Filmmaker R&K

Establishment

Director Ryoo Seung-wan and Kang Hye-jeong coined the name Filmmaker R&K (Korean: 외유내강; Hanja: 外柔內剛; RR: Oeyunaegang) since they made their first short film together in 1996. The company was named after both of their surnames. Its Chinese characters have a meaning of being soft on the outside and strong on the inside, but it also represents Ryoo Seung-wan on the outside and Kang Hye-jung on the inside.^[2]

Filmmaker R&K formally established on May 4, 2005. Director Ryoo Seung-wan and Kang Hye-jeong used the bonus that Ryoo received for film Arahan as capital for the company's establishment.^[3] Kang has been the CEO since the company's establishment. Director Ryoo Seung-wan focused on directing films, Kang took charge of the overall production aspects.^[4]

Film production

Filmmaker R&K first film production after its establishment was The City of Violence (2006), a South Korean action thriller film co-written and directed by Ryoo Seung-wan, who stars in the film opposite action director and longtime collaborator Jung Doo-hong.^{[5][6][7][8][9][10][11]} Their second film, Dachimawa Lee, was released in South Korea on August 13, 2008. The movie was based on an internet version of "Tachima and Lee" that had gained 1.2 million views in 2000. Despite the popularity of the internet version, the theatrical release in 2008 failed to attract audiences and performed poorly at the box office. By September 2008, the film had only garnered a total of 629,591 admissions and grossed US$3,715,997.^[12][13][14]

The company return to success with The Unjust. It critical acclaim for its gripping narrative, action scenes, social commentary, and stellar performances by Hwang Jung-min and Ryoo Seung-beom. It was a box office hit, selling over 2.7 millions tickets and ranking in the top ten for year.^[15][16]

It was followed by The Berlin File, This espionage thriller follows a North Korean spy betrayed during a weapons deal. To prepare for the film, Ryoo Seung-wan met with North Korean defectors and filmed the documentary Spies for Korean broadcaster MBC.^[17] The film, shot in Europe, focuses on South Korean agents uncovering North Korea's secrets and explores the emotional toll of espionage. Despite becoming the highest-grossing Korean action film, attracting 13.41 million viewers, it barely broke even due to its high budget of 5.9 billion won. This experience led them to recognize the need to target younger audiences and make more cost-effective films in the future.^[18][19][20]

In 2015, they released the action film Veteran. The film tells the story of a ruthless third-generation business tycoon pursued by a detective investigating a truck driver's mysterious injuries. Despite its modest budget of ₩6 billion, Veteran became a huge success in the South Korean box office, with 13.3 million admissions and earning US$89.7 million. It stands as the biggest hit of Kang's career and ranks as the 5th all-time highest-grossing film in Korean cinema history.^[21] The film brought Kang significant success and established her reputation as one of the leading female film producers in her 40s.^[22][4]

Their next project was The Battleship Island, set on Hashima Island, an outlying island abandoned by Japan off the coast of Nagasaki, where countless Koreans were drafted into forced labor during World War II. The film follows a group of American OSS agents and Korean independence fighters on a mission to evacuate a key Korean figure from the island.^[23] The film's total production cost was 25 billion won.^[24]

Initially, Filmmaker R&K primarily focused on producing director Ryoo Seung-wan's films. However, over time, the company has expanded its efforts to discover new directors.^[25][26] In 2017, Filmmaker R&K established a joint production system with Film K starting with The Battleship Island. Followed by On Your Wedding Day and Svaha: The Sixth Finger.^[27] Due to commercial success of Svaha: The Sixth Finger and Exit, CEO Kang won the 'Female Filmmaker of the Year' award at The 2019 Women's Film Festival, hosted by the Women Filmmakers Association.^[28][29][30]

Also in 2019, filmmaker R&K released the action comedy film Exit, written and directed by Lee Sang-geun as his first feature film debut, and starring Jo Jong-suk and Im Yoon-ah.^[31] Exit also marks Im Yoon-ah's first leading role in a film and is also the second film in her acting career after appearing as a supporting role in Confidential Assignment in 2017.^[32] The story follows a man trying to reconnect with an old crush, but they end up fleeing from a mysterious gas threatening Seoul district. Exit first premiered in South Korea on July 31, 2019.^[33] It was South Korea's third most-watched domestic film of the year, as it sold more than 9.4 million admissions domestically. It was also a worldwide box office success, earning over US$69.5 million.^[34][35]

In 2021, director Ryoo Seung-wan's Escape from Mogadishu and Hwang Jung-min's Hostage, which were released in July and August, were released one after another at three-week intervals as works produced by Filmmaker R&K.^[26] Kang produced Escape from Mogadishu, a film based on real events of the Somali Civil War in the 1990s. It depicted details of perilous escape attempt made by North and South Korean embassy personnel stranded during the conflict.^[36] The film made with production cost of ₩24 billion was entirely shot in Morocco.^[37] It was selected as the South Korean entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards.^[38]

Short film

Feature film