Hunter Lee of Studio Target: “AI and Micro-dramas Are the Next Big Step for Korean Content in Latin America”

Content consumption is changing at a rapid pace, and Asia is once again setting the trend. Hunter Lee, Director of International Business and Sales at Studio Target (South Korea), shared his vision on how micro-dramas and Artificial Intelligence (AI) are redefining production models, advertising, and market penetration strategies in key regions such as Latin America.

For Lee, the concept of micro-dramas is not an entirely new phenomenon, but rather the natural evolution of premium content. “The industry has noticed that today’s audiences prefer to consume information more quickly. Our goal is to create series with the same intensity and appeal as a traditional high-quality drama, but delivered in much less time,” the executive explained.

Studio Target, established as one of Asia’s leaders in creating these formats, is exploring new technological frontiers to optimize production timelines and budgets. Lee detailed three main approaches in the company’s production model:

Traditional micro-drama: Maintains the classic production structure with real actors and locations, with development timelines ranging from nine months to more than a year.

AI-assisted production: Combines real talent with virtual environments and cutting-edge technology. This model improves on-set safety, significantly reduces costs, and accelerates delivery times without sacrificing the premium quality of the content.

100% AI production: A complete disruption that reduces production costs to one-third or less. According to Lee, this efficiency is highly attractive to producers and writers because it allows them to test new genres in the market and reach massive audiences within a very short period of time.

Regarding business models and monetization, Lee emphasized that Artificial Intelligence opens unprecedented opportunities for brand integration. Current technology makes it possible to modify product placement on the fly during post-production or distribution. As a result, the same micro-drama can feature a specific product depending on the territory in which it is being aired, adapting to local advertisers without altering the narrative.

Latin America is a strategic territory for Studio Target. When asked about integrating its IPs into the region, Lee was unequivocal: the barrier to entry has already been broken. “We have already moved beyond the stage of figuring out how to introduce Korean content. Today, there is massive demand and a huge appetite in Latin America for our productions,” he stated.

Following the tremendous success of long-form formats in the region — with global phenomena such as Squid Game — Studio Target’s new challenge is introducing the vertical short-form format. “This is the new way Asia consumes information and entertainment, and we firmly believe it is a format that audiences in Latin America will also enjoy and embrace enthusiastically.”