Comprehensive entertainment company Kiist has revealed its production lineup for dramas and variety shows in 2025.
Despite the downturn in the content market after 2024, Kiist has announced six works including JTBC's "No Secrets," TVING original "I Dream of Being a Cinderella," KBS2's weekend special "Ironing Family," Coupang Play's original series "Family Plan," tvN's "Ask the Stars," and Disney+'s original series "Trigger."
Additionally, Kiist has established a new variety production division, successfully launching its first variety program ENA's "My Child's Private Life," which has created a "Taehwa Syndrome" and consistently ranks high on Netflix. They are also strengthening their position as a variety production company by signing contracts for popular public broadcasting variety programs. Meanwhile, ENA's "My Child's Private Life," co-produced by Kiist, is set to resume broadcasting for its 13 episodes starting on the 23rd.
In 2025, Kiist's drama production division aims to produce four works, with a lineup already prepared for the next three years. The series to be produced this year includes "Hogwan Mama," "The Sleeping Doctor (tentative title)," "The Killer is a Gourmet," and "House Selling (tentative title)," featuring a variety of genres. Currently, positive discussions are underway regarding various platform distributions.
"Hogwan Mama" is a revenge drama about a top parenting instructor, rumored to be scarier than a tiger, who is called by the royal family to educate the extremely challenging Prince Geumjok. The script will be written by Park Jeong-in, a verified writer from the CJ ENM contest, and directed by Lee Jeong-heum, known for his sophisticated direction in JTBC's "Gugyeongi" and SBS's "Nobody Knows."
"The Sleeping Doctor (tentative title)" is a human romantic comedy drama where a promising psychiatrist, who cannot heal his own illness, meets Nam Ji-o, a doctor known as the "Hwa-ta of the hospital world," who can revive dead hospitals with his devilish talent, leading to mutual healing and love. Expectations are high for the unique and delicate writing style of writer Baek Eun-kyung, who has been actively writing since KBS's drama special "The Day of Hair Planting" and KakaoTV's "Accidentally Rural Diary."
Currently in discussions with multiple platforms, "The Killer is a Gourmet" is a comic action thriller about the strongest killer, Soon-sim, who desperately needs to find her family to treat her leukemia, using her mother's cooking memories as clues to find her biological parents. Director Lee Byung-hun, known for his comedic expertise in the drama "Melody is My Nature" and the film "Extreme Job," will participate as a creator, providing a fresh combination of action and food that adds thrilling tension and delightful taste experiences.
Another dark horse in Kiist's 2025 production lineup is "House Selling (tentative title)," a comedy drama that combines the most realistic material of "real estate agency" with romantic comedy in a country where everyone, from adults to children, is a real estate expert. The story follows a certified real estate agent with the ability to foresee the future, who prevents scheduled dangers for each client and takes down the notorious "jeonse fraud" group that has become a major issue in Korean society. Writer Moon Yoo-seok, who has written dramas like "Devil Judge" and "Miss Hammurabi" and has experienced many real estate cases directly and indirectly as a former judge, will participate as a creator, drawing attention.
In addition, Kiist is planning a variety of works in genres such as romantic comedy historical dramas, global spy action, and crime dramas, aiming to lead the content market in 2025, following its momentum as the number one production company in South Korea in 2024 (excluding revenue and production volume from platform-affiliated production companies).
In the management sector, Kiist aims for a revival as the "house of actors." Currently, it includes talents like Chae Jeong-an, Park Myung-hoon, Bae Jeong-nam, Han Sun-hwa, Kang Han-na, and Stephanie Lee. To improve its more professional and systematic managing system, they are strengthening personnel and strategies in the IP business aspect. Through this, they aim to promote a renaissance in the management sector by discovering new talents, expanding the lineup of affiliated artists, and enhancing IP for each artist.
Meanwhile, Kiist (054780) reported a revenue of 75.844 billion won in 2024, a 45% increase compared to the previous year, and an operating profit of 654 million won, marking a return to profitability. In 2025, they expect to improve profitability by strengthening drama and variety production and management, as well as expanding performance and OST businesses.
[Lee Da-kyum, Star Today Reporter]
