ah. The actors who played leading roles in Salmokji: Whispering Water recently thanked audiences at a celebration event, even appearing in ghost makeup.
Park Eun Kyung said, From the shoots to the night shoots and getting into the water, everyone endured without complaint. That energy seems to have carried through to the stage greetings. The idea for the ghost makeup came from actor Yoon Jae Chan, and we told them whatever we needed, they should say so. I heard it came up in a group chat of actors I didn't even know. I'm just grateful and thankful that everyone sincerely joined Salmokji: Whispering Water, she said with a laugh.
Although Salmokji: Whispering Water shares the joy of success, many of the actors were trying horror films for the first time. But Park Eun Kyung said emphatically, There was no disagreement over casting. She explained, I recommended Kim Young Seong and Oh Dong Min because I had been impressed by their previous works, and the younger actors were cast after auditions.
She continued, Although it was Kim Hyeyoon's first horror film, she acts so well. Without hesitation she agreed and we were in a position of shouting, 'You will do it? Hooray!' I thought she would do well anyway, and it would be even better if she succeeded with our work. Kim Jun Han was also able to join at the end when he had the time, and the mood was like 'Wow, is this happening?' she said.
She also emphasized, The scenes of going into the water must have been especially difficult. Among them, the scene in which actor Lee Jong Won jumps into the water to rescue had high difficulty. That's why we built a full underwater set. The stone tower scene acted by Kim Hyeyoon was also more difficult than expected. Given that cellphones didn't work there, being able to finish without anyone getting hurt was simply something to be grateful for.
That passion paid off and Salmokji: Whispering Water, up to breaking the 3 million mark, went along with audience memes. Near the actual filming location that inspired the film, various banners even appeared, giving the area the feel of a tourist attraction. Park Eun Kyung said, They really cheered so much. Each time we passed 1 million, 1.6 million, 2.4 million, it felt like a community raising a child. As a producer it was truly a happy and grateful experience, she said with a smile.
Above all, she said emphatically, There was fighting spirit for the new director and new actors, and while making it everyone felt like they were making it together, and I was grateful that audiences even enjoyed the parodies. The genre is horror but the entertaining feeling grew stronger thanks to that. I wanted an experience where the ghosts wouldn't follow you home and you could still enjoy it. I intended to give a catharsis that peaks in terror but ends inside the theater. It seems that was accepted and achieved together, which makes me even happier.
They made the water resources corporation, Yeosan County, and the Korea Coast Guard all very well. Every comment and every picture showed creative work, and there was nothing about the reactions that wasn't precious, Park Eun Kyung said with a laugh, and she added, I heard that many audience members also visited Yeongwol's Danjong Festival for The King's Warden. Now it seems audiences are thinking about how to consume and enjoy works. On the Netflix variety show Culinary Class Wars, many people went to the contestants' favorite restaurants. Watching those behaviors from the side has become another pleasure of producing, she added.
[Photo] Provided by The Lamp and SHOWBOX, OSEN DB, SNS sources.
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