Onda Works CEO Im Eun-jung, who produced the 10-million-viewer film “The King's Warden”, has dismissed the recent plagiarism controversy.
In an interview held on the afternoon of the 11th in Samcheong-dong, Seoul, Im said, “As I stated earlier, if there’s any misunderstanding, I will faithfully clarify it.”
Im continued, “'The King's Warden' is not a script we picked off the market. If you look at the film’s credits, there is an original creator, and the screenplay lists director Jang Hang-jun and writer Hwang Sung-gu; the adapter is also credited. I personally handled the contracts and meetings. We developed it in-house while exchanging feedback, and we have work materials from each stage, so it’s all verifiable. The other party’s claim has no causal link. I have never seen the script they mention. There was no possibility of exposure. I don’t even know what to say about something I’ve never seen.”
"The King's Warden" was one of three projects Im was working on while on CJ’s planning and production team. While preparing a project based on an original scenario, she saw a concept by writer Jung Ji-hoon and began development from that original idea.
“I thought melodrama or horror are easier lanes, but this was an item we could approach with meaning,” Im said. “Because it was with a rookie writer, it was difficult to get it to a first draft. So we wrapped it as an original concept at the treatment stage and asked writer Hwang Sung-gu to take on the script.”
“We signed with writer Hwang, and a first draft came out in early 2020. But it was the pandemic period, and for several reasons, production stopped. I gave the script rights to writer Hwang and told him he could proceed with another company if an opportunity arose. He seemed to feel it would be inappropriate to take it elsewhere since it began with my proposal. So I said I’d look for the right production timing within five years. After that, I launched my own company and decided to prepare this as our inaugural title,” she explained.
The plagiarism controversy surrounding "The King's Warden" surfaced on the 10th via a broadcast report. The bereaved family of a theater actor with the surname Eom, who passed away in 2019, claimed the late actor had written a drama script titled Eom Heung-do and alleged it is substantially similar to the film.
The family said they sent a contents-certified letter requesting an explanation to the production side, but Im Eun-jung stated she has not received it.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kim Ji-hye)
댓글