Viu Philippines executive seeks to create original stories with distinctive cultural touch

Corinna Vistan, head of Originals at streaming service Viu's Philippines office / Courtesy of Viu

Viu Philippines' Korean drama-inspired original, 'K-Love,' makes a hit

By Lee Gyu-lee

The emerging era of streaming services and digital media has prompted entertainment content to become increasingly transnational every day, going beyond borders to reach audiences worldwide.

With content from all over the world now joining the competition at the global level, originality has become more important than ever.

Corinna Vistan, the head of Originals at streaming platform Viu's Philippines office, shared that the cultural touch in the stories is the key to bringing original content to the global market.

Based in Hong Kong, Viu is Southeast Asia's largest streaming platform, which services 16 countries including the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and South Africa. It offers a variety of Korean dramas, including hit series like "Mr. Queen," "Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo" and "Taxi Driver."

Corinna Vistan used to serve as a creative content producer at Marvel Studios before joining Viu. Courtesy of Viu

"Global streaming allows our stories to reach a global audience, which is exciting. We would like to continue creating stories with universal themes to be able to reach a wide audience, yet still provide a distinct Filipino touch to our stories," she said in a recent written interview with The Korea Times.

"We'd love to tell our stories and highlight our wonderful culture, so hopefully other countries will be able to appreciate the authenticity in our culture as well," she said.

The Filipino-American executive has an extensive background in Hollywood, working as a creative content producer at Marvel Studios for almost 10 years, before joining Viu Philippines last year. Some of the Marvel titles she was involved with include "Iron Man 2," "Avengers: Endgame," and "Ant-Man and the Wasp." She also created content like short films, documentaries and music videos for films such as "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2," which won her a Gold Clio.

"K-Love," the first project Vistan created since joining the streaming service, has seen huge success since its release in October.

The first original series of Viu Philippines soon became the most-viewed series on the platform, and garnered a 200-percent increase in target subscriptions since its premiere, according to the platform.

The 16-part series follows the story of five friends in their 20s and 30s from Manila, exploring their lives, romances and struggles while sharing their love for Korean dramas.

The poster for streaming platform Viu's original series, "K-Love" / Courtesy of Viu

The creator shared that the show is an homage to American shows like "Sex and the City" and "Friends," as well as romance Korean dramas like "Reply 1988," "Encounter" and "What's Wrong with Secretary Kim," while tackling the universal struggles of women.

"Story is always the No. 1 priority, so we told stories that dealt with universal themes and challenges that women face: societal pressures, motherhood, relationships, etc.," she said. "Unlike 'Sex and the City' and 'Friends,' instead of coffee or brunch, our lead characters would throw 'K-drama' watch parties which brought them even closer together ― something I saw happening in reality as I moved to Manila. I discovered that so many of my friends were in love with K-dramas."

Her previous experience working with Hollywood talent has helped equip her with a production team that will ensure the overall quality of the series. She brought in Hollywood-based executive producers, directors and a cinematographer while maintaining Filipino sentiment by hiring award-winning novelists in the Philippines.

"In creating a female-empowered show with universal themes that still possesses an authenticity in the Filipino voice, I hired Philippine award-winning novelists Tweet and Tara Sering, who in the last decade had written novels with modern Filipina heroines," she said.

"We wanted to make sure there was an overall premium quality to the show … I worked hard to create a team of internationally renowned filmmakers to be able to tell a sincere and genuine story about the plight of the modern Filipino," she said.

A scene from Viu's original series, "K-Love" / Courtesy of Viu

Vistan said that the female-centric series has proven its quality and compelling story, which led to its success.

"Based on the overwhelmingly positive comments on social media, I believe we delivered a premium quality show with complex characters and universally appealing narratives that aim to not only entertain but hopefully to inspire and empower women," she said.

Korean drama-inspired series are an example of the growing phenomenon of Korean series globally. The creator expressed that Korea has impacted the media industry in the Philippines.

"Korea has become an inspiration to Filipinos. We have become avid fans of Korean entertainment and culture," she said. "Not only have we become so fascinated with the culture, but the country serves as a goal to us. It is a country that we aspire to be like one day, to be able to tell the world our stories. Indeed, the global success of Korea inspires Filipinos."

Referring to Marvel's "Black Panther," which marked a turning point for diversity in Marvel Cultural Universe's superheroes, Vistan said that the world has become more open to content from around the world, and Korea has played a huge role in introducing Asian content to this market.

Korean series "Reborn Rich" streams on Viu. Courtesy of Viu

"Korea led the way in terms of creating global Asian entertainment. They were creating top-notch, A-grade shows and films that grabbed the attention of the world. Since then, I believe this opened the doors for the world to take notice of Asian content," she said. "The beautiful stories we have to tell and the excellent narratives we create ― this was really the foot-in-the-door (technique) Asian content needed, and we've been pushing that door farther and farther open ever since."

However, in order to take this phenomenon as a stepping stone to expand the presence of Asian content, she expressed that Asian countries should work together to share each other's perspectives.

"I would love to see Asian countries ― all countries really ― support and share one another's stories. We can learn so much about one another by watching and sharing our stories," she said.

"Seeing the world from the perspective of people from other countries creates a better understanding and awareness between people and their cultures. I would love to see collaboration between Asian countries ― actors, directors, writers, cinematographers and production designers collaborating and crossing borders to tell wonderful stories," she said.