# Director Yeon Sang-ho on 'Collective': From Zombie Worldbuilding to Transmedia Expansion [Dispatch=Lee Ah-jin Reporter] Director Yeon Sang-ho's zombie worldview does not stop—it evolves. Through the films 'Train to Busan' and 'Peninsula', he opened a distinctive horizon for K-zombie cinema. This time, with the new film 'Collective', he presented a new worldview. The zombies in 'Collective' are not simply rampaging corpses. They are "collective intelligence zombies" that communicate with one another, share information, and evolve. What appears at first glance to be complex discourse becomes effortless under Yeon's direction. The setting is an ultra-high-rise building. Within this sealed space, human civilization collapses. Ironically, the cause is collective intelligence itself. Director Yeon explored the terror of (blind) universality through 'Collective'. Within this blockbuster-style disaster film lies a weighty allegory. It conveys the value of individuality. Among masses of humanity hurtling toward destruction, ultimately the voices of a minority change the world. Dispatch met with Director Yeon Sang-ho on the 26th at a café in Jongno-gu, Seoul. We heard from him about the process of creating 'Collective' and his values as a director. ## The Terror of Collective Intelligence 'Collective' was born from Director Yeon's deep deliberation on contemporary collective intelligence. He focused on how the collectivity of crowds renders individual individuality powerless. He found the cause in internet algorithms. He took note of the violence enacted under the name of collective intelligence. Director Yeon infused collective intelligence into the zombies. In the film, zombies share information and evolve. They walk on four legs, then on two. Their sense of smell develops. The way they share information is grotesque. They tilt their heads skyward, their eyes and mouths gleaming as they emit screams. "If you watch the film 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers', there's a peculiar action that aliens take when they discover humans. I wanted symbolic movements to accompany information-sharing in a similar way. In fact, there were initially concerns from within that it was too grotesque. But as a director, I judged this was something to push through with momentum." Yet the zombies have a weakness. Director Yeon reflected one aspect of ant ecology: the "ant mill"—a phenomenon where ants blindly follow only the lead ant, and due to route error, move in a massive circle until they starve to death. It symbolizes the tragedy of blind collective intelligence unable to think individually. Director Yeon explained: "While researching collective intelligence, I learned that scholar William Morton Wheeler first proposed the term after observing ant behavior. Naturally, the ant mill phenomenon was woven into the work." ## The Necessity of the Mutant The leader of the zombies is Seo Young-chul (played by Koo Kyo-hwan). He is the one who gave birth to the collective intelligence zombies and sparked the infection crisis. He controls the zombie masses with only his gaze and thoughts. "We combined the concept of a 'necromancer' (corpse controller) with the conventional infection-type zombie. A narrative where these two types clash was something that had been almost absent, so it was an interesting attempt. Thematically, I positioned Seo Young-chul as a kind of demagogue who moves a group blindly." If Seo Young-chul dominates the collective intelligence among zombies, the survivors collapse either swept up in agitation or bound by relationships. Notable examples include Police Officer Lee Bong-seok (played by Lee Jung-ok), who only follows government conditions for rescue, and Choi Hyunsuk (played by Ji Chang-wook), who struggles to save his sister Choi Hyun (played by Kim Shin-rok). "The collective intelligence in the film has two aspects. The zombies' collective intelligence is perfectly unified, but human collective intelligence includes selfishness. So the survivor group rarely moves in a single direction. Seo Young-chul exploits such blind spots." Here, Director Yeon drew from characteristics of swarm creatures to divide the survivors' fates. These creatures have the trait of being entirely wiped out the moment even a single weakness is exposed. To prevent this, they create mutants. The mutants in the film are Kwon Se-jung (played by Jeon Ji-hyun) and Gong Seol-hui (played by Shin Hyun-bin). These two people are not swept up in the agitation of other survivors. They resolve the crisis using their own cold-headed knowledge. Director Yeon emphasized: "I wanted to show why it's dangerous for our society to be united by only one universal way of thinking, and why we must respect minority opinions." ## "Zombies Are an Inexhaustible Spring" For Director Yeon Sang-ho, zombies are an inexhaustible spring of imagination. There are no boundaries to imagination. He opened with: "Once you establish a zombie worldview, questions chain together endlessly." He continued: "In 'Collective', there's a dilemma where the government hesitates whether to view zombies as patients or as targets for elimination. Especially after going through the COVID-19 pandemic, such ethical standards have become more ambiguous. As a creator, it's a fascinating point." His imagination is ongoing. Director Yeon confessed: "I never stop the essential contemplation of what zombies are and what they symbolize. At the end of that contemplation, a new worldview always springs forth." The Yeon Sang-ho zombie universe has finished preparing to extend beyond the screen into another world. He is currently conceptualizing a sequel to 'Collective' across multiple mediums including novels and games. He has already completed the novel, and is currently working on image production for visual implementation. The specific direction of the game remains open. However, based on the solid narrative of the novel, he envisioned an experiential game form where users directly drive the narrative. "After doing film work for a long time, I've always felt regret that stories are consumed and stop only within the screen. The young generation these days wants to enjoy a single IP three-dimensionally across various platforms. Through 'Collective', I want to boldly attempt a new expansion that hasn't existed in Korean cinema." ## An Unfinished Dream Although 'Collective' carries a heavy theme, its development is streamlined and swift. No matter how complex the message it contains, the form itself must be simple and inclusive so that the public can follow intuitively—this is Director Yeon's principle. That is why humanism is always woven into his works. "Many people have evaluated my previous works like 'Piggy' or 'Saint' as cynical. But I see that too as a form of humanism. Dark emotions like resentment bundled together with inferiority complex or blind belief are, after all, the most fascinating essence that only humans possess." The inquiry into human nature has also become the driving force for creating works. Director Yeon emphasized: "I think I keep picking up the megaphone because I want to explore how deep the abyss of human nature goes. That unceasing thirst is what moves me." In the OTT era, within a rapidly changing media environment, Director Yeon's gaze does not rest solely on human nature. He smiled and said: "Last year, while working on the short film 'Face', I equipped myself with a bold mindset of 'since it's come to this, let me try doing everything I haven't done'." His goals know neither nationality nor genre. "Unlike the past 10 years, for the next 10 years I don't plan to be concerned with the size of works. I intend to engage fiercely with only work I haven't attempted before. I want to experience a lot of overseas location shooting, and I also want to try hybrid films that incorporate animation techniques. That way I think I can spend my life as a director without regret."