Yang Woo-suk (born October 24, 1969) is a South Korean film director
and manhwaga. His first film was the critical and commercial hit The
Attorney (2013).Born in Seoul in 1969, Yang Woo-suk graduated from
Korea University with degrees in English Literature and Philosophy. He
became a cartoonist, writing webtoons such as If Thou Must Love Me
(2008-2009) and Steel Rain (2011-2012).Yang also began working in the
film industry mainly as a producer for the companies MBC Productions,
SK Independence, and All That Story, doing such tasks as production
planning, investment supervision and recruiting new directors. He
became interested in film technology and taught himself about HD and
CGI; he produced the HD film Desire in 2004 and became the creative
planning director at computer graphics company Locus.Yang's debut as a
filmmaker came relatively late in life in his mid-forties, when he
co-wrote and directed courtroom drama The Attorney, a fictionalized
account of former South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun's early years as
a human rights lawyer in 1980s Busan. It was loosely based on the
"Burim" case of 1981, when the Chun Doo-hwan regime arrested without
warrants 22 students and teachers who belonged to a book-reading club
on charges that they were North Korea sympathizers. Yang said, "I am
interested in films that tell stories of people who struggle hard to
stick to their beliefs when they come into conflict with outside
environments. [...] I wanted to grasp the very moment when a man
dramatically and radically changed." At first Yang had difficulty
getting funding for a film with real-life historical figures given the
sensitive political climate, but those pre-production budgetary woes
eased when top actor Song Kang-ho was cast as the protagonist.
Released in late 2013, The Attorney became an unexpected box office
sensation, drawing 11,375,954 admissions as it reminded older viewers
of the country's politically charged past and provided younger viewers
with a window into that era. It became the ninth film in Korean cinema
history to reach 10 million admissions, and became (at the time) the
8th highest grossing Korean film of all time. The Attorney received
multiple awards and nominations domestically, particularly for Song
who received rave reviews for his performance. Notably, it won four
awards at the 35th Blue Dragon Film Awards, including Best Film, Best
Actor for Song, Best Supporting Actress for Kim Young-ae, and Popular
Star Award for Yim Si-wan. Yang also won several Best New Director
prizes, from the 19th Chunsa Film Art Awards, the 50th Baeksang Arts
Awards (where Song won the Grand Prize and The Attorney won Best
Film), the 14th Director's Cut Awards, the 34th Korean Association of
Film Critics Awards, and the 51st Grand Bell Awards (where Yang also
won Best Screenplay).
and manhwaga. His first film was the critical and commercial hit The
Attorney (2013).Born in Seoul in 1969, Yang Woo-suk graduated from
Korea University with degrees in English Literature and Philosophy. He
became a cartoonist, writing webtoons such as If Thou Must Love Me
(2008-2009) and Steel Rain (2011-2012).Yang also began working in the
film industry mainly as a producer for the companies MBC Productions,
SK Independence, and All That Story, doing such tasks as production
planning, investment supervision and recruiting new directors. He
became interested in film technology and taught himself about HD and
CGI; he produced the HD film Desire in 2004 and became the creative
planning director at computer graphics company Locus.Yang's debut as a
filmmaker came relatively late in life in his mid-forties, when he
co-wrote and directed courtroom drama The Attorney, a fictionalized
account of former South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun's early years as
a human rights lawyer in 1980s Busan. It was loosely based on the
"Burim" case of 1981, when the Chun Doo-hwan regime arrested without
warrants 22 students and teachers who belonged to a book-reading club
on charges that they were North Korea sympathizers. Yang said, "I am
interested in films that tell stories of people who struggle hard to
stick to their beliefs when they come into conflict with outside
environments. [...] I wanted to grasp the very moment when a man
dramatically and radically changed." At first Yang had difficulty
getting funding for a film with real-life historical figures given the
sensitive political climate, but those pre-production budgetary woes
eased when top actor Song Kang-ho was cast as the protagonist.
Released in late 2013, The Attorney became an unexpected box office
sensation, drawing 11,375,954 admissions as it reminded older viewers
of the country's politically charged past and provided younger viewers
with a window into that era. It became the ninth film in Korean cinema
history to reach 10 million admissions, and became (at the time) the
8th highest grossing Korean film of all time. The Attorney received
multiple awards and nominations domestically, particularly for Song
who received rave reviews for his performance. Notably, it won four
awards at the 35th Blue Dragon Film Awards, including Best Film, Best
Actor for Song, Best Supporting Actress for Kim Young-ae, and Popular
Star Award for Yim Si-wan. Yang also won several Best New Director
prizes, from the 19th Chunsa Film Art Awards, the 50th Baeksang Arts
Awards (where Song won the Grand Prize and The Attorney won Best
Film), the 14th Director's Cut Awards, the 34th Korean Association of
Film Critics Awards, and the 51st Grand Bell Awards (where Yang also
won Best Screenplay).
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