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Korean dystopian drama Squid Game became a global sensation when it first released in 2021.
When I ask the creator of hit Korean drama Squid Game about reports that he was so stressed while filming the first series that he lost six teeth, he quickly corrects me. “It was eight or nine o’clock,” he laughs.
Hwang Dong-hyuk talks to me on set as he films the second series of his Netflix dystopian thriller, in which hundreds of debt-ridden contestants fight for a huge cash prize, playing a series of children's films for life or death. games.
But another series was not always considered. At one point, he vowed not to do one.
Given the stress this caused him, I ask him what made him change his mind.
“Money,” he answers without hesitation.
“Even though the first series was a huge worldwide success, honestly, I didn't make much,” he tells me. “So doing the second series will also allow me to offset the success of the first.”
“And I haven’t completely finished the story,” he adds.
The first series was Netflix's most successful show to date, putting South Korea and its local TV series in the spotlight. His dark commentary on wealth inequality struck a nerve with audiences around the world.
But after killing off almost every character, Hwang had to start from scratch, with a new cast and a new game series, and this time, audience expectations are extremely high.
“The stress I feel now is much greater,” he says.
Three years after the first series aired, Hwang is even more pessimistic about the state of the world.
It highlights current wars, climate change and the growing global wealth gap. Conflicts are no longer limited to the rich and the poor: they are played out intensely between different generations, sexes and political camps, he says.
“New lines are being drawn. We are in a time where we are against them. Who is right and who is wrong?
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The creators of the series claim that the second season will see more factions and fights between the contestants.
Walking through the show's playful set, with its distinctive, brightly colored staircase, I found a few clues as to how the director's desperation will be reflected this time around.
In this series, the previous winner, Gi-hun, re-enters the game in an attempt to take him down and save the final set of competitors.
According to Lee Jung-jae, who plays the main character, he is “more desperate and determined” than before.
The dormitory floor, where the candidates sleep at night, has been divided into two.
One half is marked with a giant red neon X symbol, the other with a blue circle.
Now, after each game, players must choose their side, depending on whether they want to end the fight early and survive, or continue playing, knowing that all but one will die. The majority decision decides.
This, I am told, will lead to more factionalism and fighting.
This is part of director Hwang's plan to expose the dangers of living in an increasingly tribal world. According to him, forcing people to choose sides fuels conflicts.
For everyone who was captivated by Squid Game's shocking storytelling, there are others who found it gratuitously violent and difficult to watch.
But it's clear from our discussions with Hwang that the violence is fully thought through. He is a man who thinks and cares deeply about the world and is motivated by a growing unease.
“When I was making this series, I constantly asked myself, 'Do we humans have what it takes to pull the world out of this downward slide?' “. Honestly, I don’t know,” he says.
While viewers of the second series may not get answers to these big life questions, they can at least take comfort in knowing that some plot holes will be filled in – like why the game exists and what which motivates the masked Front Man who runs it.
“People will see more of Front Man's past, his story and his emotions,” reveals actor Lee Byung-hun, who plays the mysterious role.
“I don't think it will make viewers warmer to him, but it might help them better understand his choices.”
As one of South Korea's most famous actors, Lee admits that having his face and eyes covered and his voice distorted throughout the first series was “a bit unsatisfying.”
In this series, he enjoyed having scenes without a mask, in which he can fully express himself – a chance he almost didn't get.
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Director Hwang Dong-hyuk said Netflix only paid him a modest upfront fee for the series, which reportedly grossed £650 million on Squid Game.
Hwang tried for 10 years to make Squid Game, taking out large loans to support his family, before Netflix intervened.
They paid him a modest upfront fee, leaving him unable to profit from the massive £650 million the platform is said to have generated.
This explains the love-hate relationship South Korean film and TV creators currently have with international streaming platforms.
Over the past few years, Netflix has taken the Korean market by storm with billions of dollars of investment, bringing the industry global recognition and love, but leaving creators feeling shortchanged.
They accuse the platform of forcing them to give up their copyright when they sign contracts – and with that, their claim to profit.
This is a global problem.
In the past, creators could count on a cut of box office sales or TV reruns, but that model hasn't been adopted by streaming giants.
The problem is compounded in South Korea, creators say, because of an outdated copyright law that fails to protect them.
This summer, actors, screenwriters, directors and producers came together to form a collective, to fight together against the system.
“In Korea, being a director is just a job, it's not a way to make a living,” Oh Ki-hwan, vice president of the Korean Directors Guild, told the audience at a event in Seoul.
Some of his filmmaker friends, he says, work part-time in warehouses and as taxi drivers.
Park Hae-young is a writer at the event. When Netflix purchased his show “My Liberation Notes,” it became a worldwide hit.
“I have written all my life. So, getting global recognition by competing with creators from all over the world has been a joyful experience,” she tells me.
But Park says the current streaming model has made her reluctant to “put everything” into her next series.
“Usually I spend four or five years making a drama with the belief that, if it succeeds, it might somehow secure my future, and that I will get my fair share of compensation. Without that, what's the point of working so hard?
She and other creators are pushing the South Korean government to change its copyright law to force production companies to share profits.
In a statement, the South Korean government told the BBC that while it recognized the compensation system needed to change, it was up to the industry to resolve the problem. A Netflix spokesperson told us it offers “competitive” compensation and guarantees creators “solid compensation regardless of the success or failure of their shows.”
Squid Game's Hwang hopes his franchise facing its own salary woes will spark this change.
It certainly sparked the debate over fair pay, and this second series will surely give the industry another boost.
But when we meet again after filming is over, he tells me that his teeth are hurting again.
“I haven’t seen my dentist yet, but I’ll probably have to get a few more removed very soon.”
The second series of Squid Game will be released on Netflix on December 26, 2024.
