Form of Therapy isn’t your typical reaction channel—the host and PD of the channel has a background in traditional video production and brings a new perspective to your favorite K-Pop releases. Along with taking time to participate in different panels at KCON, PD took some time to chat with The Kraze about their channel and direction.

Q: For our readers who are getting the chance to know you for the first time, can you please give a little introduction about yourself?

PD: I go by Producer. I am the producer of the YouTube channel, Form of Therapy. My channel is a reaction channel but I don’t really like using that word just because it’s not the reaction aspect I focus on, it’s more of the review aspect. I come from a lot of film production and music video production and so on the channel, I wanted to provide something that is a different aspect. I tackle more cinematography and video production for Korean music videos.

Q: What made you get into K-Pop, and what were the first things that you listened to?

PD: That is a difficult question! So I am Korean, so I never really got into K-Pop because that was like regular music for me. Growing up in the ‘90s I listened to stuff like H.O.T, original JYP, S.E.S. But growing up, I had a rebellious phase, where I would listen to a lot of American music like Linkin Park. Around 2009, BIGBANG and Wonder Girls were just reaching new heights and that just got me in for several years. Then I left again just because the sound was getting a bit generic, but then it’s Korean music! So I always hear it constantly and check in throughout the year to see if anything has changed. Nothing really piqued my interest, but I would say the first song that really pulled me in was “Adore U” by SEVENTEEN. That’s the first song I listened to before I decided to go back into K-Pop in full force.

Q: If you could have the opportunity to film a music video for a K-Pop group, which group would it be and what type of concept would you like to have?

PD: I don’t even want to work with a group that I am a really big fan of because I am the opposite of most people. I don’t ever want to meet my biases up close. I do come from a production background, so I want to maintain some level of professionalism. So I want to work with a group where I like their music but I’m not obsessed with the members. I would say maybe DAY6. My friend is one of the singers in DAY6, Jae. They make regular band music videos but I would love to do a very cinematic, story-driven stuff. They have experimented with it but I would love to see them do a really, really story-driven thing.

Q: Name your top three favorite K-Pop groups at the moment.

PD: PRISTIN V, LOONA, and tied between Red Velvet and BLACKPINK.

Q: Which rookie group do you think is going to have their big break this year?

PD: I feel like it has already happened but I would say Stray Kids. Even from their pre-debut project, I immediately recognized that this talent is unstoppable; they’re like a moving force. So I think Stray Kids is only going to get bigger and bigger and even though their sound isn’t really [South] Korea’s style, they have a very rock-centric, rap-heavy western sound. But I think their talents are too hard to deny, so I feel like Stray Kids is going to have their big break this year.

Q: In regards to the production of their music videos, which K-Pop group do you think has some of the best music videos?

PD: So I know that it is less about the groups and more about the production teams that they hire. So I think that it is any K-Pop group that hires Digipedi; they work on a lot of music videos. They have done all the LOONA music videos. That’s how you know that LOONA’s label is filled with money because Digipedi is pretty expensive and they only use Digipedi to have a consistent look. Or I think VM Project Architecture as they do SEVENTEEN’s music videos and I think SEVENTEEN, ever since they started working with them on “Don’t Wanna Cry,” their music video production went cinematic. But I think overall I really like JYP’s music videos. All of JYP’s music videos are shot pretty well.

Q: If you had the opportunity to direct any type of show in Korea, what type of show would it be?

PD: That’s hard! Probably not a drama. I don’t really watch Korean dramas just because I’m like 50/50 on them. Some of them are either too predictable or some of them are too traumatic. So I don’t think I can do a drama even though my passion is storytelling. I think I would like to do a variety show, like a competition-based kind. My favorite variety show is Running Man and Running Man used to be a competition-based variety show and fitness heavy with everyone just fighting each other. They don’t do that anymore and it has become more casual game show. I would love to do a more sporty type of game show like pairing idols against each other. I think it would be really fun to see idols compete on a physical level beyond ISAC.  

Q: K-Pop aside, are their any content creators that you would like to collaborate with? What type of video or content would you like to collaborate on?

PD: I would love to collaborate with JRE. JRE has been constantly wanting to collaborate on something for a while but he’s always so busy. I’d love to collaborate with him. I’d also like to collaborate with Terry from TerryTV and ReacttotheK. I think in general my passion is to film and I would like to shoot a short film with them and make them do the drama sort of thing. Make their fans see a different side of them.

Q: Is there any advice for those who are wanting to join YouTube or wanting to get into film and production?

PD: If it’s film and production, the best advice that I ever got was when I was younger, a film producer told me: “Run away, don’t do it and this is the worse career. Payoff isn’t going to be until you’re in your late 20s or early 30s. You’re just going to be in debt all the time, it’s not worth it. But even after hearing all of this, if you still want to do it, then maybe film is right for you.” Honestly consider if you’re okay with your life being hard for the next 10 years, then all you need is resilience. If it’s YouTube, I would say consistency is key. A lot of people have sporadic uploads and the timespan of someone on the internet is very, very small, so you have to upload frequently. Lastly, something no one ever really tells anyone about is good lighting.

Q: Last question, are there any updates or information that you would like to tell readers to look forward to in the future?

PD: I’m going to be putting out a lot of Korean-inspired, Korean-cinematic short films and showing a different side of Asian-American representation. So on my channel I do a lot of reactions but I would say to look forward to me expanding a lot more. I’m going to try do more talk shows and more production stuff on my channel!

Be sure to follow Form of Therapy on their social channels and keep up with latest releases!

Twitter: @formoftherapy

Instagram: @formoftherapy

YouTube: Form of Therapy

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