‘Directors Arena’ directors and judges competing in Round 2’s team battle. Courtesy of ‘Directors Arena’.

The short-form drama director survival show ‘Directors Arena’ will reveal the results of the Round 2 team battle.

In episode 5 of ENA·Lifetime’s ‘Directors Arena’ (co-produced by Epicstorm·Lifetime), airing on the 12th, the directors take on the Round 2 team mission, ‘Make episode 1 based on a webtoon.’ The broadcast goes out at 11 p.m. that day.

Previously, 16 directors paired up in twos to form eight teams. They are evaluated by the judging paneldirector Lee Byung-hun, Cha Tae-hyun, Jang Keun-suk, and Jang Do-yeonalong with the participating directors and a subscriber evaluation group, based on ‘number of stops’ and ‘average watch time.’ In this round, five out of the eight teams will survive. Four teams have already released the first episode of their short-form dramas, and the remaining four continue their contest today.

One attention-grabbing team is led by director Go Hyun-guk, a former SBS producer who has gone independent. He teamed up with director Park So-rang, who ranked first in short-form drama and has shown strength in the ‘adulterous melodrama’ genre. However, Round 1 winner director Lee Yoo-jin said of one scene, “I thought, that is fake, so I immediately hit stop.” Another team chose the webtoon ‘Father’s Home-Cooked Meal,’ known to be in production as a short-form drama by director Lee Joon-ik. It is the work that director Lee Yoo-jin had set aside, saying, “I should not do that.”

With Round 2, the critiques have become even sharper. After watching one team’s work, Jang Keun-suk said, “It strayed from sincerity,” and Jang Do-yeon said, “You did not make even a minimal effort.” Cha Tae-hyun assessed, “This short-form has put a scratch on the directors’ reputations.” At the end of the round, the eight teams’ ‘stop’ counts and ‘average watch time’ are revealed. With elimination awaiting those who fall to sixth place or lower, the participating directors showed their tension, saying, “So now it is a push-out.”

‘Directors Arena’ airs on ENA and Lifetime, and is also available on the over-the-top (OTT) services TVING and Genie TV.