“My dream was to become a film director,” said Hwang Dong-Hyuk, writer/director of Netflix’s Squid Game. “It’s a long story, but at first I wanted to write books or become a poet. I knew I wasn’t good enough for that, but in 1992, my mom bought a video camera so I could use it. I think that was the most fun thing I’ve done in my life, so I knew I wanted to become a film director.”
Hwang Dong-Hyuk is also known for his work on The Fortress and Silenced. The Fortress takes place in 1636, when King Into hides in the mountains to avoid being part of the Qing Dynasty. In Silenced, a hearing-impaired deaf student is sexually assaulted by members of the faculty.
Squid Game, the 9-episode series which has received 14 Emmy nominations, is much different from Hwang’s earlier work. The story follows hundreds of cash-strapped players who accept a string invitation to compete in children’s games. Inside, a tempting prize awaits, but so do deadly stakes in this survival series.
“In 2008, I was trying to write a project and the project failed,” said Hwang. “I couldn’t get an investment, so -- tired and broke — I went to Comic Book stores or Comic Book Cafes as we call them in Korea, and I read a lot of comic books about survival games and gambling.”
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