Spotlight: Making PACHINKO and the Transition from Indie Film to TV with Directors Kogonada & Justin Chon
About this Spotlight
Spotlight Events feature conversations with high-profile film and television industry professionals who share helpful advice and insights on their career experiences and creative processes. Check out some of our inspiring chats with Patty Jenkins, Ava DuVernay, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Brit Marling, Jason Blum and more.
Go behind the scenes of the making of the Apple TV+ series adaptation of PACHINKO with directors Kogonada and Justin Chon. Moderated by Kim Yutani, Director of Programming for the Sundance Film Festival, the conversation will focus on making the transition from directing indie feature films to directing a prestige series like Pachinko. From casting, to mining great performances, to finding a cinematic language, this conversation will unpack the opportunities and challenges of creating multi-episode storytelling.
SpotlightTeam
Kogonada
Panelist
Kogonada is a South Korean-born American filmmaker. His debut feature film COLUMBUS, starring John Cho and Haley Lu Richardson, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was released in 2017. He also directed AFTER YANG starring Colin Farrell and Jodie Turner-Smith. The film premiered in Cannes 2021 and is releasing theatrically in 2022. More recently, he co-directed and executive produced the Apple TV+ drama series, PACHINKO.
Justin Chon
Panelist
Justin Chon has quickly established himself as one of the industry’s top artists. Before PACHINKO, he most recently wrote, directed and starred in his original feature BLUE BAYOU, which sold competitively to Focus Features and premiered at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival. Chon plays the lead role opposite Oscar-winner Alicia Vikander. Mark O’Brien, Linh Dan Pham and Emory Cohen also star.
His previous film, GOOK, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the NEXT category. He also won an Independent Spirit Award as a top director to watch. Chon wrote, produced, directed and starred in the film, which received stellar reviews, earning a 94% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. GOOK was picked up for distribution by Samuel Goldwyn Films and opened with the best per-theater average among specialty films.
His follow-up film, MS. PURPLE, premiered at Sundance in the U.S. Dramatic Competition to great reviews and sold to Oscilloscope Pictures. The film opened exclusively in Los Angeles for its first weekend with the best per-theater average among specialty films, becoming the best opening in over a year, and second-best opening in five years, at the Landmark Nuart. Up next for Justin, he’ll be directing the pilot and second episode of the new Jason Momoa led Apple TV+ series CHIEF OF WAR.
Kim Yutani
Moderator
Kim Yutani is the Director of Programming of the Sundance Film Festival; she assumed that role in 2018. She began programming short films for the Festival in 2006, and became a feature film programmer in 2009, focusing on US and international fiction feature films, overseeing short film programming, and working on the Festival’s Offscreen panels and conversations. She was instrumental in creating Sundance Film Festival: Hong Kong, which has since expanded to become Sundance Film Festival: Asia. She has also worked at Outfest Los Angeles, Provincetown International Film Festival, as a reader for Creative Capital, and with Cinema Eye Honors. Prior to her film festival work, Yutani was a film critic and freelance journalist focusing on independent film. She got her start in the industry as assistant to the director Gregg Araki.