SG Entertainment, a Seoul-based company that trains and manages the next generation of international creators, is all set to nurture talent in South Korea as it expects to enroll more and more students in its academy.
Unique Approach to foster talent
Currently, most influencers are alone to create content and attract an audience, getting inspiration from the trends as well as their peers, and therefore often end up lacking in originality. SG Entertainment, on the other hand, helps creators to draw inspiration from their own personalities to come up with artistic concepts, create new trends, and therefore achieve originality. To achieve this, the company draws on the French pedagogic approach, which focuses on creativity, autonomy, personality development, and freedom of speech.
Furthermore, by professionalizing the creators around stable communities sharing common values, the company can quickly and accurately leverage their influence to introduce and promote its advertising partners’ products and services to large audiences.
SG Entertainment operates through two entities. Its Hongdae academy trains talent to develop their creativity and enrich their content. At the same time it reinforces their self esteem and teaches them how to face an audience as well as manage their fans. Its agency, in addition to traditional production work, handles the management of fanbase communities to help creators focus exclusively on their artistic work and their content creation. The proceeds from the academy serve to finance and stabilize the development of the agency’s efforts.
Currently, anyone can join SG Entertainment’s academy in Hongdae and get trained in various artistic activities such as singing, dancing, acting, modeling, as well as music composition. Creators will be selected through internal auditions after an initial training period.
French founders for Korean startup
SG Entertainment was co-founded by Joon-Hae Woo and Thomas Sommer, two French entrepreneurs. Woo, a music producer, has 20 years’ experience in the European entertainment industry. Sommer, a specialist in international trade, has 8 years’ experience working in startups and ad-tech.
“Today, successful online influencers are shooting stars whose communities tend to wither over time,” says Joon-Hae Woo, SG Entertainment’s CEO. “This is due to two reasons. First, there is the human side: individual influencers don’t know how to professionally manage a large audience. Second, there is a problem with idea development; they struggle to come up with content-rich enough to keep their communities engaged in the long run. By fostering the next generation of creators, SG Entertainment tackles both of these issues.”
With their initiative, SG Entertainment’s founders aim at promoting Korean’s culture abroad and increase its influence internationally. At the same time, they are also bringing a fresh, creative approach to give Korean creators and artists the means of achieving more autonomy on the global stage.
The company plans on replicating its concept in several other countries to create a network of creator agencies, enabling both Korean and foreign advertisers to reach various international audiences. The launch of a European office is planned for the fourth quarter of 2020.
“In an international context of increased trade tensions, it is important to enable the creation of new bridges between countries and stimulate connections across borders,” says Thomas Sommer, COO. “Through our network, we want to connect populations through the diffusion and exchange of creative cultural content as well as the transmission of unifying values. This in turn will facilitate the adoption of innovative products for the benefit of advertisers.” The company expects to enroll 200 students after one year of operations.
Announces to launch an all-girl band in 2020
“We will create a new K-pop trend by introducing a European system that maximizes individuals’ potential based on human values and creativity”, says Joon-Hae Woo, SG Group’s CEO.
SG Group announced recently that it is currently recruiting a four-member girl group with excellent skills and visuals, and will introduce the trainees to the public later this year. Meanwhile, SG Academy is taking the lead in providing a curriculum to become experts in the entertainment field, and is currently training students in its Creator and Idol Tracks.
