Hwang Dong-hyeok

• Name — Hwang Dong-hyuk • Born — 26 May 1971 • Birthplace — Seoul, South Korea • Other Names — Pride of Ssangmun-dong, "Detective" Hwang [alias] • Occupation — * Film director • producer • screenwriter • Years Active — 2000–present • Agent — Creative Artists Agency • Education — * Seoul National University (BA) • University of Southern California (MFA) • Honours — Geumgwan Order of Cultural Merit (2022) Hwang Dong-hyuk (born May 26, 1971) is a South Korean filmmaker known for writing and directing the crime drama film Silenced (2011) and the creator of Netflix's massively successful Squid Game (2021–2025). He won an Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series in 2022 for directing the Squid Game episode "Red Light, Green Light", making him the first South Korean to win an Emmy in that category. Hwang is one of a few South Koreans who received the Geumgwan (1st Class) Order of Cultural Merit, the highest decoration awarded to those who have contributed to South Korean culture and arts, in 2022.

Hwang Dong-hyuk was born and raised in Ssangmun-dong, Seoul, South Korea; he immersed himself in manhwa and manga, spending hours in comic book cafes. After he graduated from Seoul National University with a Bachelor of Arts in communications, he wrote and directed numerous short films including Our Sad Life and A Puff of Smoke. He then moved to Los Angeles to study for a Master of Fine Arts in Film Production at the University of Southern California.

Around 2008, Hwang had tried unsuccessfully to get investment for a different movie script that he had written, and he, his mother, and his grandmother had to take out loans to stay afloat, but still struggled amid the debt crisis within the country. He spent his free time in a Manhwabang (South Korean manga cafe) reading Japanese survival manga such as Battle Royale, Liar Game and Gambling Apocalypse: Kaiji. Hwang compared the characters' situation in these works to his own current situation and considered the idea of being able to join such a survival game to win money to get him out of debt, leading him to write a film script on that concept throughout 2009. Hwang stated, "I wanted to write a story that was an allegory or fable about modern capitalist society, something that depicts an extreme competition, somewhat like the extreme competition of life. But I wanted it to use the kind of characters we've all met in real life." Hwang feared the storyline was "too difficult to understand and bizarre" at the time. Hwang tried to sell his story to various Korean production groups and actors, but had been told it was too grotesque and unrealistic. Hwang put this script aside without any takers, and over the next ten years successfully completed three other films, including the crime drama film Silenced (2011) and the historical drama film The Fortress (2017). In the 2010s, Netflix had seen a large growth in viewership outside of North America, and started investing in productions in other regions, including Korea. In 2018, Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, stated that they were looking for more successes from overseas productions: "The exciting thing for me would be if the next Stranger Things came from outside America. Right now, historically, nothing of that scale has ever come from anywhere but Hollywood." Netflix had opened up a division in Asia in 2018, and while they were still operating out of temporary leased office space in Seoul, Hwang brought his script to their attention. Kim Minyoung, one of Netflix's content officers for the Asian regions, recognized Hwang's talent from The Fortress and his other films, and upon seeing his script for Squid Game, knew they needed it for the service. Kim said "[W]e were looking for shows that were different from what's traditionally 'made it,' and Squid Game was exactly it". In September 2019 Netflix formally announced that they would produce Hwang's work as an original series. Netflix's Bela Bajaria, head of global television operations, said of their interest in Hwang's work that "we knew it was going to be big in Korea because it had a well-regarded director with a bold vision", and that "K-Dramas also travel well across Asia". Regarding his return to the project, Hwang commented, "It's a sad story. But the reason why I returned to the project is because the world 10 years from then has transformed to a place where these unbelievable survival stories are so fitting, and I found that this is the time when people will call these stories intriguing and realistic." Hwang further believed that the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the economic disparity between classes in South Korea, and said that "All of these points made the story very realistic for people compared to a decade ago". With the Netflix order, the film concept was expanded out to a nine-episode series. Kim stated that there was "so much more than what was written in the 120-minute format. So we worked together to turn it into a series." Hwang said he was able to expand the script so that it "could focus on the relationships between people [and] the stories that each of the people had". Initially, Netflix had named the season Round Six, rather than Squid Game as Hwang had suggested; according to Netflix's vice president for content in Asia Kim Minyoung, while they knew that the name "squid game" would be familiar to Korean viewers from the children's game, it "wouldn't resonate because not many people would get it", and opted to use Round Six as it self-described the nature of the competition. It has been titled as such in Brazil. As production continued, Hwang pushed on the service to use Squid Game instead; its cryptic name and unique visuals helped to draw in curious viewers, according to Kim. At the time that Hwang wrote the season, his goal was to have the season reach the most-watched show in Netflix in the United States for at least one day. Hwang had initially written the season as eight episodes, which was comparable to other Netflix shows, but found that the material for the last episode was longer than he planned, so it was split into two. Lee Jung-jae, who portrays Seong Gi-hun, leads an ensemble cast in the series. Due to the stress of writing and producing the first series of nine episodes himself, Hwang initially had no immediate plans to write a second season to Squid Game, and did not have well-developed plans for a follow-up story and said that if he were to write one, he would likely need a staff of writers and directors to help him. However, with the immense popularity of the show, Hwang later opened about the possibility of a second season in 2021, telling CNN, "There's nothing confirmed at the moment, but so many people are enthusiastic that I'm really contemplating it." Hwang also said in an interview with The Times that a second season may focus more on the story of the Front Man as well as incorporating more about the police: "I think the issue with police officers is not just an issue in Korea. I see it on the global news that the police force can be very late in acting on things—there are more victims or a situation gets worse because of them not acting fast enough. This was an issue that I wanted to raise." He added that he also wanted to explore the relationship between antagonist Front Man (Lee Byung-hun) and police detective Hwang Jun-ho (Wi Ha-joon), as well as the background of the salesman character (portrayed by Gong Yoo). Speaking about the games that appear in the season, Hwang said "They are once again simple children's games that a lot of kids in Korea grew up playing. I remember being on set and being reminded of my childhood days" but he also wanted to open up the games to be more universally recognized this time "In many different countries around the world, there will be some kind of version similar to these games that you probably have played as a child,...They're going to be both very easy to understand and play, and very fun." In 2022, Kevin Yorn represented Hwang in negotiations for the second and third seasons of the series. The second season was released on December 26, 2024, with the third and final season released on June 27, 2025. Hwang won an Emmy for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series in 2022 for directing the Squid Game episode "Red Light, Green Light", making him the first South Korean to win an Emmy in that category. Hwang received the Geumgwan Order of Cultural Merit from President Yoon Suk Yeol, which is the highest decoration awarded to those who have contributed to culture and arts. Due to Squid Game success, Netflix brought Hwang's last films Silenced, Miss Granny, and The Fortress to the service in the United States and other countries. Hwang had also worked with Netflix to create a mockumentary inspired by Squid Game success, titled The Best Show on the Planet. Hwang said the comedy was based on his own personal experience of being pushed into the spotlight due to the rapid success of Squid Game. In 2022, Killing Old People Club, a feature film based on the writings of Umberto Eco, was announced as Hwang's next project.

• Year — Title — Director — Writer — Producer — Notes • 2000 — Our Sad Life — Short film • 2000 — A Puff of Smoke • 2000 — Heaven & Hell • 2000 — Desperation • 2000 — I Love Ultra Lotto — Short film, cinematographer, editor • 2004 — Big Time — Short film, production assistant • 2004 — Miracle Mile — Short film, editor • 2005 — Truck Stop Diner — Short film, actor, grip • 2007 — My Father — Adapted screenplay • 2011 — Silenced • 2014 — Miss Granny • 2017 — The Fortress • 2020 — Collectors — Adapted screenplay • 2021–2025 — Squid Game — Netflix original series, creator; Season 3, episode 6 cameo • scope="row" — K.O. Club

Name of publisher, year listed, name of listicle, and placement • Organization — Year — Award — Ref. Reference(s) • Bloomberg Businessweek — 2021 — 50 People of the Year • The Straits Times (Singapore) — The Straits Times Asian of the Year • Time — 2022 — The 100 Most Influential People of 2022

Name of the award ceremony, year presented, category, nominee of the award, and the result of the nomination • Award ceremony — Year — Category — Nominee / Work — Result — Ref. Reference(s) • Baeksang Arts Awards — 2018 — Best Director — The Fortress • 2022 — Best Director — Squid Game • Best Screenplay • Beautiful Artist Award (Shin Young-kyun Arts and Culture Foundation) — 2021 — Film Artist Award — Hwang Dong-hyuk • Blue Dragon Awards — 2007 — Best New Director — My Father • 2011 — Best Director — Silenced • Best Screenplay • 2014 — Best Director — Miss Granny • 2017 — The Fortress • Best Screenplay • Buil Film Awards — 2018 — Best Director — The Fortress • Best Screenplay • Chunsa Film Art Awards — 2018 — Best Director — The Fortress • Critics Choice Awards Asian Pacific Cinema & Television — 2022 — Director Award for TV — Squid Game • Director's Cut Awards — Best Director in series • Best Screenplay in series • 2026 — Best Director in series — Squid Game season 3 • Grand Bell Awards — 2018 — Best Director — The Fortress • Best Screenplay • Gotham Awards — 2021 — Breakthrough Series – Long Form — Hwang Dong-hyuk (with Kim Ji-yeon) • Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards — 2022 — Best Directing in a Streaming Series, Drama — "Red Light, Green Light" • Best Writing in a Streaming Series, Drama — "One Lucky Day" • Korea Image Award — 2022 — Stepping Stone Award — Hwang Dong-hyuk • Korean Association of Film Critics Awards — 2017 — Best Director — The Fortress • Max Movie Awards — 2015 — Best Director — Miss Granny • Pony Chung Foundation Innovation Award — 2022 — Pony Chung Innovation Award — Hwang Dong-hyuk • Primetime Emmy Awards — 2022 — Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series — "Red Light, Green Light" • Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series — "One Lucky Day" • Outstanding Drama Series — Squid Game (as executive producer) • Visionary Awards — 2021 — 2021 Visionary — Hwang Dong-hyuk • Udine Far East Film Festival — 2012 — Audience Award — Silenced • Black Dragon Audience Award

• Illustration — ribbon bar (Order of Cultural Merit, 1st Class, 2022)