Pachinko creator Soo Hugh has urged the studios to “figure out what a library is” and think years into the future with their commissioning decisions.
The storied showrunner was in Cannes sitting on the Canneseries jury and found time to chat to Deadline about the future of the industry and of her breakout Apple TV+ show.
With funding tight and the industry shifting at a rate of knots, Hugh urged the decision-makers to think decades down the line when deciding where to invest.
“There are much smarter people than me who know this stuff so I can only speak on gut instinct, which is that we find shows from the past, so I have to believe libraries mean something,” said Hugh. “I think studios have to figure out what a library is and whether or not it is worth investing in those libraries.”
As it stands, the critically-rated Pachinko is still waiting for a Season 3 greenlight. Speaking to Deadline several months back, Hugh told us the dream with the Min Jin Lee adaptation has always been to make three or four seasons, which would bring protagonist Sunja to 1989.
“This is beyond my pay grade and I don’t know which shows will last the test of time but I have to believe Pachinko will last the test of time,” said Hugh. “Who would have known James Bond would be worth what it is now after the first film? Or Friends? That is a library those people built for longevity.”
“Chicken or egg problem”
Speaking to the funding crisis, Hugh said there is a “chicken or egg problem” for studio bosses who are constantly pausing over whether the content should reflect the audience or the audience should reflect the content.
With this in mind, she said the American system is stymied by a lack of government funding and tax rebates. She used the example of Netflix smash Adolescence as a show the audience may not have known it wanted that was helped along by the government, in this case the UK’s high-end TV tax rebate.
“But then there have been too many shows that gave the audience what they didn’t want and also hurt the industry,” she added. “So there has to be that balance. Adolescence will stand the test of time. If you had told the audience that’s what they wanted they would have said ‘no’, but they needed to see it.”
The situation taps into rumbling debates around production in Hollywood and whether more shows should shoot in Tinseltown. Hugh, who has made just one episode of TV in the States over the past few years, urged the industry not to pit territories against each other but instead seek authenticity where possible.
“To think of filmmaking in Hollywood as separate [to everywhere else] feels catastrophic,” she said. “It would be nice to shoot America for America and if in Spain then shoot in Spain and in Korea then Korea. Shooting in Korea for Pachinko was such a gratifying experience. If you had told me 10 years ago I would be shooting any series in my homeland I would have said, ‘What the hell are you talking about?’.”
Filming around the world has handed Hugh a “unique perspective,” she explained, which has “helped me give up bad habits” and given her confidence to sit on juries such as Canneseries.
This jury was dealt a blow yesterday when its President, Walking Dead star Norman Reedus, pulled out at the last minute due to work commitments, but Hugh said this has had little impact as the group only just started working. “Because we weren’t physically with him we don’t really feel it,” she added.
The first 24 hours of sitting on the jury has been “inspiring,” she added.
“I’ve been blown away by the thoughtfulness and also the combativeness,” she added. “People are standing up for their belief systems.”
Shows in competition include Korea’s S Line, Iceland’s Reykjavik Fusion and Dead End from Belgium’s Malin-Sarah Gozin, the creator of the original Bad Sisters.
Canneseries runs till Tuesday. Hugh keynotes the industry sidebar later today before the likes of Doctor Who producer Jane Tranter and The Bureau creator Éric Rochant. Tonight’s big premiere is Season 2 of The Walking Dead: Dead City.
