Director – Engineering

Korean auteur Na Hong-jin's long-gestating thriller 'Hope,' starring Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander, headed to Cannes. A decade in the making, the director's follow-up to his cult supernatural thriller 'The Wailing' pairs Korean and Hollywood stars - and reportedly carries the biggest budget ever committed to a Korean feature. April 9, 2026 4:46am Korean auteur Na Hong-jin is finally headed back to Cannes. A decade after his visceral supernatural freakout The Wailing wowed festivalgoers, the genre mercenary is set to return to the Croisette this May with the long-gestating sci-fi thriller Hope, his first film in the event's main competition. Hope was among the 21-title competition lineup unveiled Thursday by Cannes artistic director Thierry Fremaux at the festival's annual press conference in Paris. Teasing the project briefly for the assembled press corps, Fremaux said Hope runs "over two hours" and "constantly changes genres" while unfurling a story that's "no part of history that's ever been told before." Hope, notably, is also Na's first film told partially in English with a mixed Korean and Hollywood cast. It pairs Korean stars Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung and Squid Game's Jung Ho-yeon with Oscar-winning couple Michael Fassbender and Alicia Vikander, as well as Bones and All's Taylor Russell and Mindhunter's Cameron Britton. According to the film's official logline, the story begins when police chief Bum-seok, played by Hwang, receives unsettling news from local youths that a tiger has appeared in the hills, a report that erupts into village-wide panic and soon escalates into something far stranger. The story is said to be set in a remote harbor village near Korea's Demilitarized Zone. At home in Korea, the film has been dubbed Na's most ambitious project to date. He's publicly discussed its potential to spawn some sort of franchise. The director has said the entire project grew from a single image that came to him while eating in a restaurant in Seoul sometime in 2017. Hope was shot by the locally revered cinematographer Hong Kyung-pyo, known for his work on contemporary Korean classics like Parasite and Burning, as well as The Wailing. Na has steadily climbed the ranks at Cannes to become one of the event's favored filmmakers from East Asia. Each of his four features has premiered at the festival. His 2008 debut The Chaser played in Midnight Screenings, the follow-up The Yellow Sea landed in Un Certain Regard in 2011, and The Wailing premiered Out of Competition in 2016. An unforgettable supernatural thriller that grossed some $50 million worldwide off a reported $6 million budget, The Wailing cemented Na's reputation as one of the most distinctive genre voices working anywhere. His long-awaited follow-up, which he has been developing and producing since 2017, reportedly carries one of the biggest budgets ever committed to a Korean feature - with some estimates pegging production costs north of $50 million. "It is an honor," Na said in a brief statement released Thursday in response to his film's Cannes selection, adding, "I will continue to work hard in the time ahead." Hope is produced by Na's Forged Films and co-produced and distributed by Plus M Entertainment, the distribution arm of Korean multiplex chain Megabox, with Westworld also co-producing. Plus M is handling international sales, with UTA Independent Film Group partnering on the sale of North American rights. The film is set for a summer theatrical release in Korea. Hope is the first Korean title to enter Cannes' main competition in four years, following Park Chan-wook's Decision to Leave in 2022. Park will be among those judging his compatriot's entry, as the Korean maestro was named Cannes' 2026 jury president earlier this year. You May Like

Speaker Business strategy by Sonya Denyse. Sonya Denyse is the founder of DreamDevelopment, a consultancy she launched nearly 25 years ago to help visionary leaders build sustainable businesses around their expertise. During that time, she was recruited by United Talent Agency as a consultant and ultimately led speaker marketing for UTA Speakers, overseeing the positioning of 500+ speakers across entertainment, media, business, and public policy. After leaving UTA, Sonya expanded DreamDevelopment's offerings and launched SpeakerDreams to help speakers strengthen the engine of their businesses. SpeakerDreams helps professional speakers increase their visibility, get booked for paid engagements, and build sustainable businesses around their expertise. Based in New York and working with clients globally, Sonya combines over two decades of experience in talent marketing, brand development, and the speaking industry to deliver measurable results for speakers at every stage of their career. About Sonya Denyse. Sonya Denyse is the founder of DreamDevelopment, a consulting practice she launched in 2002. With nearly 25 years at the intersection of talent development, brand marketing, and the speaking industry, Sonya works with professional speakers who want to increase their visibility, command higher fees, and build businesses around their expertise. During her tenure at DreamDevelopment, Sonya was recruited by United Talent Agency as a consultant for their speakers division. She was asked to stay on and ultimately served as Head of Speaker Marketing at UTA Speakers, one of the world's largest talent agencies, where she oversaw the marketing and positioning of 500+ speakers across entertainment, media, business, and public policy. She also served on United Talent Agency's Leadership Council. After leaving UTA, she expanded DreamDevelopment's offerings to focus on speaker business strategy. Sonya holds an altMBA from Seth Godin's program and graduated magna cum laude from NYU's Gallatin School of Individualized Study, where she designed her own degree in Creative Management. She holds certifications in Employee Experience Design, Digital Marketing, Business Modeling, Leadership Development, and Change Management. She is a Perplexity Business Fellow. Her clients include Emmy-winning creatives, producers, executives, TED speakers, and authors across entertainment, higher education, and the nonprofit sector. Sonya has been featured in Arlan Hamilton's The Revenue Playbook and listed in Seth Godin's Bull Market as one of the companies making things happen. She focuses on the visibility economy via her SpeakerDreams ecosystem, which includes LinkedIn Optimizations, SpeakEasy, LinkedIn for Speakers, and The Pod Agent. Services. Pipeline building, opportunity mining, and strategic outreach for paid speaking engagements. Dream Development identify high-value targets and develop systematic approaches to convert outreach into booked events. Speaker visibility strategy. Digital positioning, AI search optimization, and platform strategy to increase discoverability. Ensure you surface when event organizers research speakers using AI tools, search engines, and social platforms. LinkedIn optimization for Speakers. Profile, content, and engagement strategy designed to convert your LinkedIn presence into speaking inquiries. Built on the proprietary 360 Brew framework. Speaker materials audit. Review and optimization of one-sheets, sizzle reels, bios, and speaker kits through an event organizer's lens. Dream Development evaluate what decision-makers actually look for when booking talent. Market assessment & positioning. Competitive analysis, fee benchmarking, and market positioning strategy for speakers. Understand where you stand in the market and how to differentiate your offering. PodAgent. AI-powered podcast booking agent that automatically finds, pitches, and secures podcast guest appearances aligned with your speaking topics and target audience. SpeakEasy. Kickstarter program for aspiring speakers or those entering the $10K+ speaking tier. A structured pathway from idea to stage-ready with positioning, materials, and strategy. Frequently asked questions. How do speakers increase their visibility in 2026? What is speaker business development? How do I get booked as a paid speaker? What does a Speaker Business Strategist do? Who is Sonya Denyse? Ready to build your speaking business? Start with a conversation. Whether you're an emerging speaker or an established voice looking to scale, DreamDevelopment provides the strategy, tools, and support to help you get there.