CJ ENM Series ‘Island’ And ‘Bargain’ Head To Cannes Series Festival

Korean TV dramas Island and Bargain were invited to this year’s Cannes International Series Festival, which takes place from April 14 to 19. The French festival, usually called Canneseries, is an international television festival that aims to showcase and promote television series from around the world.

Island, produced by CJ ENM’s Studio Dragon, is invited as part of Rendez-vous, an out of competition category. The fantasy action series based on the popular comic of the same title depicts an unlikable trio fighting unknown demons. The series was released on TVING, the South Korean online streaming service operated by TVING Corporation, a joint venture of CJ ENM (CJ Group), Naver and JTBC. Island was also released on Prime Video, ranking in Top 10 TV shows across 26 regions and landing the No. 1 spot in Singapore, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Island stars Lee Da-hee, Kim Nam-gil and Astro member Cha Eun-woo.

Bargain is the first Korean OTT original to be invited to the Canneseries’ Official Selection in competition. It will compete alongside 10 other nominees for five awards, including Best Series, to be announced on the last day of the event. The drama tells the immersive story of three earthquake survivors engaging in a dangerous bargain. Bargain also marks the second partnership between CJ ENM and Paramount+. It’s scheduled to launch internationally this summer. Licensed by Paramount Global Content Distribution outside of Korea, Japan and Taiwan, the series stars Jin Sun-kyu, Jun Jong-seo and Chang Ryul.

CJ ENM’s presence at the Canneseries has grown since 2018, when the Studio Dragon title Mother, starring Lee Bo-young, competed in the Official Selection. TVING originals Monstrous and Work Later, Drink Now were screened at the Canneseries’ Rendez-vous last year as the first Korean OTT originals to be invited to the festival and were listed in the out of competition section.

“Bargain was the first title that we chose for the competition,” said Canneseries’ artistic director Albin Lewi. “We were more than confident that it will receive enthusiastic responses from the global audience.”

Recently, CJ ENM announced its content line-up for 2023, including the TVING original Duty After School, which was the only Korean series invited to Series Mania 2023 as part of the Special Screening section. The series will air on Netflix.

CJ ENM’s partnership with global platforms including Netflix
NFLX
, Prime Video and Disney+, continues to expand. Yonder, a TVING original is set to be released on Paramount+ on April 11, in select regions including the US, Canada, UK, Australia, Latin America, Brazil, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and France. Other CJ ENM content—Signal, Voice and Save Me—will also be available on Paramount+ from April 11.

Jinnys’ Kitchen, a CJ ENM production, was released on Prime Video, where it ranked in the TOP 10 TV shows in the Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Malaysia. Pandora: Beneath the Paradise, a Studio Dragon production, was released on Disney+. The Glory, a Studio Dragon production, was released on Netflix and is now one of their most popular Korean originals to date. The series stars Song Hye-kyo and Lee Do-hyun.