Studio Dragon off to strong start in US content market

Poster image of "The Big Door Prize" (Studio Dragon)

South Korean drama production Studio Dragon has secured a solid foothold in the US market with its first original American drama series “The Big Door Prize.”

The company, which was behind many mega-hit series, including “Mr. Sunshine,” (2018), “Crash Landing on You,” (2019), “Big Mouth” (2022) and “The Glory,” agreed to co-produce the drama series with US company Skydance Television in Feburary 2020.

“The Big Door Prize,” which was released on March 29 via global streaming platform Apple TV+, was Studio Dragon’s first US series targeting overseas viewers.

Adapted from a novel of the same title written by US writer M. O. Walsh, “The Big Door Prize” revolves around a family man and high school teacher Dusty Hubbard (played by Christopher O’Dowd), whose life is changed after a mysterious machine appears in his life.

The strange machine is able to foresee the life potential of individuals who come into contact with it, allowing users to make life decisions based on its predictions.

Considered a thought-provoking, exciting drama by reviewers on Rotten Tomatoes, “The Big Door Prize” proved its popularity after it ranked No. 3 at Apple TV+’s TV shows chart in early April.

The production company decided to forge ahead with a new season of “The Big Door Prize” with expanded storylines.

Studio Dragon is also jointly producing US adaptations of its popular intellectual properties, including “Oh My Ghost” (2015), “Twenty Again” (2015) and “Hotel Del Luna” (2019).

“After introducing the production studio system for the first time in South Korea in 2016, Studio Dragon created an American branch to challenge and respond to the global environment of content industry. We hope to become a global production house based on the successful references in Korea and abroad,” Studio Dragon official said in its latest press release.

By Korea Herald(khnews@heraldcorp.com)