The Gurin Company, Nikki Semin Han’s Titan Content & UTA Team For American K-Pop Talent Search Format
11.03.2024 - 16:15
/ deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: America’s undiscovered K-pop stars are getting their shot at fame.
LA producer-distributor The Gurin Company and Titan Content, the U.S.-based K-pop company launched by former SM Entertainment CEO Nikki Semin Han, have teamed to created TV talent search format K-Pop Dreams (working title). UTA packaged the deal.
K-Pop Dreams is being billed as a “ten-episode non-conventional talent search format aimed at making “American K-pop dreams come true.” It will look to open doors for undiscovered K-pop talent in cities across the U.S.
The Gurin Company will produce the series and sell it through its distribution subsidiary, TGC Global Entertainment. Gurin, who switched representation from CAA to UTA last September, has finished tape and format rights.
Viewers will follow an immersive journey that goes from initial talent discovery and planning sessions to the meticulous development and shaping of K-pop spectacles. The producers say it will offer “unparalleled insights from discovery to the debut show of the new group.”
South Korean K-pop culture is becoming more mainstream in the U.S., as the success of bands such as Blackpink and BTS grows. Semin Han has been at the forefront of the movement in both countries, first as CEO of Korean entertainment management giant SM Entertainment, which represents the likes of BoA, Girls’ Generation, EXO and Super Junior.
After exiting his CEO post, he moved to become President of Extraordinary Attorney Woo producer Astory and then launched the LA-based Titan Content in November last year.
“Over the past two decades, K-pop has swept around the globe, winning hearts, minds and fans on every continent, and it’s fair to say that Nikki Semin Han has played a pivotal role in turning