BL Drama Lovers Club

 DramaNomNom:

Why are so many SK BLs 10-20 minutes long? Is it like a budget thing? I just watched My Damn Business and the episode wasn't even a full 11 minutes. Interesting first episode though. XD

Budgets.  It's hard to find investors because of poor domestic returns and backlash from conservatives. Look at all the issues with the funding for "Love in the Big City" (from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) and the hate that Nam Yoon-Su and Cha Seo-Won before him have received for acting in LGBTQ/BL productions. As a commercial investor, you risk alienating your customer base or, at the very least, losing your reputation. 

A lot of K-BL productions have to self-fund, so they can't make extra long dramas like other countries. Strongberry, for instance, use their commercial marketing business profits to help fund their LGBTQ productions. Others rely on subscriptions from members-only content on YT or the new short-form/reel platforms. 

Also, with Thailand you will find acting is the side-hustle for a lot of actors in BLs. It doesn't pay as well as you all might think. [The actor who left his company and sued had a press conference alongside his lawyer and said he needed to feed his children (6 cats). The amount they were suing for was less than $8,000.  Perth has mentioned that many Thai actors have full-time jobs with acting as the second one]. I imagine production costs inclusive of actors' fees are a little cheaper in Thailand. 

Then again, how many production houses from both countries have we seen been accused of not paying actors, extras and staff over the last two years?

Yeah. It's all about the money.

S.O.S.

Somebody send help...I didn't Rio was built like this :O