SEOUL, December 08, 2023 – The weekend drama series Castaway Diva has reached a grand finale demonstrating the ability of Kakao Entertainment to produce key works with a multi-studio scheme.

Produced through a collaboration between Baram Pictures and Kakao Entertainment, Castaway Diva revolves around the story of an aspiring singer named Mok-ha, who becomes stranded on an uninhabited island and returns to the world after 15 years with a rekindled dream of becoming a diva. 

In the finale aired, Mok-ha (Park Eun-bin) and Ran-joo (Kim Hyo-jin), warmed the hearts of viewers with the successful conclusion of a journey to turn their lives around. Since its debut in October, the title has garnered massive popularity. It secured the No. 1 spot among all dramas airing simultaneously in Korea and achieved the feat of being the most trending out of all shows on TV networks and online streaming platforms. This accomplishment has been paralleled by its significant international success, with the show entering the TOP 10 show list in more than 40 countries and becoming one of the 10 most popular non-English TV shows on Netflix for four consecutive weeks. 

Castaway Diva is a drama that Baram Pictures and Kakao Entertainment were dedicated to from its planning and development to its global releases. Known for producing shows with a precise and rigorous storyline, Baram Pictures put together a team of writers, directors, and actors with an excellent track record bringing out the best from them and proving its production capabilities with yet another global hit. The drama has enjoyed rave reviews for its robust storyline, a rich set of likable characters, aesthetically pleasing scenes, and captivating music.

From its production phase, Castaway Diva attracted tremendous attention for its impressive staff and cast. The drama marked the third reunion of director Oh Choong-hwan and writer Park Hye-ryun following While You Were Sleeping and Start-Up. Park Hye-ryun and Eun Yeol delivered touching, heartwarming storytelling, complemented by brilliant directing and stunning cinematography by Oh Choong-hwan. It also brought together a stellar cast that included Park Eun-bin, Kim Hyo-jin, Chae Jong-hyeop, Cha Hak-yeon, and Kim Joo-hun. The passionate acting and chemistry among the cast significantly enhanced the quality of the drama and made it highly engaging.

Castaway Diva also demonstrated synergies between the media and music divisions of Kakao Entertainment. THE BOYZ, a boy group from IST Entertainment, a subsidiary of Kakao Entertainment, participated in the original soundtrack of the show by singing We Are. This lyrical song received great attention and drew the audience closer to the drama. Park Eun-bin, who plays the role of a would-be singer in the show, was featured in Beyond the Studio, a segment of Kakao Entertainment’s K-pop channel 1theK Live on YouTube for global fans. She delivered an amazing live performance and her video has garnered a lot of attention, accumulating more than 1.2 million views.

Kakao Entertainment has built up its competitiveness as a global studio by establishing a system that brings together companies with superb creativity and production capacity and leveraging this multi-studio scheme to produce global hit shows with considerable value as intellectual property. Given that drama and film production is a time-consuming undertaking from the planning to production stages, Kakao Entertainment began its preparations early on and these efforts started bearing fruit from last year. Its shows have been well received by audiences worldwide, ranking high on global charts, and a world-renowned film festival invited the team that made one of its movies. This success highlights the synergy between affiliate production studios and between Kakao Entertainment and its subsidiaries.