K-Bridge #22: Clara Park on the K-Wave, Cross-Cultural Communication, and Korean Identity

Support Clara’s Short Film: https://seedandspark.com/fund/gumiho#...
Clara's Short Story "Gumiho": https://www.asymptotejournal.com/spec...

Clara Park (박인영) is a development producer at Studio Bom, the production studio founded and directed by industry veteran Song Hyun-wook. She's also a graduate of literature at Yale (BA) and world literature at Oxford (MSt).

In this episode, Clara and I have a wide-ranging conversation covering her unique Korean-American upbringing, how she learned Korean through K-Dramas as an adolescent, her experience working in the K-Entertainment industry as an American, her latest project “Gumiho” (a short story being adapted into a short film), and much much more.

Clara’s Socials:
  / clara_inyoung  
  / gumiho_film  
  / claraipark  

Chapters:
00:00 Riffing on Podcasting
03:51 Democratization of Media
10:03 Personal Reflections on Podcasting
18:59 Clara’s Introduction
19:08 Family & Upbringing
28:06 Learning Korean through K-Dramas
29:28 Clara’s K-Entertainment Experience
36:31 Unique Korean-American Upbringing
41:15 NYC Public School System
44:55 Growing Up in NY
47:19 Adjusting to Life in Korea
53:56 COVID’s Impact on Clara’s Life
58:25 Working in K-Entertainment
01:04:48 Language & Cultural Adaptation
01:12:41 Navigating Cultural and Linguistic Challenges
01:16:29 Identity & Belonging
01:22:16 Gumiho - Clara’s Short Film
01:31:19 Language Learning & Communication
01:45:06 K-Cultural Production
02:06:48 Global Capitalism and K-Entertainment
02:08:15 K-Diaspora and Geopolitical History
02:15:23 K-Drama Industry Explained
02:24:15 Personal Projects and Creative Pursuits
02:32:57 Discomfort and Growth