As cries of “oppasaranghae!” ring out, South Korean actor Kim Soo-hyun seems pleasantly overwhelmed by the huge crowd gathered in front of the stage at KCON 2024 L.A.
This year, L.A.’s biggest Korean culture event was spread across three venues: the Convention Center, Crypto.com Arena and Gilbert Lindsay Plaza downtown.
While journalist Regina Kim interviewed him in front of an audience of hundreds, the star seemed agreeably distracted, sending smiles, waves and finger hearts to his adoring audience.
Kim Soo-hyun, now 36, made his television debut at 19, and his popularity has only grown since.
Kim Soo-hyun at KCON 2024.
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(Konuk Ryu)
His latest drama, “Queen of Tears,” was a success. The Netflix series was one of the highest-rated non-English-language shows of 2024.
In the 12 years since the first KCON at Irvine’s Verizon Amphitheater, Korean music, dramas, films and television have become a booming micro-economy. The event has expanded alongside that growth, now reaching attendees across the globe — KCON Germany is set for this September.
Organizer CJ ENM, one of South Korea’s largest entertainment groups, says this year’s event, held from July 26 to 28, drew 5.9 million fans from 170 countries, including many TV viewers who tuned in Sunday night to watch headlining acts like rapper Zico and bands NCT 127 and Enhyphen perform live from the Crypto.com arena. The show aired on American television for the first time, with actor Awkwafina as the special host.
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KCON’s increased scale reflects a deliberate effort by its organizers. Harry H.K. Shin, head of music entertainment at CJ ENM, said the overall strategy for KCON’s future is to grow in every aspect, including emphasizing massive K-drama stars like Kim, actor Park Min-young (“Marry My Husband”) and actor and singer Rowoon, who hosted and met fans at this year’s event.
Actor Park Min-young at KCON 2024.
(Konuk Ryu)
Panels, which used to be a more prominent feature, were thinner, allowing attendees more time between speaking events to catch their favorite celebrity fan meeting or audition for the signature “Dream Stage,” where fans vie for a chance to dance on the big stage with their favorite stars.
Shin said audience feedback is essential to creating a KCON experience tailored to what most fans want. Survey information CJ ENM collects is used when planning the next experience.
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“We expanded the survey to get more needs and opinions,” he said, adding, “We used to have M Countdown stage [as the main performance stage], but this year we can have increased attendance because we have the KCON stage performances with all-day programming, we have different venues.”
K-pop band Enhyphen on the Dream Stage at KCON 2024.
(Konuk Ryu)
Some KCON veterans believe that bigger isn’t necessarily better. Christian Oh of the Washington, D.C., area did not attend this year, but has attended and even acted as a host, panelist and emcee at past KCONs from 2015 until the pandemic.
“I think it is still a viable exposure and awareness event, but I miss the days when things were much more accessible,” he said. “Like I could buy a KCON pass which was separate from the concert, and I could go look at the vendors, talk to people, see the smaller acts, just the YouTube or Instagram stars that didn’t have a million followers but they were there promoting themselves.”
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That doesn’t matter much to attendees like Ling Lin who are drawn in by big names.
Lin and her sisters, Lily and Dewi, flew in from Georgia at the last minute to see Kim Soo-hyun. “I’ve always admired him as a person. He came from a humble beginning, and he’s still staying humble,” Lin said.
Lin represents an overlooked demographic: K-culture fans in their 30s, 40s and 50s who have money to spend following their favorite actors across the globe, booking trips to South Korea and attending multiple concerts and events in a year.
Two fans check out artists’ stage outfits at a K-pop museum installation at KCON 2024.
(Konuk Ryu)
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Of course, the younger demographic remains represented. A group of young women, waiting to see Enhypen the next night, occupied a line of tents on the sidewalk outside Crypto.com Arena.
And people of all ages were excited to cheer on girl group Bini, the first all-Filipino act to hit the KCON stage.
For Kyra Godoy, a 20-something K-pop fan of eight years, one of the biggest draws to the event wasn’t the major stars, but the fan culture itself. A longtime fan of K-culture, the L.A.-area resident said she always wanted to come to KCON and finally got the chance when she and her sister won VIP tickets through sponsor Samsung.
“Everyone has been so nice,” Godoy said during a break inside the arena. “I think it’s cute to be around a lot of people who all like the same thing.”
Forget the “video game movie” curse;The Mortuary Assistantis a bone-chilling triumph that stands entirely on its own two feet. Starring Willa Holland (Arrow) as Rebecca Owens, the film follows a newly certified mortician whose “overtime shift” quickly devolves into a grueling battle for her soul.
What Makes It Work
The film expertly balances the stomach-churning procedural work of embalming with a spiraling demonic nightmare. Alongside a mysterious mentor played by Paul Sparks (Boardwalk Empire), Rebecca is forced to confront both ancient evils and her own buried traumas. And boy, does she have a lot of them.
Thanks to a full-scale, practical River Fields Mortuary set, the film drips with realism, like you can almost smell the rot and bloat of the bodies through the screen.
The skin effects are hauntingly accurate. The way the flesh moves during surgical scenes is so visceral. I’ve seen a lot of flesh wounds in horror films and in real life, and the bodies, skin, and organs. The Mortuary Assistant (especially in the opening scene) looks so real that I skipped supper after watching it. And that’s saying something. Your girl likes to eat.
Co-written by the game’s creator, Brian Clarke, the movie dives deeper into the demonic mythology. Whether you’ve seen every ending or don’t know a scalpel from a trocar, the story is perfectly self-contained. If you’ve never played the game, or played it a hundred times, the film works equally well, which is hard to do when it comes to game adaptations.
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Nailed It
This film does a lot of things right, but the isolation of the night shift is suffocating. Between the darkness of the hallways and the “residents” that refuse to stay still, the film delivers a relentlessly immersive experience. And thankfully, although this movie is filled with dark rooms and shadows, it’s easy to see every little thing. Don’t you hate it when a movie is so dark that you can’t see what’s happening? It’s one of my pet peeves.
The oh-so-awesome Jeremiah Kipp directs the film and has made something absolutely nightmare-inducing. Kipp recently joined us for an interview, took us inside the film, discussed its details and the game’s lore, and so much more. I urge you to check out our interview. He’s awesome!
The Verdict
This isn’t just a cash-grab; it’s a high-effort adaptation that respects the source material while elevating the horror genre. With incredible special effects and a powerhouse cast, it’s the kind of movie that will make you rethink working late ever again. Dropping on Friday the 13th, this is a must-watch for horror fans. It’s grisly, intelligent, and genuinely terrifying.
A former executive at Live Nation, the world’s largest live entertainment company, is suing the company, alleging that he was wrongfully terminated after he raised concerns about alleged financial misconduct and improper accounting practices.
Nicholas Rumanes alleges he was “fraudulently induced” in 2022 to leave a lucrative position as head of strategic development at a real estate investment trust to create a new role as executive vice president of development and business practice at Beverly Hills-based Live Nation.
In his new position, Rumanes said, he raised “serious and legitimate alarm” over the the company’s business practices.
As a result, he says, he was “unlawfully terminated,” according to the lawsuit filed Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court.
“Rumanes was, simply put, promised one job and forced to accept another. And then he was cut loose for insisting on doing that lesser job with integrity and honesty,” according to the lawsuit.
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He is seeking $35 million in damages.
Representatives for Live Nation were not immediately available for comment.
The lawsuit comes a week after a federal jury in Manhattan found that Live Nation and its Ticketmaster subsidiary had operated a monopoly over major concert venues, controlling 86% of the concert market.
Rumanes’ lawsuit describes a “culture of deception” at Live Nation, saying its “basic business model was to misstate and exaggerate financial figures in efforts to solicit and secure business.”
Such practices “spanned a wide spectrum of projects in what appeared to be a company-wide pattern of financial misrepresentation and misleading disclosures,” the lawsuit states.
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Rumanes says he received materials and documents that showed that the company inflated projected revenues across multiple venue development projects.
Additionally, Rumanes contends that the company violated a federal law that requires independent financial auditing and transparency and instead ran Live Nation “through a centralized, opaque structure” that enables it to “bypass oversight and internal checks and balances.”
In 2010, as a condition of the Live Nation-Ticketmaster merger, the newly formed company agreed to a consent decree with the government that prohibited the firm from threatening venues to use Ticketmaster. In 2019 the Justice Department found that the company had repeatedly breached the agreement, and it extended the decree.
Rumanes contends that he brought his concerns to the attention of the company’s management, but his warnings were “repeatedly ignored.”
At the centre of Madhuvidhu directed by Vishnu Aravind is a house where only men reside, three generations of them living in harmony. Unlike the Anjooran household in Godfather, this is not a house where entry is banned to women, but just that women don’t choose to come here. For Amrithraj alias Ammu (Sharafudheen), the protagonist, 28 marriage proposals have already fallen through although he was not lacking in interest.
When a not-so-cordial first meeting with Sneha (Kalyani Panicker) inevitably turns into mutual attraction, things appear about to change. But some unexpected hiccups are waiting for them, their different religions being one of them. Writers Jai Vishnu and Bipin Mohan do not seem to have any major ambitions with Madhuvidhu, but they seem rather content to aim for the middle space of a feel-good entertainer. Only that they end up hitting further lower.
