A lot of hype, another delay for Son Dambi

WGM's alumni Son Dambi has had a slight setback in her career yet again. She was supposed to begin filming "Hype Nation," a hip-hop English language movie early next month. Hype Nation seems to be the perfect name for the movie, a lot of Hype but not much besides that... besides delays.Son Dambi was supposed to play the female lead named Esther. However, due to financial distress related to the economic recession, filming has been delayed yet again. It seems that this project already had a hard enough time getting off the ground, with an initial delay back in January and months of planning. In the mean time, she's keeping herself busy. She has plans to continue with the release of her next album at the end of this month. Son Dambi is also keeping busy with acting lessons and practicing her English. She also has plans to star in an upcoming drama.

So Nyeo Shi Dae to release style book

After group Big Bang’s release of their own story in the book ‘Shouting to you in the world’, So Nyeo Shi Dae is the next to release their own style book.Putting aside that of the Kpop realm, So Nyeo Shi Dae will lead as one of the Korean mass culture trend setters. So Nyeo Shi Dae’s interest for fashion has led them to being part of what leads the new mass culture in Korea, for example their colour skinny jeans won when promoting their hit song ‘Gee’ lately have set a fashion craze amongst the young people.Nam Yoo Hee, who is preparing for this book ‘Elle Girl’ said, “In order to follow with the girls’ fashion, we have went directly to their quarters for a visit. We will look into the individual style of the 9 members and then also the style of the whole group.”The book will be published on 17th March for ‘Elle Girl’ April issue.

TOP will join “IRIS” crew on 03/17, Japan is shaken up from the visits of hallyu stars.

There are many Japanese visiting Akita-hyun (the site where drama IRIS is being filmed) to see Lee Byunghun, Kim Taehee and more. They have booked the hotels around the filming site, so much that Yang Hyunsuk from YG entertainment is having trouble finding a room.The first take of IRIS has begun on 10th, and Japanese fans have been around the hotels and filming site to see the faces of their favourite stars.Japanese Broadcasting stations are also eyeing the steps of these stars.The interest will be heightened when TOP of Big Bang joins the crew on 17th. Previous hallyu stars have been famous among the ah-joom-ma’s, it is highly predicted that TOP will bring the fans of younger ages. Because Big Bang has released albums in Japan, people are already feeling the vibe of new hallyu star.THe filming of IRIS will take around 3 weeks; there will be dating scenes of Lee Byunghun and Kim Taehee (will appear as a couple in the drama), and there are action scenes to be filmed.IRIS is the first-ever-drama to try a spy,action thriller in tv drama- it deals with the conflict between assacination of North Korea leader and government groups. It will be aired around september through KBS.

From Boy Meets Boy to Friends

Director Kim Jo Gwang-soo garnered some attention with last year’s queer short film Boy Meets Boy, and now he’s coming out with his follow-up. Called Called 친구사이, the title translates to “We’re Friends?” or simply “Friends?”

Friends?, like Boy Meets Boy, also deals with queer romance, and this time, the director has cast two unknown actors, 19-year-old Hong Jong-hyun and 25-year-old Seo Ji-hoo. Hong started as a model and was also in Jo In-sung’s Frozen Flower, while Seo earned his role through auditions.As with Boy Meets Boy, the events of this film are based on the director’s personal experience; the film aims for a “realistic, frank” depiction of young gay love. Although Boy Meets Boy was a mere 35-minute short, it had a decent amount of buzz. Maybe it was the pretty young actors Kim Hye-sung (Unstoppable High Kick) and Lee Hyun-jin (Family Honor), maybe it was the material (two high school boys falling in love for the first time), maybe it was the fact that the film was nearly dialogue-free. Maybe it was the zeitgeist. In any case, it got people talking and even had a theatrical run.This film is described as “lively and bold,” with stronger (romantic) scenes between the actors than in Boy — but that doesn’t mean they’ll be steamy or graphic; rather, this film features older characters (twentysomethings, versus Boy’s teenagers) and a longer running time. The plot is described as the “unexpected events that occur when Seok (Hong) goes to visit Min-su (Seo), who’s serving his military duty.”The mid-length (50 minute) film will begin shooting mid-March, and aims for a theatrical release sometime in the latter half of the year.