LA Web Festival to screen ‘Kimchi Warrior’

An image captured from the “Kimchi Warrior” web series, directed by Kang Young-man. The series will be screened at the LA WEBFEST 2014 in California, March 26-30.

By Park Jin-hai

Kimchi superhero animation will screen at one of the largest U.S. web series festivals.

According to the LAWEBFEST 2014, Korea-born director Kang Young-man’s “Kimchi Warrior” episodes are included in its final play list for the five-day event scheduled for March 26-30. It is the first time that a Korean director has been invited to the festival.

Kang’s two episodes, each running 5-6 minutes, contain blend of martial arts, comedy, and the promotion of good health. Web series are three-to-six minute-long serialized videos in various genres that are rapidly spread through YouTube and SNSs.

“It is a unique blend of martial arts, comedy, and the promotion of good health. Based on the premise of ‘Popeye,’ our hero obtains supernatural strength by consuming the most prominent Korean dish to defend mankind from the world’s most notorious diseases such as swine flu, mad cow disease, malaria and SARS,” Kang, director of L.A.-based YMK Films, said in a statement on its website.

Kim said in previous interviews that he wanted to promote kimchi and taekwondo into the world of entertainment, which explains the reason for the production of his kimchi warrior superhero.

In the U.S. and France, there are many production companies specialized in web series, holding their own awards ceremonies.
The LAFEST started in 2010 and every year the number of invited videos and participating countries have been increasing, attracting web series fans from all around the world. In 2010, the festival screened 50 videos which subsequently increase to 262 in 2013.