Chris Appelhans, co-director of Netflix's global hit KPop Demon Hunters, revealed that he created the character of Geno based on Korean actor Song Joong Ki.
On the May 21 episode of Welcome, First Time in Korea?, Chris Appelhans — who along with director Maggie Kang sparked a global box office phenomenon with Netflix's KPop anime Demon Hunters — will appear as a guest.
Director Chris Appelhans began his career with the low-budget animated film Wish Dragon. The film was a huge international success, and it gained great confidence from Sony Pictures Animation, to the point where they told him that he could “direct any project he wants.”
In particular, he revealed that he made extensive use of Korean series and the performances of actors to embody the characters’ feelings and details in the work. He studied the paths of emotions and methods of expressing characters by analyzing series such as “Vincenzo,” “A Forced Descent of Love,” and “Flower Boys.” He also mentioned that he specifically used Song Joong Ki's facial expressions in "Vincenzo" to complete the emotional details of the main character, Gino.
He added that the performance of Korean actors, including IU, Son Ye Jin, Kim Tae Ri, Yoo Yeon Seok, and Park Seo Joon, on facial expressions and emotional expression also influenced the character building process.
The television broadcast will reveal, for the first time, a tour of Sony Pictures Animation Studios, one of the most prominent animation studios in Hollywood in the United States, as well as the workplace where the K-Pop film “Demon Hunters” was produced. Director Chris himself will introduce the studio he worked at, review the production journey, and share interesting behind-the-scenes stories about how some of the film's most memorable scenes were directed.
