"The most personal stories are the most universal. The cultural specificity of Korean content is precisely the most powerful weapon and vision for moving the hearts of global audiences."
Michelle K. Sugihara, executive director of the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE), a nonprofit organization that has represented the voices of Asian and Pacific Islanders in Hollywood, Los Angeles, presented this as the direction Korean content should pursue. Amid the upheaval of the global media environment driven by platform diversification and the emergence of generative artificial intelligence (AI), she suggested that the sustainable competitiveness of K-culture, which has captured worldwide attention, lies in defending "our own unique narrative and sensibility" without compromise.
Sugihara attended a dialogue under the theme "Asian Voices in the Age of Algorithmic Media" at the Korea University main auditorium in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, on the 29th, where she introduced the story of CAPE's founding and diagnosed the present and future of K-content. CAPE was born in 1991 out of the concerns of senior Asian American executives in Hollywood, who lamented that "these days there are more aliens and extraterrestrials on television than Asians." Established to break away from stereotyped and negative images of Asians in the media, CAPE now plays a pivotal role in supporting Asian American creators in Hollywood and developing executive-level talent. Sugihara, who has led the organization since 2015, said, "Stories have the power to change the world, and before changing systems, you must first move people's hearts." She added, "Asian writers must be involved from the stage before the script for storytelling is written, and true power emerges only when people like us (Asian Americans) are positioned in the seats of showrunners who hold final decision-making authority or executives who give the 'greenlight' (production approval)." Emphasizing the importance of consulting that considers cultural specificity, talent recommendation, and promotion, she explained, "As the fruit of multifaceted efforts, global hits such as the 'Parasite' premiere support, the Netflix original 'Beef,' and the animation 'KPop Demon Hunters' were able to grow."
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When Ma Dong-hoon, professor at the School of Media and Communication at Korea University who led the dialogue, asked about the fusion of universality with unique sentiments such as shamanism, jeong (affection), and han (deep-seated sorrow), Sugihara cited "KPop Demon Hunters" as an example and analyzed that "the specificity in which cultural particularity is clearly infused is precisely the key element that adds an original color and flavor to a work and breathes life into it." The latter half of the dialogue delved intensively into the impact of generative AI and algorithms on cultural diversity. Professor Ma pointed out that "algorithm-based recommendation services and over-the-top (OTT) platforms can homogenize the cultural tastes of people worldwide or create a crisis that isolates users from the mainstream market." Sugihara also agreed with this point, diagnosing, "If the rise of streaming that began around 2015 was the first great transition, generative AI is the next-generation upheaval facing the media industry." She continued, "Along with the issue of jobs being replaced by AI, I am extremely cautious about the possibility that AI learns racist and stereotyped data from the past and entrenches it." She also emphasized that, in a transitional period where law and institutions cannot keep pace with the speed of technological development, the ethical attitude of creators and platform executives is more important than ever.
The dialogue also drew attention to the fact that rapid technological development is opening doors of unprecedented opportunity for Asian creators. Sugihara analyzed, "Platforms such as YouTube and TikTok are completely overturning the traditional Hollywood-style distribution model," adding, "It is a period of contraction as giant studios repeatedly merge, reduce the number of productions, and pivot toward quality, but for Asian American creators who have secured an independent digital domain, a new stage has instead opened to target the long-tail market."
When the heated dialogue, which unfolded over more than an hour, ended, questions followed from the students who filled the main auditorium. When one student sought advice on entering the entertainment industry, Sugihara stressed the importance of human relationships, answering, "Hollywood works through relationships. When you see the same names appear repeatedly in the credits of a work, you can tell they work together," and adding, "Meeting all of you on this first visit to Korea is the very beginning of that relationship."
Meanwhile, the event was co-hosted by the Korea University School of Media and Communication and the Stage 4 BK21 Media Education and Research Group, and sponsored by the Seoul Economic Daily's "PIXEL & PAINT" and Eugene ENT.
