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SDA 2024 Call for Submission

The 2024 Seoul International Drama Awards has started its call for submission amidst high expectations. By Ching Wai.

South Korea - The Seoul International Drama Awards (SDA), which began in 2006, is the world’s first drama-specialised awards ceremony that takes place annually in the fall. Each year, participants from more than 50 countries take part, making it the ideal hub for the discovery of high quality dramas around the world. Talk concerts with award-winning production teams and various promotion events for upcoming Korean dramas can be expected at the awards ceremony. This year, the SDA and related events are set to take place in Banpo Hangang Park in Seoul, tentatively in October, and will be broadcast live on SBS TV.

Entry submissions have begun on 11 March, as the Seoul Drama Awards Organising Committee (SDAOC) has announced in their tentative schedule, and will be open until 16 May. It is important to note that entries should initially have been broadcast or released between 1 June 2023 and 30 June 2024. The judging and online fan voting will take place in June and July. The awards are divided into two categories: the International Competition and the K-Drama Competition. The former category is open to works from around the world including K-dramas, while the latter category is only for domestic dramas produced by Korean production companies or broadcasters.

Among the SDA awards, ‘Outstanding Asian Star’ and ‘Outstanding Korean O.S.T’ winners will be selected 100% by fan voting. The ‘Golden Bird Prize’ (established last year in 2023) will be chosen by the SDAOC to honour the achievements and influence of the industry.

High quality dramas and big names have been awarded at the SDA in the past, like France's The Fragile Colossus, Korea's Weird Lawyer Woo Young-woo, Anna's Suzy, and Choi Min-sik of Casino. Some past awardees have also gained international attention, like the 2023 SDA Grand Prize winner The Fragile Colossus being selected at the Best TV Movie at the C21 International Drama Awards held in London on November 30th, and the Best Screenwriter award winner Nima Javidi (for The Actor) receiving the Best Director award at the 22nd Iran Hafez Awards.

SDAOC has stated that with K-dramas being popular internationally, interest in the SDA will also be high, and “[s]ince from the big titles of worldwide market to the diverse genres are waiting for submission, it is worth looking forward to this year’s festival as well.” With such high expectations domestically and internationally for both submissions and viewership ratings, the SDA is definitely an event to look out for this year.

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