Jang Tae-yoo entered
Seoul National University in 1998 majoring in Industrial Design, but eventually dropped out. He originally wanted to direct
commercials, but during the
IMF crisis, there were no new hires at advertising agencies. So his older brother Jang Hyuk-jae, then a
television director at
SBS, encouraged him to join the network. Jang began working as an
assistant director on the
television drama Tomato in 1999, which he later described as more difficult than
mandatory military service. This was followed by
Woman on Top (also in 1999; though he was replaced after three months),
Ladies in the Palace (2001-2002),
Sunrise House (2002), and
Punch (2003). He was also the
second unit director on
Choice (2004-2005) and
Bad Housewife (2005). Jang's first drama as the lead director was
The 101st Proposal (2006) starring
Lee Moon-sik and
Park Sun-young, a
remake of the same-titled 1991
Japanese drama about an unattractive but kind-hearted aging bachelor who meets the girl of his dreams, a TV announcer still mourning her dead boyfriend. Then in 2007, Jang directed
War of Money, which explored
loan shark culture and drew high ratings as well as praise for its cast led by
Park Shin-yang (Park later won the highest honor, called the "Daesang" or Grand Prize, at the 2007
SBS Drama Awards). Jang reunited with Park in the
period drama Painter of the Wind (2008), adapted from Lee Jung-myung's
historical fiction novel that depicted the relationship between two
Joseon era artists,
Kim Hong-do and
Shin Yun-bok (the latter is a woman disguised as a man, portrayed by
Moon Geun-young). Though Jang said he found it "challenging to make art interesting," the drama drew critical acclaim, particularly for Moon, who became the youngest ever Daesang winner at the
2008 SBS Drama Awards.
War of Money and
Painter of the Wind established Jang as one of the top production-directors (or "PD") in Korean television. For his next drama, Jang chose another Lee Jung-myung adaptation
Deep Rooted Tree (2011), about a murder mystery surrounding
King Sejong's invention of the
Hangul system. It starred
Han Suk-kyu and
Jang Hyuk, and was notable for Han's return to television after appearing mostly in films (Han won the Daesang at the
2011 SBS Drama Awards). Jang's track record continued to attract movie stars to the small screen, followed by
Jun Ji-hyun in
My Love from the Star (2013-2014). Written by
Park Ji-eun (herself a hitmaker), the romantic-
sci-fi dramedy about an alien who falls for a famous actress (played by
Kim Soo-hyun and Jun) was popular domestically and overseas. The drama's massive success in the Chinese market led to more opportunities for Jang, so he took a
leave of absence from SBS, and signed an exclusive five-year contract with
Yuehua Entertainment. His next project will be a Chinese
3D romantic comedy film. Jang is also an adjunct
professor of Performing Arts at the Seoul Arts College since the first semester of 2012. ==Filmography==