Production designer Chae Kyoungsun triumphed in the One-Hour Contemporary Single-Camera Series category at this year’s 26th Art Directors Guild Awards for her work on the global smash Squid Game.

Chae beat out nominees for major American series such as Succession, The Morning Show, The Handmaid’s Tale and Yellowstone. She is the second Korean film technician to triumph at the ADG Awards, following Lee Haejun, who won in the Contemporary Feature Film category two years ago for Bong Joonho’s Parasite (2019). 

One of the most well-regarded production designers in the Korean film industry, Chae has crafted the memorable sets and worlds of many major Korean films. She has worked with director Hwang Donghyuk on the child abuse drama Silenced (2011), the fantasy music-themed comedy-drama Miss Granny (2014) and the period siege drama The Fortress (2017). She has also created the splendid backgrounds of films such as Jang Joonhwan’s revenge action-drama Hwayi: A Monster Boy (2013), Lee Wonsuk’s fashion-themed period drama The Royal Tailor (2014), Kim Sunghoon’s period zombie horror Rampant (2018) and Lee Sanggeun’s high-rise disaster action-comedy EXIT (2019).

Released last year in time for the Chuseok holidays on Netflix, Squid Game quickly became a global smash as it topped global rankings on its way to becoming the most watched Netflix production of all time. The show is currently sweeping up on the North American awards circuit, having won prizes at the Golden Globes, the Gotham Awards, the Screen Actors Guild Awards and the Independent Spirit Awards, among others.