On The Debut: The Dream Academy, thousands of hopefuls were whittled down to 20 trainees and trained via K-pop's rigorous methodology – here, the show's panel delivers into its format and creative ideologies
K-pop’s unprecedented grip on Western pop culture since the late 2010s has given the industry’s highest powers plenty to think about. How do we continue this growth? How do we strengthen our presence and hold in the US and Latin America? What are we left with if the K-pop bubble bursts?
One response was for South Korea’s biggest entertainment agencies to join hands with US record labels, one of the biggest being HYBE’s partnership with UMG/Geffen Records in early 2021. In November of the same year, they opened auditions for a global girl group that would be US-based and trained via K-pop’s rigorous methodology. A staggering 120,000 applicants from Brazil, Australia, Switzerland, Argentina, Japan, Thailand, South Korea and America, to name but a few, were whittled down to a mere 20 trainees who faced elimination by public vote on a show called The Debut: Dream Academy.
In every sense, The Debut: Dream Academy is an ambitious and much-needed project for mainstream pop, but already there are challenges. They’re testing a new survival show format based on only performance-based ‘missions’ and short vlogs, which has divided viewers. They’re not the first non-K-pop group, either, to specifically use K-pop’s training and marketing methods to create a western-focused band – JYP Entertainment recently revealed girl group VCHA, built from the survival show A2K, in partnership with Republic Records.
That said, HYBE – home to BTS and NewJeans – are not kings of the K-pop hill for nothing, while there’s not much UMG/Geffen doesn’t know about fostering megastars such as Oliva Rodrigo. So there was never doubt that HXG (HYBE x Geffen) would take the K-pop model and give it the best shot ever at refashioning it into a more diverse, global shape.
The Debut: Dream Academy’s 20 finalists were selected by a high-powered panel, including HYBE performance director and now HxG Executive Creator, Son Sung-deuk, and former co-creative director of Kenzo and co-founder of Opening Ceremony, Humberto Leon, now HxG Creative Director. The show itself also features Charlie Christie (VP, Geffen Records) with other contributors including Academy Award-nominated stylist/designer Shirley Kurata, and Andrew Thomas Huang (FKA twigs and Björk) who directed the project’s stunning ‘Art Film’.
With the live-streamed finale set for November 17 (and a Netflix docuseries to follow in 2024), the show is well underway: Hinari, Adela, Mei, Iliya, Brooklyn and Karlee are out, leaving Marquise, Emily, Yoonchae, Sophia, Ua, Mei, Nayoung, Samara, Manon, Megan, Lara, Ezrela, Celeste, Lexie and Daniela vying for a debut spot.
Dazed caught up with Humberto Leon, Andrew Thomas Huang, Son Sung-deuk and Charlie Christie to break down The Debut: Dream Academy’s format, its creative ideologies, and the hopes fueling not just the trainees but those mentoring them.
Let’s start at the beginning: what was behind creating a global group rather than a US-centric one?
Charlie Christie: HYBE and Geffen were always talking about bridging the gap and bringing worlds together. At the end of the day, we want to break the mould. I don’t think something like this has been done before. You have programs like A2K, but the scale we’re doing this on is in its own lane.
In a conversation with Geffen Chairman, John Janick, Bang PD said, ‘for K-pop to truly become mainstream worldwide, it should evolve into ‘just pop’ without the ‘K’’. Do you think removing the ‘K’, which you could argue goes beyond training and language, will create more mainstream success?
Charlie Christie: I think it will. I believe in everyone involved in this project. Pop, with the K, limits some people’s belief of how big it could get. K-pop is pop at this point. In taking the best parts of both of these genres and forming it as one, it’s K-pop, it’s pop, but it’s also just culture at this point.
Son Sung-deuk: Already the lines between K-pop and pop have been considerably blurred. If somebody asks, ‘what is K-pop?’, then it’s artists who have been developed through a K-pop system and make their music primarily in Korean, but [in terms of] music and performance, I have a hard time saying what’s different or defining it. Anything that evolves K-pop is welcome. I don’t think dropping the K in K-pop is an issue. The industry is changing [and] they’re positive changes.
The show’s format eschews episodes for ‘missions’, TikTok videos, and YouTube vlogs. What was the idea of making it non-episodic?
Charlie Christie: We wanted to put the talent first. We’re documenting a lot of it and once the group is finalised you’ll be able to watch how the group was built day-to-day. We do have some personality pieces but because we have so many trainees right now, we didn’t want people to hyperfocus on one person’s personality and not allow others to shine.
You had 20 girls at the start of the show, all from different cultures and backgrounds. What’s their common story that you, as creatives behind the scenes, want to show?
Humberto Leon: The common thread is these girls were just kids whose parents allowed their talents to shine. Now they’re taking it to the next level. For a chosen few their dreams will become reality in the coolest way possible. I really wanted to take that narrative into everything that we’re working on, that’s a through-line.
What do you see as this girl group’s it-factor, the one that could put them up there alongside the likes of Little Mix, Spice Girls, Blackpink or Destiny’s Child?
Son Sung-deuk: I think the group created from Dream Academy will be a mixture of the diversity and the power that comes from that, [plus] they’ll show the trendiness and uniqueness of each member, which is something very characteristic of K-pop. All of this will create a synergy for a new charm, and that’s what I’m looking forward to.
Humberto, you’ve worked with pop stars such as Britney Spears before, but how did you come to be a core part of The Debut: Dream Academy?
Humberto Leon: I had just finished directing my first music video for The Linda Lindas, and Geffen were like, ‘we’re working on this project with HYBE, would you be interested?’ I’m a fan of K-pop and pop but, more than anything, I’m a fan of globalness [sic] and I love storytelling. My work at Opening Ceremony and Kenzo, and really thinking about brands, globalness and community, resonated with this project. The thing I was most excited about was meeting each girl and seeing how I could tell their story. Fast forward a year later and I couldn’t imagine not doing it, and I can’t imagine who would have done it.
Andrew, in directing the Art Film, you blurred the real and the dream state, and the girls’ inner hopes with their public-facing talent. Where did the central idea come from?
Andrew Thomas Huang: Humberto came up with the idea of the game, playing hide and seek in this office building, concluding with this giant bed. My goal was to show the trainees’ talent and give movement and dynamism to what was there, and the authentic camaraderie between them. Tone was something I was trying to figure out because it’s very camp, which can sometimes veer too zany but we wanted it to be a cinematic world.
I see elements of your signature style creeping in at the edges, the slight surrealism and the unexpected angles you shoot from.
Andrew Thomas Huang: What I cared about was transitions, to make sure that the hand off from every trainee was seamless. Traditional pop videos, even in K-pop, are three to five looks and sets, and you cut between them but that’s not my style. I liked the displacement of view, it’s not usually how you shoot young pop acts – I intended for the camera to be winding through this labyrinth building and to have a bit of suspense. I also noticed the K-pop sense of beauty, there’s an almost classic Hollywood way of treating faces. There’s been a trend towards social realism where things are shot very naturalistically [but] we got notes [from HYBE] saying, can you make sure there are more close-up beauty shots, and I was like, ‘Oh.’ So this was an odd and original project. It’s not K-pop but the K-pop model and a global project and we’re Westerners shooting it. It really is the first of its kind, I think.
Creatively, what’s been the biggest creative challenge of this project?
Humberto Leon: The Art Film because it was the first thing we made and I think my neck was on the line. In many ways, I had to prove to myself that I could tell the story in the best way possible. If I’m a little bit nervous, that’s a good thing because it means I’m doing something totally brand-new. When that came out and the world responded to it, I felt like, ‘OK, we did something right’. That gave me the confidence to push things in different ways.
I’m wondering how the creative director role differs from working with a K-pop framework as opposed to a Western one.
Humberto Leon: I’m a part of all of it, every single mission, every video on TikTok, every haircut, there’s nothing that doesn’t go through me. In Western pop labels, a creative director will do the album artwork and the music video but you’re not in the day to day. I get texts daily from the girls, like, can they cut their bangs, can I wear this, can I paint my nails. But it’s been so fun and rewarding because I’m so invested in this.
What was it like to take a non-Korean group, and a very large group at that, through the notoriously tough K-pop training?
Son Sung-deuk: It’s more like a system based on K-pop methodology and I think we’ve created a new, evolved system. Things are changing within the new generation and systems must change along with that. There are several differences; there are more limited hours that we can train due to US laws, so we’ve had to divide up their schedules to maximise efficiency, and we’re providing a variety of support services for them, working with experts in not just singing and dancing but mental health. We also have training and development specialists from different countries able to meet the demands and needs of our contestants, and that definitely sets this program apart from traditional K-pop systems. The learnings from this project are something we should definitely apply to K-pop.
We haven’t seen a girl group top the US singles chart since Destiny’s Child in the early 00s. Is the world ready for this girl group? Will they change the entire pop landscape?
Humberto Leon: Aside from these girls being so cool and interesting and amazing, their talent is just beyond, and we haven’t even seen their full potential yet. Once we get to see them singing and dancing, full on, I think everyone’s going to be blown out of the water.
Andrew Thomas Huang: I think the world is ready for a non-Western take on what pop can be. Whether the model is coming from South Korea or elsewhere, the world is ready. We all want freshness, the model to be challenged, and to see different faces.
Son Sung-deuk: Definitely, I think they can be and will be a game changer, that is why we’re working on this group, that’s the goal.
Do you have a name for the final group?
Charlie Christie: Actually, not yet!
If you look on social media, you’ll see a lot of international K-pop fans excited about this project but also fans who have been burned before by K-pop’s attempts at diversity. How do you feel knowing many people are hoping that, finally, someone will get it right?
Charlie Christie: I have such admiration for the trainees, of where they’ve come from, who they are and what they want to represent. That they get to have their voice and show their talent, and to be able to amplify that, I feel proud.
HYBE has a stable of songwriters and producers, as does Geffen; will the group’s music utilise existing talent or will there be fresh blood?
Charlie Christie: An amalgamation [...] it’s going to be fun, big, loud and creative. We’ve truly gone far and wide to find the best songs to tell the right stories. We’ve got certain A-list writers – like Jon Bellion and Cirkut – and we’ve got writers who haven’t done too much yet, it’s going to be the best of all of it.
Will the girls in the final group contribute to their music?
Charlie Christie: We’ve been helping with songwriting and producing classes for the ones who wanted to explore that avenue. They’ll definitely be involved. We’re advising on all aspects to help them be who they want to be, and even if they don’t make the group, I hope they feel like we’ve helped them become the best version of themselves in this short amount of time.
When the group debuts, what do you hope they will be to people?
Humberto Leon: I hope they’ll inspire girls around the world and bring a voice that millions can relate to. They have such amazing personal stories and it’s girls from all around the world coming together to have one message. I’m excited to take part and bring it to the world.
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