Growing as a Korean immigrant in the 1990s Toronto, Maggi Kang put his love of K-Pop.
Recalling Kang, he said, “I remember that I was hiding my ke-pap albums from my white friends because he felt it was strange and silly.”
“But I was so, ‘No, it’s great.”
In a neighborhood with some other Korean people, he rarely saw that his culture was reflected around him.
Now, she is helping to increase it worldwide.
Her first animated film “KPOP Demon Hunters” produced by Sony Pictures Animation and released by Netflix has become a global smash, drawing in large -scale streaming numbers, while its songs are top billboard charts.
Last week, Netflix said musical fantasy-which follows a K-Pap Girl Group, which is moonlight in the form of moonlight-the first of its original films was to hit the number of a new audience in its fifth week. Its soundtrack also became the highest recipient of the year, which reached number 2 at Billboard 200 in mid-July.
“It is very wild,” says in a video call from Kang Los Angeles.
“We were hoping so much that it will be found to our audience. It seems that it is and they are really hanging on it. Now it is spreading in other areas that we did not think it is going to get … We are very happy and excited and overwhelmed.”
Written and co-directed by Kang, the “KPOP Monster Hunters” center pronounces the “Huntrix” at the center K-Pop Trio HutTR/X-who fight the demons according to the night and dominate the chart according to the day. When the band members Meera, Zoe and Rumi faced the demon boy band the sentence, Rumi is forced to face their real identity.
“I think the theme of hiding some parts of themselves and afraid of showing people to show their true self, these days they are more relevant than ever,” refers to Kang.
“We also hide from behind our online personality, and so I think even young children can resonate with it.”
Kang studied animation at Sheridan College and admitted to Dreamworks in its third year, “Puce in Boots” of 2011 and “Kung Fu Panda 3.” of 2016 3. ” Worked as a story artist on films including.
When the opportunity came for Sony to direct her film, she knew that she wanted to tap in her roots.
He considered the discovery of Korean mythology and demonology, but also had another concept that included K-Pop.
“My husband was like,” Why don’t you just put those people together? ” She says.
“Funny, it is really fit – the idea of using music to fight demons is naturally tied in Korean molestation.”
Animation production was handled by the Sony Pictures Imageworks Studio in Vancouver and Montreal on a large scale, which played an important role in crafting vibrant, high-octane visuals.
Kang says that he and co-director Chris Applehans did not just want music to be part of the soundtrack by his fictional groups-it was to be integrated deeply into the story.
It was also to be slapped.
“We knew that music was to stand on its own and was able to compete with all pop songs, because the K-pop is so good,” she says.
He listed a powerhouse team of producers, including the black label co-founder Teddy Park, known to shape the sound of Blackpink and Taing; BTS associates Lindgren, Stephen Kirk and Jena Andrews; And Ian Isndraratha, who worked on the broadway hit “Come from Ave”.
Says Kang, “Our songs were to be bopped, but they had to tell a story.”
“It pair another layer of challenges in song writing.”
His work killed all the correct notes. This month, Hunter/X’s “Golden” Billboard became the first track by a fictional act at the top of the Global 200 – Alex Warren’s “Ordinary” and Summer Hits like Justin Bieber’s “Daisies”.
Meanwhile, the sentence Boys’ “Your Idol” hit the number 1 on the US Spotified Chart, which crosses the BTS as the highest-corresponding male ke-pop act in the history of the stage.
Says Kang, “We needed music to chart-topping … but now to see that it is, ‘Wow, what is happening?”
“I don’t think I ever thought it was going to happen.”
Kang says that it will definitely consider “KPOP demon hunters” expanding the universe.
“There are a lot of unanswered questions and there are a lot of underdeveloped ideas in the film that we had to leave due to length.
“We still have a lot to show.”
But for now, she is taking a moment to soak all this: love, milestone and cultural change. She did not once felt that she would ever see.
She says, “I feel very proud, just Korean culture is being seen in the spotlight. I never thought that it would happen.”
“When Korea grew up when Korea was not calm, to see that it is really surprising.”
This report of Canadian Press was first published on 29 July 2025.
Alex Nino Gikiu, Canadian Press