FLOWER MOUND, TX (4/9/14)- Group 1200 Media, in conjunction with Giant Ape Media, announced live-action Korean zombie coming of age melodrama, LET ME OUT won the prestigious Gold Medal at the 2014 New York Festivals (NYF) International Television & Film Awards™ earlier tonight. Celebrating the World’s Best TV Programs & Films™ and now in its 57th year, NYF announced the winners of this annual competition this evening at their annual Gala at the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) Show in Las Vegas at the Las Vegas Hilton in the Las Vegas Hotel & Casino Ballroom. The International Awards Group’s annual NYF Awards show celebrates exceptional and innovative programs worldwide in all areas of programming ranging from news, sports, promos, documentaries, dramas and feature films. The Grand Jury awarded Gold World Medals, Silver, Bronze, and Finalist Certificates from entries submitted from over 50 countries. Other winners included NBC Sports, ESPN, Blue Marble Media, and Cartoon Network Latin America to name a few.
LET ME OUT, co-directed by Chang Lae Kim and Jae Soh, stars popular K-drama actors, Hyun-Sang Kwon (THE KING 2 HEARTS, VAMPIRE PROSECUTOR 2, QUEEN OF AMBITION and THE FUGITIVE OF JOSEON) and K-pop star, Hee-von Park from SM Entertainment’s girl band, MILK and star of (GRAND PRIX, READ MY LIPS, FAMILY and GOD’S QUIZ SEASON 3).
Written, directed and produced by Koreans and Korean Americans, LET ME OUT is written and directed by Jae Soh and Chang Rae Kim. Produced by Min Soh and Irene Cho. LET ME OUT is the first Korean independent film released back to back in both Korea and the U.S.
“It’s amazing for a small indie film to be recognized in the same company of other prominent media companies and industry leaders such as NBC’s THE VOICE, CNN’s Anthony Bourdain’s PARTS UNKNOWN and just in time for the film’s N. American DVD release on May 27th,” says Adam Zehner, VP of Licensing and Acquisitions, Group 1200 Media.
“Hyun Sang and I are so honored to accept this award on behalf of the team behind LET ME OUT in Korea. This was so unexpected, we are so thrilled to win this award. Thanks to our relationship with our U.S. distributor, Giant Ape, LET ME OUT, an indie Korean film can win the NYF Awards Gold Medal in the U.S. category at the NAB Show-the world’s largest electronic media show with nearly 90,000 attendees and thousands of exhibitors from all over the world. Anything is possible,” says Irene Cho, Producer, LET ME OUT.
“We are honored to be chosen for this award, and thankful they recognized this film as a Gold Medal winner amongst the other nominees in the industry,” says Scott Lonski, Director of Marketing Services, Group 1200.
LET ME OUT is a Korean language coming of age melodrama and pays homage to Day For Night (France), Living In Oblivion (USA) and Korean cinema. LET ME OUT pokes fun at director Yang Ik-June who won the 2009 Rotterdam Film Festival’s Tiger Award for his film, Breathless. Director of M, Duelist, Nowhere To Hide and Korean film icon, Lee Myungse is cast as himself.
SYNOPSIS:
This zombie melodrama is Mu-Young film school opus. An eternal senior, he knows everything about cinema but nothing about actual filmmaking. Critical of everyone else, he heckles the famous indie director Ik-June Yang at a campus screening and somehow receives film funding. His dream of working with his love-interest Ah-Young becomes a nightmare. Everything that can go wrong does. Barely surviving a disastrous shoot, Mu-Young learns making a movie is like love, you can’t do it alone. LET ME OUT is a tribute to guerrilla, indie, amateur, low-budget cineastes struggling to create. It is hope.
LET ME OUT opened in S. Korea on August 15, 2013 and was distributed through Baekdu Daegan Film Company in approximately 15 theaters including Art House Momo (Baekdu’s Art House theaters), CGV Movie Collage (the Art House division of CJ Entertainment), and Artplus Cinema Network in various cities throughout Korea, including Seoul. The film had its red carpet US Premiere at the Downtown Independent Theater in LA on August 16, 2013 to a sold out audience with director, Jae Soh and Kwon Hyun-Sang, the film’s lead actor. FUNimation and Giant Ape Media partnered with TUGG, to release the film theatrically in select cities including New York, NY, Dallas, TX, San Francisco, CA and Chicago, IL in Fall/Winter 2013. LET ME OUT is the first Korean independent film released back to back in both Korea and the U.S. and is distributed in the U.S. by Giant Ape, a Group 1200 Media company, based in Flower Mound, TX.
NYF’s 2014 Television & Film Awards ceremony and acceptance speeches is available for viewing on the International Television & Film Awards website. To view this year’s award winners: https://www.newyorkfestivals.com/winners/2014/ or https://www.newyorkfestivals.com/nabshow2014/mobile/
For more information visit: www.newyorkfestivals.com.
Last year’s award winners included: Opening Ceremony of the Games of the XXX Olympiad” (IOC/LOCOG/OBS/Done and Dusted/YLE); A&E, USA for Paul Simon’s Graceland Journey: Under African Skies; and the History Channel’s Hatfields & McCoys starring Kevin Costner. ESPN, USA earned the title of Broadcaster of the Year for the 6th year consecutive year and was recognized with 12 Gold World Medals, 20 Silver, 8 Bronze, and 22 Finalist Certificates.
About Group 1200 Media
Group 1200 Media is a multifaceted entertainment conglomerate encompassing FUNimation(R) Entertainment, Giant Ape Media and Group 1200 Products (GameSamba and Immerz). This production, marketing, and distribution corporation strives tirelessly to accomplish its mission of delivering the highest quality entertainment brands – along with their associated products – across a multitude of genres. Group 1200 Media is committed to continually releasing and developing exciting new properties representative of its diverse background in the entertainment industry. Additional information may be found at www.group1200.com.
About International Awards Group
International Awards Group (IAG) organizes advertising and programming competitions for the following brands: AME Awards® for the World’s Most Effective Advertising™; Midas Awards® for the World’s Best Work in Financial Marketing & Advertising™; The Global Awards® for the World’s Best Healthcare Advertising™; New York Festivals®; World’s Best Advertising®; World’s Best Radio Programs™ and World’s Best Television & Films™. Entries to each of the competitions are judged around the world by panels of peers in their respective industries. For more information, go to www.InternationalAwardsGroup.com.
