Series Mania 2023: 'Duty After School' makes its global premier

"Duty After School," produced by CJ ENM's production subsidiary Studio Dragon, was invited to Series Mania 2023 to take part in “Special Screening” section, to have its first world premiere. The screening of the first and second episodes of the series was held at UGC Cine-Cite, from 20:30 to 23:05 on the March 20th, Monday. Meanwhile, Duty After School will be available to stream on CJ ENM-launched online streaming platform TVING in South Korea, starting March 31st. “As 'Duty After School' successfully fascinated audiences at Series Mania, I can say for sure that the series will charm the drama fans all around the world," Sebastian Kim, the Director of CJ ENM International Content Sales & Acquisitions said. "I think the special screening was a proof that Korean dramas are more than ready to welcome the global audiences.”

Before the screening, Carlo Fasino, the programming manager of Series Mania shared the excitement on the screening. “In the Special Screenings section, we present a selection of high-profile, innovative drama series, usually French premieres if not World premieres," Fasino said. "We often feature genre series in this section, completing the Series Mania program with exciting evening screenings, offering our French and international audiences an unforgettable, tremendously exciting viewing experience. Duty After School is one of the most eagerly awaited Korean outputs this year.”

At the interview section previously held before the screening, Jin-sun Song, the Chief Producer of Duty After School shared her stories behind producing the series. Song mainly discussed about the casting, the adaptation process of web-toon to K-drama and the struggles behind mixing the genres in the right formula. “I think the uniqueness of Duty After school is that it is not the typical type of teen K-drama. The original story itself is the mixture of many genres- mystery, military and sci-fi- which gave me a big motif to adapt it into drama series," Song shared. "For the adaptation I’ve put a lot of effort to visually articulate the extraterritorial threats, in a way to highlight the twist in high school student’s ordinary everyday lives.” 

After the screening concluded, audiences expressed “the story was so charming and the imagery of the drama was wonderful,” “It was nice to see how the students were overcoming the threat of foreign creatures’ attacks, and how they grow as humans,” and “The series was so interesting, with so many points to smile on, be scared and cry upon.” “The series has struck a chord with the audience attending its premiere screening thanks to the refreshing take on high-school experiences," Fasino added. "Where else would we find out how teenagers would react against an alien invasion, knowing they were humanity's last hope – while they are also coming to terms with their future position in society.”