Korean director Dae Hyun Song moves to Kuala Lumpur to join Directors Think Tank

At age 15, Dae Hyun Song decided to walk out of the infamous school system in South Korea. Shortly after, he boarded on a plane by himself to the unknown land of Cambodia and later the United States, where his filmmaking career began with Live Nation.

A few weeks before making the decision to move to Malaysia, something occurred to his filmmaking purpose on a fundamental level.

Dae Hyun Song was born and grew up in South Korea, until he left at a young age of 15 by himself. Getting away from the infamously rigid Korean school system, he pursued his own path – first to Cambodia, and later the United States where his filmmaking career began in Los Angeles.

Having spent his entire adolescence overseas, he learnt early on how one’s perception can change so quickly and drastically depending on where and when. Whereas in the United States his social identity and connotations as a young Asian man predominantly shaped him being and therefore his motivations, back in Asia, his birthright heritage and associations with the Korean culture.

Dae Hyun Song said: “Last year, Directors Think Tank approached me for their upcoming CARRO project, which was a hilarious K-drama spoof. It was part of their international campaign with directors coming from three different countries – Malaysia, Thailand and Korea. I had done a few dramatic and comedic works in South Korea that convinced the client, so we moved forward together. I worked with the wonderful team at Directors Think Tank to help bring Korean cast to Kuala Lumpur and helm the directing job for a shoot, and it was received very well. The project turned out to be an online hit, garnering 5M+ views worldwide. In addition, the film also garnered a viral reaction in Korea and was later reviewed by South Korea’s no. 1 marketing trend channel ‘WLDO’ which quoted as saying our film may have pioneered a new genre in K-drama spoof in overseas advertising market. Needless to say, I walked away with such a strong impression on Directors Think Tank. Their incredible support system for young directors was hard not to be amazed by. After the shoot, I continued to keep in touch with the company. And when all things cleared at the beginning of this year, we talked about working closely together furthermore. They have never been shy of bringing foreign directors through their resident director program, and through that, I was able to relocate to Kuala Lumpur without any difficulties.”

With this belief and success-in-progress in mind, the idea of working in Malaysia crystallised without hesitation when Director’s ThinkTank offered him a resident director opportunity. With this new opportunity in hand, he has created the want to build a bridge between the Korean and Malaysian pop culture, and cherish the universal idea of young hopes and dreams that they represent.