The Korea Culture & Content Agency (KOCCA) has set Friday December 9th to launch the organization’s annual DARI Awards ceremony, honoring entertainment executives and companies for outstanding contributions in advancing the culture of Korea within the U.S. market.
Created by KOCCA and the Korean Cultural Center of Los Angeles (KCCLA), the annual DARI Awards (DARI is Korean for ‘bridge’) will also showcase work produced by event’s recipients.
The 2005 DARI Awards recipients are:
* TokyoPop, Inc., for their tremendous success publishing close to 100 volumes of Korean manhwa (graphic novels) in 2005.
* Tartan Films USA has released 14 Korean movies this year, through their Tartan Asia Extreme label.
* K2 Network, Inc. is a leading aggregator and publisher of online entertainment and broadband services, particularly MMOG’s from Asia. K2 licenses its games from leading Korean game developers, including Feenix, Inc, Gravity Co. Ltd., and Mgame Inc.
* Esther Chang, Talent Agent, The William Morris Agency, represents Korean actress Ms. Yoon-Jin KIM, currently seen in ABC’s hit show ‘Lost’.
In addition to the award ceremony, the evening will also present an overview of the ‘Korean Wave,’ for the attendees. The Korean Wave is the phenomena of Korean-produced film, television and music currently sweeping across Asia.
“We are pleased to announce the recipients of this year’s DARI Awards,”said KOCCA’s Marketing Director, Alexis Wallrich. “Each of our recipients have committed themselves or their company towards creating bridges between our two cultures, and their outstanding effort and hard work serves to foster the appreciation of Korean culture and content”