CJ E&M looks overseas with ‘Grandpas Over Flowers,’ ‘Nine’

In CJ E&M’s push to increase its global content, it has announced that last year’s popular production format behind Korean reality series “Grandpas Over Flowers” and sci-fi series “Nine” will be exported overseas to China and the U.S., respectively.

On Monday, CJ E&M released the company’s “2014 E&M Global Initiative” stating its goals including increasing its exports of weekly drama formats. The entertainment and media conglomerate is currently in negotiations with a Chinese broadcasting company to export the popular reality series “Grandpas Over Flowers,” which first aired in Korea last July. The series follows a group of older male Korean actors during their travels abroad and is expected to “appeal to the mass audience” in China, according to a CJ E&M representative.

“This year we are looking to increase our overseas content sales by 15 percent and start to raise our status as a global cultural content enterprise,” said the official.

Late last year, CJ E&M also revealed that it had signed a contract with U.S. production company Fake Empire Entertainment ― the masterminds behind the globally popular American TV drama “Gossip Girl” ― for the rights to local tvN drama “Nine.” Although there have been a number of Korean dramas that have been remade in other Asian countries, this contract marked the first TV remake in the States.

“Nine” is a sci-fi drama about a man who is able to go back in time 20 years into his past, only nine times. During his time travels, he is able to change the events in his past in order to alter his future.

By Julie Jackson
(juliejackson@heraldcorp.com)