{"id":31099,"date":"2025-09-19T15:42:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T15:42:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/31099\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T15:42:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T15:42:06","slug":"kpop-demon-hunters-success-spotlights-utas-asian-expansion-plans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/31099\/","title":{"rendered":"‘KPop Demon Hunters’ Success Spotlights UTA’s Asian Expansion Plans"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tDavid Park has been showing up. For years, the UTA<\/a> senior partner and television agent has made the trek to Asia multiple times annually, building relationships in markets where American agencies traditionally haven\u2019t maintained a strong presence. Now, with Korean content dominating global streaming charts and K-Pop reshaping the music industry, that persistence is paying off \u2014 and the runaway success of \u201cKPop Demon Hunters<\/a>\u201d proves the agency\u2019s multi-medium, local-focused approach is working.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cOur plans for Asia are ambitious,\u201d Park tells Variety ahead of UTA\u2019s annual Busan International Film Festival<\/a> party. \u201cWe\u2019re thinking about Asia not just in terms of what business we can bring to the U.S., but how can we expand our global footprint working with great artists already in Asia to help them with both their local aspirations and global aspirations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe animated film\u2019s unprecedented success \u2014 breaking records globally while becoming a cultural phenomenon ,particularly in Korea \u2014 validates UTA\u2019s bet on supporting culturally grounded Asian storytelling across multiple platforms. \u201cIn my 30 years, I\u2019ve never seen a phenomenon like this,\u201d Park says. \u201cThe biggest movie and biggest TV show of all time are Korean: \u2018KPop Demon Hunters\u2019 and \u2018Squid Game.\u2019 Korea doesn\u2019t own them, per se, but it shows the power of authentic storytelling.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tPark\u2019s client roster reads like a who\u2019s who of Asian entertainment: director Na Hong-jin (\u201cThe Wailing\u201d), \u201cSquid Game\u201d star Lee Byung-hun, Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda and Korean entertainment powerhouse HYBE. But \u201cKPop Demon Hunters\u201d \u2014 directed by his client Maggie Kang \u2014 exemplifies exactly what UTA has been building toward: Asian stories with global appeal, created by artists who pour their cultural truth into their work.<\/p>\n

\n\tKang, who had worked in animation for 20 years, spent seven years on the project, a deeply personal tribute to Korean culture that resonated globally. \u201cShe put her whole life into this,\u201d Park says. \u201cThe best pieces of art come from authenticity. She wanted to write this love letter to Korea and to Korean culture, and really poured every bit of authenticity into it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The film\u2019s portrayal of Korean culture \u2014 from food to bathhouses \u2014 created something that Korean audiences embraced as truly theirs and global viewers found captivating. This is the core of UTA\u2019s Asian strategy: finding artists with genuinelocal voices and supporting them with resources to reach global audiences. Kang was so devoted she named her daughter Rumi after the lead character. \u201cEveryone thinks the character was named after her daughter, but her daughter came after the character was already established,\u201d Park notes.<\/p>\n

\n\tUTA\u2019s involvement included Park helping secure K-Pop group Twice for a song near the film\u2019s end, demonstrating the agency\u2019s cross-medium approach. \u201cI take a little pride in my small role in that, because I can\u2019t take any credit for the work that Maggie did,\u201d he says. \u201cThat was all her and her co-director Chris Appelhans.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe movie\u2019s achievement of placing four singles in the Billboard Top 100 \u2014 joining only \u201cSaturday Night Fever\u201d and \u201cWaiting to Exhale\u201d in the feat \u2014 shows how UTA\u2019s strategy of working across music, film and entertainment creates synergy. But initially, even the K-Pop industry hesitated. \u201cNo one knew how big it was going to be,\u201d Park explains. The Black Label contributed music but used unknown artists rather than major stars. \u201cNow everybody, the biggest bands on the planet, want to be involved in all the sequels.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThis validates UTA\u2019s long game: betting on local stories and building comprehensive representation. The agency\u2019s strategy centers on Korea as its priority, with Japan close behind \u2014 two markets that historically haven\u2019t worked with global agents. \u201cFor Asians and for a lot of international clients, when you show up and you show up repeatedly, and you build trust, it makes a huge difference,\u201d Park says. \u201cWe\u2019ve been showing up for many years, multiple times a year, and the fact that it\u2019s paying off now is wildly rewarding.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tUTA aims to become \u201ca true partner to multi-hyphenates all across the region,\u201d moving beyond traditional film and TV representation to encompass music, brand partnerships and corporate consulting. This comprehensive approach is already evident in Park\u2019s work with HYBE, where he\u2019s consulting on their expansion into India through K-Pop-influenced local acts, and with K-Pop idol Joshua Hong of Seventeen, whom he\u2019s helping transition into acting.<\/p>\n

\n\tUTA\u2019s Asian expansion extends beyond Korea and Japan. In markets like the Philippines, Vietnam and Indonesia that are comparatively less mature in terms of their film industries, he\u2019s exploring opportunities through music and cross-medium talent. \u201cMaybe there\u2019s a way to work with hyphenate artists,\u201d he suggests. \u201cIf all of a sudden there\u2019s a great K-Pop-type band that comes out of Indonesia backed by a great label, maybe those artists are people we should be looking at, not just for music, but also to segue into the talent fold.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe agency is also the only major Hollywood player (of the \u201cbig three\u201d agencies) throwing a significant party at Busan \u2014 a statement of intent that reflects UTA\u2019s commitment. The event has evolved from what Park calls a \u201csnobby VIP film\/TV party\u201d into a cross-industry networking event bringing together executives from film, TV, music, fashion and brands.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs the son of South Korean immigrants, Park sees his work as both business and legacy. \u201cIf I\u2019m not leveraging my own experience and my relationships with what\u2019s important to me, with my background as a son of immigrant South Korean parents, then who is?\u201d he asks. \u201cIt\u2019s both business and personal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe economics aren\u2019t always straightforward. Park acknowledges that representing Asian talent isn\u2019t as immediately lucrative as focusing solely on established North American clients. Netflix, he notes, has become \u201cthe legacy studio\u201d in markets like Korea and Japan, often paying rates comparable to local broadcasters rather than reflecting global talent value.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s eye-opening to see A-plus talent working under really tough conditions in a way that a lot of mid to lower level directors would be working at in North America, in terms of their fees, budgets etc,\u201d Park observes. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to make the playing field more even for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tDirector Na Hong-jin\u2019s upcoming film \u201cHope\u201d \u2013 starring Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Taylor Russell and \u201cSquid Game\u2019s\u201d Ho-yeong Jung \u2013 exemplifies UTA\u2019s comprehensive approach. The agency helped cast the production and will handle international sales, while also working on U.S. adaptations of Na\u2019s previous films, including a Fox Searchlight deal for \u201cThe Wailing\u201d as a global TV series.<\/p>\n

\n\tLooking ahead, Park advocates for more \u201chybrid\u201d content that blends cultures without necessarily requiring English language, pointing to \u201cSh\u014dgun\u201d and \u201cTokyo Vice\u201d as successful examples. \u201cThe boundaries for what\u2019s great local content versus great global content are starting to blur,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

\n\tAs Park prepares for another Busan festival, where director Na heads the jury and the \u201cKPop Demon Hunters\u201d sing-along version screens for enthusiastic Korean audiences, UTA\u2019s Asian strategy is becoming increasingly clear: comprehensive representation across multiple mediums, building trust through consistent presence and championing authentic stories that resonate globally. The film\u2019s success proves the model works.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThese K-pop idols, if they commit to what they say they want to do, they can make it happen,\u201d Park says. \u201cThey will themselves to learn new talents. I\u2019ve never seen that level of commitment from other human artists.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFor Park and UTA, the transformation is already underway. The question isn\u2019t whether Asian content will continue its global ascent, but how the industry adapts to support it \u2014 and UTA is positioning itself as the essential bridge between Hollywood and Asia\u2019s creative communities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"David Park has been showing up. For years, the UTA senior partner and television agent has made the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31100,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[24456,25072,93,61,60,3622,278,25073],"class_list":["post-31099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-busan-international-film-festival","tag-dave-park","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-kpop-demon-hunters","tag-music","tag-uta"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}