[Sports Chosun Baek Ji-eun] Director Hong Jong-chan acclaims Noh Hee–gyoung.
It has been a couple of months since tvN ‘Dear My Friends’ has ended. ‘Dear My Friends’ depicts the lives of the older generation who are still claiming that “It’s not over, I’m still alive.” Not only was the series recognized early on, but it ended with a high viewer rating of 9.5% (Nielson Korea, viewership on cable satellite IPTV integrated)
One of its secrets is Noh Hee-gyoung’s writing. Writer Noh Hee-gyoung is famous for her sharp insight into each character’s life, some of which can be seen in her works such as ‘It’s Okay, That’s Love’ and ‘That Winter, the Wind Blows.’ She has only strengthened her name value with this series. ‘Dear My Friends’ centers around rather heavy themes of death, cancer, and dementia with its aging main characters, but she successfully carried out their charms with a delightful tone that’s overarching the entire series. Moreover, the series has brought together a generational difference with Wan (daughter played by Ko Hyun Jung) and Nan-hee (mother played by Go Doo-sim), and it has captured the audience in the stories of the older generation that no one was neither interested nor wanted to know.
Director Hong Jong-chan also acclaims Noh Hee-gyoung’s writing. He said, “I met Noh Hee-gyoung when making the JTBC ‘Padam Padam.’ Yang Gang-chil (played by Jung Woo Sung) enticed my attention, and I remember wondering how she could have understood a guy on such a deep level. I realize now, after having worked with her for more than a year on ‘Dear My Friends,’ that such insight doesn’t just happen on its own. She spends so much time thinking about the characters and interviews a lot of people in the making. I think it’s all the time she puts into listening to other people’s stories that the characters she writes come off as so real.”
It is true that she is stereotypically viewed as testy and very strict whether that preconceived notion is based on the profession or her name value. However, Director Hong firmly declares that “that is not the case with her.” He explains, “She listens and collects so many stories. She is extremely flexible at work. And she knows herself very well. She knows how to take care of herself because she knows what she can and what she can’t do.”
He says that he received a lot of advice in terms of life from Noh Hee-gyoung, and maybe more than what he received at work. He says, “she told me at the beginning of working together ‘how can the viewers enjoy our work when us, the makers, did not enjoy the process of making?’ A lot of our work puts a lot of time and physical pressure on us that we often can’t really enjoy the process of making a series. It was my first time enjoying the making of a series. Remembering what she said also helped on the shooting sets. I enjoyed working with the staff and also the veteran actors. She really helped to bring out the best of my attitude and even changed my personality. She is a wise person. We talked a lot about how we could prepare in dealing with potential frictions after casting the veteran actors. So she was involved not only as a writer but also as a supporting director. Even when the writing was done, I came asking for advice when I was unsure about editting. She came to the shooting set and made everyone feel comfortable too. The staff calls her a ‘national treasure.’ I can feel that she puts her best into everything that goes into making a series including attitude, quality, and as a person.
https://sports.chosun.com/news/news.htm?id=201609250100180350013048&ServiceDate=20160924
[Sports Chosun Baek Ji-eun] Director Hong Jong-chan acclaims Noh Hee–gyoung.
It has been a couple of months since tvN ‘Dear My Friends’ has ended. ‘Dear My Friends’ depicts the lives of the older generation who are still claiming that “It’s not over, I’m still alive.” Not only was the series recognized early on, but it ended with a high viewer rating of 9.5% (Nielson Korea, viewership on cable satellite IPTV integrated)
One of its secrets is Noh Hee-gyoung’s writing. Writer Noh Hee-gyoung is famous for her sharp insight into each character’s life, some of which can be seen in her works such as ‘It’s Okay, That’s Love’ and ‘That Winter, the Wind Blows.’ She has only strengthened her name value with this series. ‘Dear My Friends’ centers around rather heavy themes of death, cancer, and dementia with its aging main characters, but she successfully carried out their charms with a delightful tone that’s overarching the entire series. Moreover, the series has brought together a generational difference with Wan (daughter played by Ko Hyun Jung) and Nan-hee (mother played by Go Doo-sim), and it has captured the audience in the stories of the older generation that no one was neither interested nor wanted to know.
Director Hong Jong-chan also acclaims Noh Hee-gyoung’s writing. He said, “I met Noh Hee-gyoung when making the JTBC ‘Padam Padam.’ Yang Gang-chil (played by Jung Woo Sung) enticed my attention, and I remember wondering how she could have understood a guy on such a deep level. I realize now, after having worked with her for more than a year on ‘Dear My Friends,’ that such insight doesn’t just happen on its own. She spends so much time thinking about the characters and interviews a lot of people in the making. I think it’s all the time she puts into listening to other people’s stories that the characters she writes come off as so real.”
It is true that she is stereotypically viewed as testy and very strict whether that preconceived notion is based on the profession or her name value. However, Director Hong firmly declares that “that is not the case with her.” He explains, “She listens and collects so many stories. She is extremely flexible at work. And she knows herself very well. She knows how to take care of herself because she knows what she can and what she can’t do.”
He says that he received a lot of advice in terms of life from Noh Hee-gyoung, and maybe more than what he received at work. He says, “she told me at the beginning of working together ‘how can the viewers enjoy our work when us, the makers, did not enjoy the process of making?’ A lot of our work puts a lot of time and physical pressure on us that we often can’t really enjoy the process of making a series. It was my first time enjoying the making of a series. Remembering what she said also helped on the shooting sets. I enjoyed working with the staff and also the veteran actors. She really helped to bring out the best of my attitude and even changed my personality. She is a wise person. We talked a lot about how we could prepare in dealing with potential frictions after casting the veteran actors. So she was involved not only as a writer but also as a supporting director. Even when the writing was done, I came asking for advice when I was unsure about editting. She came to the shooting set and made everyone feel comfortable too. The staff calls her a ‘national treasure.’ I can feel that she puts her best into everything that goes into making a series including attitude, quality, and as a person.
https://sports.chosun.com/news/news.htm?id=201609250100180350013048&ServiceDate=20160924