The 2023 Asia Contents Awards and Global OTT Awards celebrated the best of Asian content at an Oct. 8 ceremony in Busan, Korea. The awards ceremony is organized by the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) and Korea Radio Promotion Association, as part of the international film festival, which runs from Oct. 4 through 13.
The Asia Contents Awards honors outstanding TV, OTT, and online content from Asia. This year, the awards, jointly hosted by the Ministry of Science and ICT and Busan Metropolitan City, expanded the nominee scope and increased the awards categories from 12 to 17.
The Best Creative Award, given to the year’s most impressive content, went to the Disney+ Korean series, Moving. The series also received the Best Visual Effects award and the Best Writer Award, which was presented to Kang Full, author of the original webtoon that inspired the series.
Actor Ryu Seung-yong, who portrayed a father with a superpower, determined to protect his daughter, received the Best Lead Actor Award. Actors Lee Jung-ha and Go Youn-jung, who played young heroes with superpowers, secured the Best Newcomer Actor and Actress awards for their roles in Moving.
The Best OTT Original was awarded to the drama Weak Hero Class 1, which focused on the effects of school bullying. Weak Hero Class 1, starring Park Ji-hoon, is broadcast on Kocowa in the US and iQIYI in Taiwan. The Best Reality and Variety award winners were Let’s Feast Vietnam and Physical: 100.
Hsueh Shih-Ling won the Best Supporting Actor award for Taiwan Crime Stories, and Lim Ji-yeon of The Glory won the Best Supporting Actress Award. Xin Shuang of The Long Season received the award for Best Director. The Lifetime Achievement Award honored the late Kim Jong-hak, for his TV works such as Sandglass (1995) and The Legend (2007).
The Asian Excellence Award was given to Yagira Yuya for his outstanding performance in Gannibal. The Rising Star of the Year Award was jointly won by Buffy Chen and Wen JunHui, vocalist of the k-pop group Seventeen, who played a lead role in Exclusive Fairytale.
The Creative Beyond Border award was given in honor of the content that pioneered a new genre on OTT. It was jointly awarded to EXchange2 and One Day Off, which starred Lee Na-young.
The New Technology Award was presented to TVING, the South Korean online streaming service operated by TVING Corporation, a joint venture of CJ E&M, Naver and JTBC. VIU and Wavve Americas became the first recipients of The Special Contribution for K-Contents award. VIU is the OTT streaming platform of the Hong Kong telecommunications company PCCW and Wavve Americas is a joint partnership formed by SK Telecom and the three major Korean broadcasters (KBS, MBC, SBS). The Special Contribution for OTT Industry award was claimed by video streaming giant WATCHA.
The awards ceremony was hosted by actor Kim Kang-woo and Momoland’s Nancy, with performances by k-pop group Alice and singer-songwriter Lee Seung-yoon. Officially sponsored by U+mobile tv and U+tv, the ceremony was streamed live on the Busan International Film Festival’s official YouTube channel and LG U+ u+ Mobile TV channel.
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