One of Prime Video’s latest documentaries, Lee Soo Man: King of K-pop, follows the career of Korean music executive Lee Soo Man, founder of SM Entertainment.
Spanning several years, the documentary chronicles some of his time at the company he built, featuring artists from the labels, leading to his eventual not-so-friendly exit from SM and the founding of his new A2O Entertainment.
Ahead of the film’s premiere last month, Lee and an assortment of guests, including his new company’s girl group A2O May, and former and current SM Entertainment talent such as SHINee’s Taemin, Super Junior’s Choi Siwon and Girls Generation’s Tiffany, Sunny and Hyoyeon gathered to screen the film.
Lee told The Hollywood Reporter ahead of the screening that he was approached and met the film’s director, Ting Poo, and thought he could do the project. “I’m so worried right now to see the film,” he said, standing amongst the gathered artists for a photo at the screening’s red carpet.
“Maybe they’ll be scared,” Lee said when asked how he thought people would react. He added he wasn’t sure and that he had to see the film.
A2O May, the first Chinese girl group from Lee’s new endeavor, had just days before the screening performed at Wango Tango. The group said they were both “nervous” and “excited” about the experience to play at the U.S. festival. The group, along with young trainees from A2O, performed at the screening following the film. The five-member group also gushed about getting to meet members of K-pop group Girls Generation, saying they listened to the group growing up and meeting them was “magical.”
Poo, director of Val Kilmer documentary Val, spoke with THR about the film, including about the backlash to the film’s decision to include video from the funeral of late SHINee member Jonghyun in the trailer. The director, who explained she was attracted to the story because she didn’t know much about the world of K-pop prior to taking on the film, said she can “understand why people were triggered by that footage” when asked about the trailer.
“It was a tragedy for the whole community. My intention of using [the footage] in the trailer was not anything salacious or to cause any harm, but merely to point out that the film tackles not just the good parts, but also the more difficult topics,” Poo said. “I hope that when people see the actual film, they’ll see that we dealt with it with the gravity and seriousness that it deserves.”
