Lights, camera, K-pop! Canadian prodcos Pillango Productions and Academy Award® and Emmy Award® nominated Aircraft Pictures announced today that the coming-of-age, original series GANGNAM PROJECT (10x30) is set to return for a second dynamic, high-stakes season. The series, co-commissioned by CBC Kids and CBBC, recently wrapped production on Season 2 in Hamilton, Ont. and Seoul, South Korea.
The Cast of Gangnam Project
The 10-episode season follows the young stars from Season 1 as they transition from One Mile Entertainment trainees through the excitement and make-or-break journey of becoming professional K-pop idols. But while the highs are high, the lows can be even lower - it’s not easy suddenly being in the spotlight. With pressure from OME, expectations from the fans, and dealing with creative differences as a group, friendship and commitment are tested like never before.
“I feel incredibly blessed to be continuing the Gangnam Project journey with our phenomenal cast and crew. This season will showcase more incredible music, extraordinary performances, and, of course, a dose of k-drama,” said Sarah Haasz, series creator and founder of Pillango Productions.
“Gangnam Project has connected with K-pop fans of all ages and working in collaboration with Sarah and our partners at Pillango Productions and Aircraft Pictures, we’re excited to share more incredible singing, dancing and drama with audiences across Canada,” said Marie McCann, Senior Director, Children’s Content, CBC Kids. “The chemistry between the cast members is undeniable and August’s infectious soundtrack truly brings the series to life - there will no doubt be lots to look forward to in season two.”
“The popularity of Korean culture from K-pop to K-drama to K-cartoons continues to grow and it is important to reflect that in our offering to younger audiences. It’s a pleasure to bring more of these global stories for a second series, with key universal themes of friendship, challenge, and commitment at its core - and all of the added fun of brilliant music and dance routines!” said Sarah Muller, Senior Head of Commissioning and Acquisitions 7+, BBC Children’s and Education.
“When Gangnam Project first launched it was less than a year ago, so we are delighted to be able to present a second season at the upcoming MIPCOM. The fact that a new season is well underway in such a short space of time also highlights the demand and allure of the upbeat K- pop world, and our buyers will not be disappointed!” said Monica Levy, Co-Chief of Distribution, Federation Kids & Family.
Joining the cast this season is newcomer Ryan Jacob Kong as Young-Jae, alongside returning cast members Julia Kim Caldwell as Hannah, Taran Kim (“Rock of Ages”) as Leo, Brianna Kim (So Help Me Todd) as Chan-Mi, Joshua Lee (XO, Kitty) as Supreme, Angela Son as Sun Hee, Kylie Haasz (The Next Step) as Mina, Sean Baek (Reacher) as Ken Yoon, Paul Seungbin Lee as Auzzy, Zeboria Peters (The Haunted Museum) as Rook, and M.J. Kang (The Bequeathed) as Sandra.
Recording artist, songwriter, producer, and musician August Rigo returns with a fresh and infectious new original soundtrack for Season 2. Rigo has written songs for global K-pop sensations BTS (“Black Swan” and “On,” amassing over 1 billion views combined on YouTube), “U Smile'' for Justin Bieber and “Gotta Be You” for One Direction.
GANGNAM PROJECT is co-commissioned by CBC Kids and CBBC and produced by Pillango Productions and Aircraft Pictures with the financial participation of Shaw Rocket Fund and the Canada Media Fund. Series creator Sarah Haasz serves as showrunner and executive producer alongside head writer Jennica Harper and Aircraft Pictures’ Anthony Leo and Andrew Rosen, with Justin Wu, Gloria Kim, and Samantha Wan directing.
Federation Kids & Family is handling worldwide sales, with Season 1 acquisitions thus farincluding France Télévisions (France), ABC (Australia), YLE (Finland), TV3 Group (Baltics) and NRK (Norway), to name a few.
For CBC, Sally Catto is General Manager, Entertainment, Factual and Sports; Marie McCann is Senior Director, Children’s Content, CBC Kids; and Swin Chang is Executive in Charge of Development and Production, CBC Kids. For CBBC, Sarah Muller is Senior Head of Children’s Commissioning 7+, Aubrey Clarke is Commissioning Executive 7+ and Desiree Peeters is Assistant Commissioner – Submissions Lead 0-12.
Season 1 of GANGNAM PROJECT is streaming now on CBC Gem and BBC iPlayer.
GANGNAM PROJECT Online
Instagram: @gangnamprojectofficial
TikTok: @gangnamprojectofficial
Hashtag: #GangnamProject
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About Pillango Productions
Headquartered in Toronto, Pillango Productions was founded in 2019 by producer Sarah Haasz. With over 20 years experience as a prominent broadcast executive working for networks such as YTV, CBC Kids, Disney Jr Canada, and Family Channel, to name a few, Sarah focuses on kids TV production, creating original IP’s and assisting producers in bringing their shows to fruition. As part of her network portfolio, she was involved in the execution of successful series and movies such as The Next Step, Raising Expectations, Justin Time and to date has been credited for her work on over 2,000+ hours of children's programming in across a variety of genres. Since forming Pillango which focuses on live action and animation production for family viewing, credits include Circuit Breakers, a live action anthology series for Apple TV+, and Step by Step Let’s Dance, a live action docu dance series for TVO Kids.
About Aircraft Pictures
Aircraft Pictures is an Academy Award® and Emmy® nominated producer of scripted content. Based in Toronto with an office in Los Angeles, the production company was founded by Anthony Leo and Andrew Rosen. Select credits include the Netflix global hit series Geek Girl, sci-fi series Circuit Breakers for Apple TV+, the animated theatrical feature film The Breadwinner – a co-production with Cartoon Saloon in association with Executive Producer Angelina Jolie – nominated for an Academy Award® and Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature Film and winner of the Los Angeles Film Critics Award and Annie Award for Best Independent Animated Feature; five seasons of the Canadian Screen Award-winning and Emmy®-nominated live-action Hulu Original series Holly Hobbie; and the tween, live-action, comedy Popularity Papers, in association with WexWorks Media/BBC Studios. For more information, visit www.aircraftpictures.com.
About CBC/Radio-Canada
CBC/Radio-Canada is Canada’s national public broadcaster. Through our mandate to inform, enlighten and entertain, we play a central role in strengthening Canadian culture. As Canada’s trusted news source, we offer a uniquely Canadian perspective on news, current affairs and world affairs. Our distinctively homegrown entertainment programming draws audiences from across the country. Deeply rooted in communities, CBC/Radio-Canada offers diverse content in English, French and eight Indigenous languages. We also deliver content in Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Punjabi and Tagalog, as well as both official languages, through Radio Canada International (RCI). We are leading the transformation to meet the needs of Canadians in a digital world.
About CBBC
BBC Children’s is a bold, multi-genre, public service offering that has earned the unswerving trust of British families. It is home to some of the UK’s most popular children’s channels, CBBC and CBeebies, delivering world-class, UK-produced children’s programming across all genres, including drama, comedy, factual and news. The great majority of our experiences are produced in the UK as we aim to reflect the diverse lives of our viewers - and give as many of them as possible a voice across all our platforms. CBBC is the go-to destination for children 7-12 to enjoy inspiring and enabling TV and interactive experiences across all platforms.
About Federation Kids & Family:
Federation Kids & Family is a global kids’ content producer and distributor, and a division of Federation Studios, a leading global media powerhouse specializing in high-end international programming. Federation Kids & Family distributes premium original content featuring animated series and specials, as well as talent-driven live action drama series. Titles include LIVE ACTION tween series such as the K-pop inspired coming-of-age dramedy Gangnam Project, the global hit Find Me in Paris (ballet/time travel), Spellbound (witchcraft/ballet), Theodosia (period Egyptology-themed), ANIMATION series such Simon Super Rabbit (hit preschool long-running series), Monster Shaker, The New Adventures of the Triplets, The Ollie and Moon Show, Squish, Presto! School of Magic, and DOCU-STYLE series Let’s Dance, to name a few. Federation Kids & Family also focuses on building strategic partnerships and alliances with major international companies and broadcasters. www.federationstudios.com/genre/kids
For media inquiries, please contact:
Steph Perron, BAE Communications
Tanya Koivusalo, CBC PR
