MBC sues studios behind upcoming drama 'Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born' over tvN defection

MBC has sued the three production studios behind the upcoming drama "Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born," alleging that the series was brought to tvN in violation of an earlier agreement.

A still from tvN's upcoming series ″Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born″ [TVN]

A production company gone rogue or power abuse by a broadcaster?

tvN’s upcoming series "Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born," starring actor Kim Tae-ri, is on a rocky road even before its official release next month as a local court accepted MBC's request to seize the assets of the show's production companies over allegations by MBC that the studios backstabbed the TV network and took the series to tvN without consent. The companies denied the accusation and instead called out MBC for abusing power over the companies.

The new tvN period drama, set for release on Oct. 12, revolves around Jeongnyeon, who aims to become the top gukgeuk actor right after the Korean War (1950-53). Gukgeuk is an all-female Korean musical theater genre. The show stars renowned actors like Kim, Ra Mi-ran and Shin Ye-eun.

MBC claimed that the three companies exploited MBC's resources, including personnel and infrastructure, while making the series and then took the work to a competitor without proper discussions, despite a promise to air it on MBC. The trio, on the other hand, claim that they only offered to do so and no hands were shaken on the deal.

MBC announced Thursday that the Seoul Central District Court fully accepted its request on Tuesday to seize the assets of production companies Studio N, Management mmm and npio Entertainment for violating the Unfair Competition Prevention and Trade Secret Protection Act, often referred to as the Unfair Competition Prevention Act.

“We filed a provisional attachment based on the Unfair Competition Prevention Act concerning the misappropriation of business-related outcomes and the claim for damages due to the unjust termination of contract negotiations, which the court granted,” MBC said.

The negotiation between the two parties began in 2022, following the production companies' proposal to MBC on the series’ broadcast and production budget in November of the same year. However, the three companies and MBC failed to reach an agreement on the production cost, leading the studios to broadcast the series on another TV channel, tvN.

A poster of tvN's upcoming series "Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born" [TVN]

During the process, the series’ director, Jung Ji-in, who was originally a producer at MBC and behind the channel's hit historical drama “The Red Sleeve” (2021), quit the broadcast network to continue working on the series after the deal fell through.

“MBC has not entered into any contracts with the production companies, including any verbal agreements related to the series, and the production companies have not been explicitly informed of any confirmed programming,” the three companies said in a statement released on Thursday, after MBC’s announcement.

The companies argued that they had no choice but to search for other broadcasting platforms as MBC pushed back negotiations until the very last minute, forcing them to agree to unfair terms.

"MBC told us to try going to another channel if we could, just 20 days before we started shooting, leading us to resort to changing broadcasters even if we had to push the schedule back by over a month," they said.

The companies also emphasized that MBC is "a giant of the industry that they could not cross," and they had expressed their willingness to cover any fees incurred by MBC.

“We expressed our willingness to cover any fees incurred if MBC paid for anything, but they did not disclose any cost details and rejected requests to discuss the matter,” the companies said.

However, they also emphasized that “the series project was planned, developed and led by the production companies, bearing all the costs themselves” and that they “did not receive a single won from MBC.”

Despite the dispute, the drama will air as scheduled, according to the companies, saying that “the court’s ruling is unrelated to the show and will not impact its schedule.”

"We would like to make it known that MBC's recent provisional attachment is not a final ruling by the court but a simple preservation measure, a temporary decision based solely on MBC's unilateral claims without allowing the production companies to present their position,” the trio added.

“We hope that ‘Jeongnyeon: The Star is Born,’ a work filled with the passion and hard work of many staff and actors, will be considered purely on its own quality."

BY WOO JI-WON, KIM JI-YE [woo.jiwon@joongang.co.kr]