15^th Seoul International Drama Awards to take place without an audience on September 10

- The awards ceremony to be held without an audience via live streaming amid the COVID-19 outbreak

- Social distancing precautions will be made for additional events for audiences’ to enjoy nominees and OSTs

- 212 entries from 41 countries in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, etc. and ‘short-form contents’ nomination is newly-organized

Seoul, South Korea (July 30, 2020) – Seoul International Drama Awards 2020 (SDA), the only international drama festival in South Korea, will be held on September 10 without an audience.

The Seoul Drama Awards Organizing Committee (Chairman Jeong-Hoon Park) announced that the 15th Seoul International Drama Awards will take place on September 10 at MBC Media Center Public Hall. The awards ceremony will be held via live streaming, and MBC's recorded broadcast will be offered later. This event will not host a live audience to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Only domestic candidates and presenters will be invited in consideration of the strict entry restrictions around the world.

In addition to the awards ceremony, supplementary events will also be arranged so that audiences can enjoy O.S.T and other entries. The organizing committee explained that it is planning a non-face-to-face event to ensure the safety of participants, which aims to get COVID-19 off of the mind of the Korean audience.

SDA’s award categories include international competition, international invitation, and outstanding Korean dramas. Despite the impact of COVID-19 outbreak, 212 dramas from 41 countries around the world were submitted for this year’s ceremony, solidifying SDA’s position as an international drama awards ceremony. Among the continents that participated in the competition, Asia was the leader, submitting 108 dramas. Competition between dramas representing various cultural areas is expected, with Europe submitting 75 dramas while America, Oceania and the Middle East also submitted their own array of dramas.

In particular, short-form (a drama consisting of episodes that are less than 30 minutes) was newly added for this year’s submission category. For SDA 2020, a total of 37 short-form dramas were submitted, and competition between the new trendy web dramas is drawing attention. In addition, a significant number of dramas with various leading female characters highlighting women empowerment were submitted.

“In this year’s Seoul International Drama Awards, we put our staff and audiences’ safety first. We hope that people in the drama industry and drama fans will be able to enjoy the SDA 2020 safely” said an official from the Seoul Drama Awards Organizing Committee. “We also hope that SDA could become an outlet for them to communicate with each other in a time when face-to-face interaction is infeasible” the official added.

The Seoul International Drama Awards is an international award ceremony which has been hosted by the Korean Broadcasters Association and the Seoul Drama Awards Organizing Committee since 2006 to drive global cultural exchanges and growth through dramas. Every year, TV dramas from around the world are selected and awarded for their popularity and outstanding work. The list of nominees will be announced next month. The Seoul Drama Awards 2020 award ceremony will be held at the MBC Media Center Public Hall on September 10 and will be broadcasted via live streaming. The official live streaming platform and the schedule for the broadcast will be announced later.

For more information on the 15th Seoul Drama Awards, visit the Seoul Drama Awards website.