Made in Korea: The K-Pop Experience - Vick Hope signs up to narrate the series Made in Korea: The K-Pop Experience for BBC One and BBC iPlayer
BBC: https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/2024/made-in-korea-the-k-pop-experience-vick-hope-signs-up
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The band who will feature in Made In Korea: The K-Pop Experience, a brand-new acquisition set to launch on BBC One and iPlayer this summer, has been named as Dear Alice with the five members – Blaise, Dexter, James, Olly and Reese - also confirmed today.
Voicing their story as it unfolds will be presenter and BBC Radio 1 DJ Vick Hope. She says: “I’m really looking forward to being a part of the show, it’s a fresh way to bring along a brand-new boyband, and I’m excited to see their journey.”
The members of Dear Alice are:
Blaise Noon - the youngest of the band at 19 years old and from London. A former pupil of the BRIT school, he has grown up acting, singing and dancing.
Dexter Greenwood is aged 22 and also from London. Having completed a three-year performing arts diploma in Musical Theatre, Dexter is now stepping into the world of pop.
James Sharp is a 23-year-old content creator from Huddersfield. Alongside his brother, James is one half of the Sharp twins whose TikTok account has amassed 5.5M followers.
Olly Quinn is 20 years old and from Sunderland. As a childhood chorister, he grew up singing and is a recent graduate in dance and musical theatre.
Reese Carter, aged 20 from Wiltshire, has previously been working as a performer on cruise ships, which he’s now left behind in the hope of pursuing his boyband dreams.
Made in Korea: The K-Pop Experience is a music experiment like no other. A collaboration between Moon&Back Media, SM Entertainment, and SM & Kakao Entertainment America, the six-part series will follow Blaise, Dexter, James, Oliver and Reese as they are put through the K-pop training process with the goal of launching Dear Alice, a new boy band on the global stage.
Cameras go behind closed doors at K-pop talent powerhouse SM Entertainment for the first time to witness the band working with the world’s greatest choreographers, singing songs from the best songwriters, and being tutored by some of the most revered experts in the K-pop business.
SM Entertainment has been a leader in South Korea's entertainment and media industry for the past 30 years, and is the company that founded and led the system that made K-pop a worldwide phenomenon. SME also orchestrates all aspects of the music business, including album planning, production, distribution, promotion, and artist management.
Filmed in South Korea, Made In Korea: The K-Pop Experience sees the boys immersed into K-pop culture and put through the original K-pop training process for 100 days. They will face a schedule of choreography, vocal and performance lessons, life coaching techniques, alongside an immersion into all aspects of Korean life - set against Seoul’s striking landscapes and iconic K-pop locations.
Each week the band’s progress is critiqued by undisputed K-pop expert, Hee Jun Yoon, the creative force behind some of the biggest K-pop bands of the last 20 years. This is the ultimate boot camp by the people who have created the world’s biggest K-pop superstars – but success is far from guaranteed.
The producers for Made in Korea: The K-Pop Experience are global entertainment and music genre specialists Moon&Back Media, part of the team who developed and produced some of the world’s most travelled formats (Got Talent, The X Factor) and popular bands (One Direction). ITV Studios handles international distribution.
Made in Korea: The K-Pop Experience (6 x 45) is produced by Moon&Back Media and has been acquired by the BBC for BBC One and iPlayer. ITV Studios handles international distribution for both format and finished programme.
BBC acquires new entertainment series Made in Korea: The K-Pop Experience for BBC One and BBC iPlayer
What happens when you take five boys from the UK, drop them in Seoul, and put them through the world-renowned K-pop process?
BBC: https://www.bbc.com/mediacentre/2024/made-in-korea-the-k-pop-experience
FULL PRESS RELEASE:
A world-first entertainment series encapsulating the global phenomenon of K-pop is set to launch on BBC One and iPlayer this summer.
Made in Korea: The K-Pop Experience is a music experiment like no other. A collaboration with K-pop talent powerhouse SM Entertainment & Kakao Entertainment America, the six-part series follows five boys from across the UK as they are put through the K-pop training process with the goal of launching a new boy band on the global stage.
Cameras go behind closed doors at SM Entertainment for the first time to witness the band working with the world’s greatest choreographers, singing songs from the best songwriters, and being tutored by some of the most revered experts in the K-pop business.
Filmed in South Korea, Made in Korea: The K-Pop Experience sees the boys immersed into K-pop culture and put through the original K-pop training process for 100 days. They will face a schedule of intense choreography, vocal and performance lessons, life coaching techniques, alongside an immersion into all aspects of Korean life - set against Seoul’s striking landscapes and iconic K-pop locations.
Each week the band’s progress is critiqued by undisputed K-pop expert, Hee Jun Yoon, the creative force behind some of the biggest K-pop bands of the last 20 years. This is the ultimate boot camp by the people who have created the world’s biggest K-pop superstars – but success is far from guaranteed.
Across three decades, K-pop has become a global phenomenon, influencing the worlds of fashion, styling and music. Credited as the company that created K-pop, SM Entertainment’s pioneering and comprehensive artist development system has launched over 100 groups and solo performers, including NCT, aespa, and RIIZE. They are behind the staging of over 2,300 global tours and a talent stable that has collectively accumulated over 100 billion YouTube views.
The producers for Made in Korea: The K-Pop Experience are global entertainment and music genre specialists Moon&Back Media, part of the team who developed and produced some of the world’s most travelled formats (Got Talent, The X Factor) and popular bands (One Direction).
Kalpna Patel-Knight, Head of Entertainment at the BBC says: ‘This unique acquisition will showcase a sense of exactly what it takes to make it in the world of K-pop. Witnessing the band come together and be put through their paces promises to be a very exciting prospect for audiences.’
Nigel Hall, Co-founder, Moon&Back Media says: ‘Made in Korea: The K-Pop Experience combines best in class from both K-pop and global entertainment production worlds. Forming a British boy band, schooling them through the unrivalled rigours of the K-pop process, and launching them on the global stage is creating both a world first and unmissable television.’
Daniel Jang, CEO, SM Entertainment says: ‘Through this UK boy group project, we anticipate a palpable synergy between SM Entertainment's prowess in K-pop production and Moon&Back Media's expertise in developing music-genre TV shows. This collaboration will yield exceptional content that will captivate pop music fans, not only in the UK, but worldwide.’
Joseph Chang, Co-CEO, Kakao Entertainment Corp said: ‘This endeavour marks the first time we’ve utilised K-pop’s production expertise within the UK, the birthplace of pop music, to directly showcase the creation of artists and music IP. It represents a meaningful opportunity to connect with a global audience through a reality show that traces the group’s journey and development. We’re confident that this project will open a new chapter for K-pop, offering a unique entertainment experience to music enthusiasts worldwide. We look forward to witnessing the debut and growth of this boy group together, with hopes that viewers will discover a new side of K-pop and fall in love with it all over again.’
Made in Korea: The K-Pop Experience (6 x 45) is produced by Moon&Back Media and has been acquired by the BBC for BBC One and iPlayer. ITV Studios handles international distribution for both format and finished programme.
K-Pop Powerhouse SM Entertainment and Leading UK Production Company Moon&Back Announce Search for New UK Boy Band
MUSIC BUSINESS WORLDWIDE: https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/sm-entertainment-moonback-global-search-boy-band/
BILLBOARD: https://www.billboard.com/pro/sm-entertainment-moon-and-back-partnership-tv-format/
BROADCAST: https://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/indies/dawn-airey-indie-to-kick-off-k-pop-series/5187932.article
TELEVISUAL: https://www.televisual.com/news/moonback-ties-with-koreas-sm-on-boyband-series/
FULL PRESS RELEASE:
Powerhouse K-pop entertainment company SM Entertainment partners with UK television production heavyweights at the newly launched Moon&Back Media to create and debut a new UK boy band to TV audiences worldwide – a first-of-its-kind partnership between Korea and the UK.
The unique new series unites power players in both K-pop and global television production to find the next worldwide boy band sensation. Korea’s SM Entertainment is widely credited with being the company that created K-pop and launched over a dozen globally successful pop groups like NCT, aespa, SuperM, Red Velvet, RIIZE, and more. Meanwhile, Moon&Back was founded by multi-BAFTA-winning producer Nigel Hall (Britain’s Got Talent, The X Factor, One Direction) acclaimed broadcast leader Dawn Airey (C4, C5, ITV, Sky, Getty Images), and leading talent manager Russ Lindsay (Ant & Dec, Simon Cowell). Asylum Entertainment Group invested in Moon&Back earlier this year.
The series’ executive team includes music industry executive Ben Karter (The Script, Westlife, Taylor Swift) and multi-award-winning producer and Emmy-nominated showrunner James McKinlay (X Factor, America’s Got Talent) and BAFTA-winning Executive Producer David Hall (Deal or No Deal, The Chase, The Greatest Dancer).
Shot over the course of six months, the unique TV series will follow a fledgling boy band as they depart London in early 2024 on the adventure of a lifetime. Pre-production for the series, which will be shot in the UK and South Korea, is underway as are discussions with major broadcasters, record labels and music publishers.
Joseph Chang, CEO of SM & Kakao Entertainment America, said, "This collaboration signifies our first footprint in Europe. Our expansion blueprint will continue to span across North and South America, Europe, and other pivotal markets, leveraging SM Entertainment’s vast artist roster and extensive networks for unprecedented synergies ahead. We are thrilled to partner with power players who were critical in the creation and success of One Direction, and together we are aiming to find that next global sensation.”
Dawn Airey, Co-Founder, Moon&Back said, “Take one of the world’s best entertainment producers and combine it with the world’s best K-pop producer and watch the magic unfold. This is a global first, creating a British boy band and exposing them to the wonders and rigours of the premier K-pop process with SM Entertainment. This alchemy will create compelling television and a boy band that will entertain the world.”
About Moon&Back Media
Moon&Back Media is a partnership between Nigel Hall, Dawn Airey and Russ Lindsay borne out of a longstanding relationship at the highest level of the global television industry, where the three multi award winning founders have been launching talent, creating IP and producing / commissioning the world’s most successful television shows for over three decades. LA based Asylum Entertainment Group invested in Moon&Back earlier this year. Utilising Nigel’s exceptional creative prowess, Dawn’s global experience in traditional television and digital exploitation, Russ’s extensive knowledge of IP creation and marketing, and their combined relationships with the very best broadcast talent, they have combined their unique skills once again. Hall’s success is highlighted by his work as former Head of Light Entertainment at ITV, creating hits like Celebrity Stars in their Eyes, You’ve Been Framed and Saturday Night Takeaway. Later, Lindsay – who, as co-founder of UK-based talent agency James Grant, had been managing top-tier talent – pulled in Hall to forge Syco Entertainment with Simon Cowell. As Managing Director, Hall co-created, formatted and executive produced the two biggest formats in the last 20 years: the UK and global versions of The X Factor and the Got Talent franchise. Through Hall’s stewardship, The X Factor spawned local versions in 56 countries while Got Talent currently airs in more than 190 international territories. Lindsay also co-founded Talent Bank, which bridges the entertainment industry’s preeminent talent with a sophisticated network of digital broadcast platforms. Airey’s television career is punctuated by her roles as Controller of Arts & Ent at Channel 4, CEO of Channel 5 and Managing Director of Sky Channels and ITV Productions. Drawing on immense experience in the global digital space, Airey also served as SVP of Yahoo! and CEO of Getty Images.
About SM Entertainment
SM Entertainment is South Korea's No. 1 entertainment and media group, leading the way in overseas markets with its unique production and training system and excellent overseas marketing strategies, and as a leading company, it has produced many global K-pop stars. SM Entertainment focuses on the music business, including album planning, production, distribution, promotion, and artist management, based on the excellent know-how accumulated over the years. The company manages artists including KANGTA, BoA, TVXQ!, SUPER JUNIOR, Girls’ Generation, SHINee, EXO, Red Velvet, NCT U, NCT 127, NCT DREAM, WayV, SuperM, aespa, GOT the beat, RIIZE, and NCT NEW TEAM.SM Entertainment has 37 companies including SM C&C, Key East, Dear You, and SM Brand Marketing as subsidiaries. As of the end of June 2023, the total number of employees reached 649. It has also created a unique performance brand called SMTOWN, which has successfully held performances in major cities around the world and continues to set new records in the performance business. SM Entertainment is growing to become the world's No. 1 entertainment company, and as the creator of K-pop's original and unrivaled system, it continues to produce representative K-pop stars.