“Director Jang Hang-jun said in an interview that I persuaded him to join, right? So on opening day, I worried, ‘What if I end up looking like a con artist?’” Lim said. “I’m deeply grateful that something I set in motion has received this much love. I’m thankful to everyone I met along the way, and above all, I sincerely thank the audience.”
Lim said she founded Onda Works after years of thinking about how to better support creators and see projects through. She said she was drawn to recognizing talent and helping work reach the public, but that it was often difficult to take full responsibility within a larger company. Starting her own company, she said, was a way to keep promises she could control.
“I majored in Korean language and literature, and since high school I thought I should make stories,” she said. “As I studied the film industry, I realized what I do well is seeing who is good at what, so I focused on the producer role. Even when I worked at CJ ENM, my biggest goal was to bring writers’ work to the world, but I felt there were limits inside a company. I thought I needed to be in a position where I could keep my own promises if I wanted to keep working in film.”
She said the industry climate was uncertain when she considered leaving, and people urged her not to. But she said that period only clarified her decision. After resigning, she traveled to Portugal, where the word “onda” — which she later used for her company name — felt like a sign.
“At the time, the industry wasn’t doing well, so everyone around me told me not to quit,” she said. “I heard a lot of, ‘No one is investing — what are you going to rely on?’ It was a livelihood issue for me, too. But I quit and traveled to Portugal for about a month. I love surfing, and when waves were coming, surfers would get excited and say, ‘Onda, onda.’ I thought it was cute and decided that if I ever started a company, I should use the name ‘Onda.’ Then the first surf shop I visited in Portugal was actually named ‘Onda.’ I asked what it meant, and they said it means ‘wave.’ That’s when I thought, ‘This is fate.’ So on April 1, 2023 — April Fools’ Day — I founded Onda Works, almost unbelievably.”
“The King and the Man Who Lives With Him” was a project Lim had carried even before launching the company. She said she was especially attached to it as an original historical drama with no source material, and that she wanted to tell the story from an individual’s perspective rather than focus on the historical event itself.
“I planned this project when I was at CJ ENM,” she said. “It’s an original work with no underlying source, and it was an item I really wanted to make in a meaningful way. I wouldn’t call myself a hardcore historical-drama fan, but I wanted to tell the story of one person standing next to a major historical event. The films I like are ‘The Lives of Others’ and ‘The King’s Speech,’ and I wondered if we could tell that kind of story in a Korean historical drama. I started from the idea: If Eom Heung-do watched King Danjong up close and developed different feelings, what story would unfold?”
The project stalled during the pandemic, she said, forcing her to consider other paths. But she said she did not let it go.
“I asked writer Hwang Seong-gu to write the screenplay, and the first draft came out in early 2020,” Lim said. “But it was the pandemic period, and for several reasons production stopped. I gave Hwang the rights and told him to proceed with another company if an opportunity came up. But I think he felt it would be inappropriate because the script began with my proposal. So I told him I would look for the right timing within five years. After that, I started my own production company and prepared this as our first film.”
Lim said she had a clear reason for choosing Jang Hang-jun to direct. She said the film’s core was the characters’ emotions and point of view, and she believed Jang could best deliver that tone.
“I thought the core of this film was ultimately the perspective on the characters and the theme,” she said. “It was important how Danjong, seen through Eom Heung-do’s eyes, and Danjong’s emotions in that situation intersect. I thought about who could express those emotions most warmly, and I judged Director Jang Hang-jun was right. The warmth I felt in ‘Rebound’ was also a big factor.”
She said pushing a period film at a new company was not easy, given the high costs and uncertain box-office prospects. Lim said she needed to persuade experienced producers and investors, and that the project moved closer to its current form after multiple revisions.
“I told BA Entertainment CEO Jang Won-seok that I wanted to co-produce on the premise that Director Jang Hang-jun would direct,” she said. “At first, he saw it as a commercial risk. So I showed him revised versions three times, and in that process he recognized the potential and joined. Showbox also listened to my project, and they agreed with the view that audiences can seek meaningful stories, not only provocative ones.”
Since the release, she said, one standout trend has been repeat viewings by Gen Z — something she called unexpected but welcome. She said she hoped the story would resonate across generations, but did not anticipate the strength of the response.
“I think a long-built longing for theaters may have played a role,” Lim said. “Recently, several films have helped people feel the fun of going to the theater again. This film also has many elements audiences can enjoy together in a theater, and it’s a film people can talk about with others afterward. The experience of audiences laughing and reacting together seems to have reminded them of what’s appealing about theaters. What surprised me most was Gen Z repeat viewing. I’ve often seen repeat viewing among hardcore fans, but repeat viewing by middle and high school students was truly welcome. For someone like me who wondered whether the next generation would still come to theaters, I think this is very meaningful.”
She also pointed to actor Park Ji-hoon, saying his presence helped connect the figure of Danjong to today’s audience.
“In the end, the combination of actor Park Ji-hoon and the Danjong character played a big role,” she said. “The head of the production company behind ‘Weak Hero’ told me good things about Park, so I had been watching him closely. From the casting stage, I strongly felt he could become a Danjong audiences would remember for a long time.”
Asked about the film being described as a rare “reverse-run” hit and the first Korean movie in two years to surpass 10 million admissions, Lim again pointed to the appeal of the shared theater experience — and to Gen Z repeat viewing as a sign for the industry’s future.
“I think a long-built longing for theaters may have played a role,” she said. “This film also has many elements audiences can enjoy together in a theater, and it’s a film people can talk about with others afterward. What surprised me most was Gen Z repeat viewing. I’ve often seen repeat viewing among hardcore fans, but repeat viewing by middle and high school students was truly welcome.”
Lim said she has multiple projects in development. Within what she could disclose, she said she plans to continue moving between period pieces and contemporary stories.
“First of all, I have a lot of film ideas,” she said. “I’ve built a long friendship with director Kim Eui-seok of ‘After My Death,’ and we’re preparing a genre film set in Gyeongseong that unfolds on a train. Another is an action film with director Ahn Tae-jin of ‘The Night Owl,’ set in a border region during the Joseon era. Coincidentally, the films I can talk about right now are period pieces. The series projects I’m developing are almost all contemporary.”
* This article has been translated by AI.
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