Jang Jin

Jang dreamed of becoming a musician in middle school, but his ambition changed when he saw his first theater play in his freshman year of high school. As a high school student, he acted in more than 40 plays, receiving good reviews and a few awards for his performances. After majoring in theater studies at Seoul Institute of the Arts, he joined the writing team for the SBS variety show Good Friends in the mid-1990s.^[2] He created his own portion Hollywood Message, which he wrote and edited by himself, where he would take famous scenes from some of the most popular Hollywood films showing in theaters, and make parodies, add silly popups, mix scenes from different films together to form a bizarre, unique collage of images. Because of his contribution, ratings for the show surged to unexpected heights.^[3]

In January 1995, Jang entered newspaper daily The Chosun Ilbo's annual literary contest with Cheonho-dong Crossroad, his first full-fledged script. Using three characters which would feature in most of his theater plays and early films (Hwa-yi, Dal-soo and Deok-bae), his new and creative brand of storytelling won over the judges, who awarded him the top prize. He wrote his first stage play Heotang ("labor in vain") at the age of 21 while serving his military duty,^[4] and his followup Clumsy People,^[5][6][7] not only granted him much praise, but was also a big success, and allowed actress Song Chae-hwan to win the Best Actress Award at the Seoul Theater Festival. At the same time, he was helping adapt Song Jae-hee's original into what became A Hot Roof, a feminist comedy where a group of women from all walks of life protest their position in society from the roof of a building, while their husbands and the rest of the city try to cope with all that in the midst of one of the hottest summers Korea had ever seen.^[3]

It would take another few years before Jang could start working full-time in Chungmuro, but during that time, he built a reputation as one of the most brilliant theater directors in the country, with unique scripts and characters who came across as real even in the most surreal of situations. His 1997 play Taxi Driver was a huge success, displaying his wit and talent for snappy dialogue. The original starred Choi Min-sik as Deok-bae, a taxi driver from the countryside who decides to come to the city, buys a private taxi after his mother sold some land, and hopes to finally make a change in his miserable life.^[3]

The success of his theater plays raised his profile in the industry. Veteran TV drama director Kim Jong-hak commissioned Jang for a script, but the project was delayed. Jang decided to shop around his script, which led to his debut feature 1998 comedy The Happenings (though only half of what he shot ended up in the final cut).^[3]

In 1999 Jang founded the theater troupe Suda, and among his regulars were Jung Gyu-soo, Shin Ha-kyun, Jung Jae-young and Jang Young-nam. After working on the play Magic Time, he then shot his second film The Spy, a comedy starring Yoo Oh-sung as a North Korean spy trying to steal the magic formula of the South's "super pig" to combat the famine.^[3]

The rest of Jang's career brought him to the top of Korea's A-list directors, with the same brand of "Jang Jin style" crowd pleasers, such as Guns & Talks, a black comedy about four talkative assassins. In 2000 Jang established his own film production outfit Film It Suda, hiring his "family" of fellow writers, producers and directors. Their first production was the three-part omnibus No Comment in 2002.^[3][8]

With his theater and film successes, Jang was finally able to move on to producing and his real passion, writing. But the huge flop of the 2003 melodrama A Man Who Went to Mars (also known as A Letter from Mars, which Jang wrote) brought the company's future to a serious crossroad: either focus on hot items or risk losing everything. Though the aftermath of the film's failure was felt even in 2004, romantic comedy Someone Special had a decent box office performance despite the film's low budget, as well as glowing reviews for its stars Lee Na-young and Jung Jae-young.^[9][10] Jang then focused on adapting his successful 2000 theater play Leave When They're Applauding into the big screen. The result was 2005's Murder, Take One, about a homicide case being broadcast live for 48 hours, a whodunit with a campy take on the ratings-obsessed media and the viewers' craze for reality TV.^{[3][11][12][13][14]}

But it would be another of the company's films that became one of the biggest critical and commercial successes of 2005. Adapted by Jang from his same-titled 2002 play,^[15] Welcome to Dongmakgol is the story of a remote mountain village where North and South Korean soldiers as well as an American soldier are stranded during the Korean War. The fantasy dramedy was the debut feature of Park Kwang-hyun, one of several of Jang's colleagues from his theater days who joined Film It Suda.^[12]

In August 2005 Jang served as theatre director for the first time on a play he didn't write himself. He directed his fellow Seoul Institute of the Arts alumni in a staging of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. The play commemorated the 43rd anniversary for Dongnang Arts Center affiliated to the institute and the 100th birthday of the late Yu Chi-jin, founder of the institute and the nation's first amphitheater.^[16]

After his doing his takes on the gangster genre (2006's Righteous Ties^[17][18]) and the melodrama genre (2007's father-centered My Son^[19][20]), Jang wrote the witty script for Ra Hee-chan's Going by the Book, about a mock bank robbery drill that turns embarrassingly real.^[1][21] He also injected an enhanced comic effect into the screenplay of Public Enemy Returns, the third installment in Kang Woo-suk's series on tough detective Kang Cheol-jung (played by Sul Kyung-gu).^[22]

His feel-good political satire Good Morning President was the opening film of the 2009 Busan International Film Festival.^{[23][24][25][26]} At the MBC Drama Awards that year, Jang won a Special Award for his 2008 radio show segment Radio Book Club on MBC Standard FM.

His next films, 2010 ensemble comedy The Quiz Show Scandal^[27][28] and 2011 melodrama Romantic Heaven,^[29][30][31] though well-reviewed, were less successful at the box office.

Besides being the CEO of Film It Suda,^[32] he is also co-founder of the film production company KnJ Entertainment Inc. alongside friend Kang Woo-suk.

Jang was a judge on the first and second seasons of Korea's Got Talent.^[33] He wrote and directed the first three seasons of sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live Korea and anchored SNL Korea's version of Weekend Update.^{[34][35][36][37]} Jang says he believes satirical comedies can change society for the better.^[38][39]

Considered one of the most distinctive voices to emerge from the 1990s Korean cinema renaissance, Jang's unique filmmaking style mixes unconventional storylines, quirky characters, dry and subversive humor, comic twists, sharp puns, stagy presentation, a keen observation of society, and humanism. Jang's films do not sell millions of tickets but he has nurtured a faithful fan base that appreciates his "Jang Jin-ish" style.^[40]

Jang has built up an informal "repertory company" of actors who have appeared in many roles in his films. Most notable of these is Jung Jae-young, who has appeared in ten films directed or written by Jang and whom Jang has described as his "muse" . Other frequent collaborators include Shin Ha-kyun, who has been featured in eleven films. Other actors who have appeared in several films by Jang include Ryu Seung-ryong, Jang Young-nam, Im Won-hee, and Cha Seung-won.

Jang usually has a quick cameo in his films.

Jang was back from his military enlistment in Winter 1993.^[41]

In May 2007, he married then-grad student Cha Young-eun. They have two sons, Jang Cha-in and Jang Cha-yoon.^[42]

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

Short films work of Jang

Year	Title		Credited as			Ref.
	English	Korean	Director	Writer	Producer
2000	A Terrible Day	극단적 하루	No	Yes	Yes
2002	No Comment	묻지마 패밀리	No	Yes	No
	Without My Father	아버지 몰래	No	No	Yes
2004	Has the Shower Ended?	소나기는 그쳤나요?	No	No	Yes	Short film from 1.3.6[43]
2005	Someone Grateful	고마운 사람	No	No	Yes	Short film from If You Were Me 2 (다섯 개의 시선)[44][45]
2008	U-Turn	유턴	No	Yes	Yes	Short film for SsangYong Actyon (OCN)[46]
2016	If Tomorrow is The Future	내일도 미래라면	Yes	Yes	No	Short film for Sister's Slam Dunk

Feature films works of Jang

Year	Title		Credited as			Ref.
	English	Korean	Director	Writer	Producer
1995	A Hot Roof	개같은 날의 오후	No	Yes	No	Cameo
1996	Do You Believe in Jazz	너희가 재즈를 믿느냐?	No	Yes	No
1997	Trio	삼인조	No	Yes	No
1998	The Happenings	기막힌 사내들	Yes	Yes	No
1999	The Spy	간첩 리철진	Yes	Yes	No
2000	Ditto	동감	No	Yes	No
2001	Guns & Talks	킬러들의 수다	Yes	Yes	No	Cameo
2002	No Comment	묻지마 패밀리	No	Yes	Yes
2003	A Man Who Went to Mars	화성으로 간 사나이	No	Yes	No
2004	Someone Special	아는 여자	Yes	Yes	Yes	Cameo
2005	Murder, Take One	박수칠 때 떠나라	Yes	Yes	No
	Welcome to Dongmakgol	웰컴 투 동막골	No	Yes	Yes
2006	Righteous Ties	거룩한 계보	Yes	Yes	No	Cameo
2007	My Son	아들	Yes	Yes	No
	Going by the Book	바르게 살자	No	Yes	Yes
2008	Public Enemy Returns	강철중: 공공의 적 1-1	No	Yes	No
2009	Good Morning, President	굿모닝 프레지던트	Yes	Yes	No
2010	The Quiz Show Scandal	퀴즈 왕	Yes	Yes	No	Cameo
	The Recipe	된장	No	Yes	Yes
2011	Romantic Heaven	로맨틱 헤븐	Yes	Yes	No
2014	Man on High Heels	하이힐	Yes	Yes	No
	We Are Brothers	우리는 형제입니다	Yes	Yes	No
2015	The Sea I Wished for	바라던 바다	Yes	Yes	No

Television works of Jang

Year	Title		Credited as				Ref.
	English	Korean	Script Editor	Writer	Director	Producer
1994	Good Friends — Hollywood Message[a]	좋은 친구들 — 헐리웃통신	Yes	Yes	No	No
2011–2012	Saturday Night Live Korea	SNL코리아	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	tvN Sketch comedy show (season 1–3)

Television appearances of Jang

Year	Title		Role	Ref.
	English	Korean
1998	Soonpoong Clinic	순풍산부인과	Actor	SBS Sitcom
2003	Nursery Story	한뼘드라마	Actor	MBC One-episode drama
2006	The Golden Fishery Kneeling Guru	황금어장무릎팍도사 63회	Featured	MBC Variety Show (Episode 63)
2011–2012	Korea's Got Talent	코리아 갓 탤런트	Judge	tvNReality talent show (season 1–2)
2015–2017	Crime Scene	크라임씬	Cast member	JTBC Crime investigation show (season 2–3)
2016	Dream player	드림 플레이어	Cast member
2017	Maltul club	말술클럽	Cast member
2021	While You're Having a Hard Time	당신이 혹하는 사이	Storyteller	SBS Crime Thriller Crime Documentary
2022–2023	Black	블랙	Cast member	Channel A Crime Thriller Crime Documentary (Season 1–2)[47][48]

Theater works of Jang

Year	Title		Credited as		Restage	Ref.
	English	Korean	Director	Playwright
1995	Heotang	허탕	Yes	Yes	1999, 2012
	Clumsy People	서툰 사람들	Yes	Yes	2004, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012 2022–2023	[49]
1997	Taxi Driver	택시드리벌	Yes	Yes	2000, 2004, 2015
1999	Magic Time	매직타임	Yes	Yes	2007
2000	Leave When They're Applauding	박수칠 때 떠나라	Yes	Yes	Adapted into 2005 film Murder, Take One
2002	Welcome to Dongmakgol	웰컴 투 동막골	Yes	Yes	Adapted into 2005 film Welcome to Dongmakgol
2004	Return to Hamlet	리턴 투 햄릿	Yes	Yes	2011, 2012
2005	Death of a Salesman	세일즈맨의 죽음	Yes	No	2012
2011	Romeo Landing on Earth	로미오 지구 착륙기	Yes	Yes
2016	Flower of Secret	꽃의 비밀	Yes	Yes	2019
	Ice	얼음	Yes	Yes	2021

Musical play(s) credits

Year	Title		Credited as		Restage	Ref.
	English	Korean	Director	Playwright
1999	Beautiful autographs - delightful chatter of women who committed suicide!	아름다운 사인(死因) - 자살한 여인들의 유쾌한 수다!	Yes	Yes		[50]
2013	December: Unfinished Song	디셈버: 끝나지 않은 노래	Yes	Yes	2014

Published scriptbook

Year	Title		Author	Publisher	Published Date	ISBN
	English	Korean
2008	Jangjin's collection of plays	장진 희곡집	Jang Jin	Yeoeumsa	2008.01.15	978-8-9742-7231-9
	Jangjin Scenario Book	장진 시나리오집			2008.07.10	978-8-9742-7232-6
2012	Welcome to Dongmakgol	웰컴 투 동막골	Jang Jin	Communication Books	2012.12.21	978-8-9668-0115-2
	Knowledgable Woman	아는 여자			2012.12.31	978-8-9668-0130-5

Jang frequently re-casts actors whom he has worked with on previous films.

Recurring cast members in Jang Jin's works

Actor Work	Cha Seung-won	Im Ha-ryong	Im Won-hee	Jang Young-nam	Joo Jin-mo	Jung Jae-young	Kim Byeong-ok	Kim Won-hae	Lee Soon-jae	Lee Yong-yi	Shin Goo	Shin Ha-kyun	Ryu Deok-hwan	Ryu Seung-ryong
Theater
Taxi Driver				Y		Y				Y		Y
Welcome to Dongmakgol				Y		Y				Y		Y
Clumsy People				Y								Y		Y
Leave When They're Applauding														Y
Short film
No Comment			Y			Y				Y		Y	Y
Film
The Happening			Y			Y						Y
The Spy												Y
Guns & Talks			Y			Y						Y
A Man Who Went to Mars												Y
Someone Special		Y		Y		Y								Y
Murder, Take One	Y					Y				Y		Y		Y
Welcome to Dongmakgol		Y				Y				Y		Y	Y
Righteous Ties				Y	Y	Y					Y			Y
My Son	Y			Y								Y	Y
Going by the Book					Y	Y					Y
Public Enemy Returns						Y
Good Morning, President		Y		Y	Y			Y	Y	Y				Y
The Quiz Show Scandal			Y	Y			Y	Y				Y	Y	Y
The Recipe														Y
Romantic Heaven			Y				Y	Y	Y		Y
Man on High Heels	Y						Y	Y

• 2012 17th Incheon Asian Games Opening Ceremony General Director
• 2013 Incheon Indoor Martial Arts Asian Games General Director
• 2012 Incheon Asian Games Organizing Committee Advisor
• 2010 Public Relations Ambassador for the 29th International Contemporary Dance Festival
• CEO of Digital Suda (Film Has Suda)

Awards and nominations of Jang

Year	Award	Category	Recipient	Result	Ref.
1995	Chosun Ilbo New Year's Literary Contest	Best Screenplay Theater	Cheonho-dong Gusa Street	Won
2000	36th Baeksang Arts Awards	Best Screenplay	The Spy	Won
2004	5th Busan Film Critics Awards	Best Screenplay	Someone Special	Won
2005	26th Blue Dragon Film Awards	Best Film	Welcome to Dongmakgol	Nominated
		Audience Choice Award for Most Popular Film		Won
		Best Screenplay		Nominated[b]
	4th Korean Film Awards	Best Film		Won	[51]
		Best Screenplay		Won[b]
2006	43rd Grand Bell Awards	Best Film		Nominated	[52]
		Best Screenplay		Nominated[b]
		Best Planning		Nominated[c]
	3rd Max Movie Awards	Best Film		Won
2009	Baeksang Arts Awards	Best Screenplay	Public Enemy Returns	Nominated
	2009 MBC Drama Awards	Special Award for Radio Show Segment	Standard FM Radio Book Club	Won
	5th Korea Green Foundation's People Who Brightened Our World	Person of the Year	Jang Jin	Won
2012	30th Blue Dragon Film Awards	Best Film	Good Morning President	Nominated
		Best Director		Nominated
	30th Fajr International Film Festival International Cinema Competition (Eastern Vista, Asian Cinema)	Crystal Simorgh for Best Screenplay	Romantic Heaven	Won	[53][54]
2014	Seoul Institute of the Arts Alumni Association	Light of Life Award	Jang Jin	Won	[55]
2016	8th Festival International Du Film Policier Du Beaune	Grand Prix	Man on High Heels	Won	[56]
		Critics' Award		Won

Name of publisher, year listed, name of listicle, and placement

Publisher	Year	Listicle	Placement	Ref.
Cine21	2006	Chungmuro 50 Power Filmmaker	25th	[57]
	2007		50th	[58][59]

• List of Korean film directors
• Cinema of Korea