The Good Doctor and Altered Carbon actor Will Yun Lee is paving the way to launch two new endeavors to inaugurate newly formed production outfit Seoul Street, with Wonder Street partners Christine Holder and Mike Holder, according to Deadline‘s Mike Fleming Jr.
Going forward, Lee will pen the script for period martial arts drama feature Lions In The Garden, with Laeta Kalogridis (Shutter Island) and Cortney Norris (Hightown). Kalogridis is joining Seoul Street in producing the pic, based on the true story of one of the first all-Black fighting martial arts teams of the 1960s and 70s which navigated the racial and systemic injustices of Southeast Washington DC, and became one of the dominate forces in the martial arts circuit led by Lee’s father, Taekwondo Grandmaster Soo Woong Lee.
“The history of Koreans and Blacks has never been good, and there has been this mutual fear of each other,” Will Yun Lee told Deadline. “For this pocket of time, the story was an exception. My father’s first family when he got to DC was these Black students, whose ages ranged from teens to mid to late 20 year olds.” .
Lee will also develop crime series, Over The Shoulder, based on author Leonard Chang’s HarperCollins and St. Martin’s Press bestselling trilogy of crime novels. Chang, a TV writer himself who shares credits such as FX drama Snowfall and Justified, is adapting his novel for the small screen which centers on Allen Choice, a Korean American bodyguard whose investigation of the murder of his childhood friend exposes a trail of dark family secrets about his father that are linked to race, class, and the legacy of the L.A. Riots.
“I am truly excited to begin this new journey alongside Wonderstreet,” said Lee. “It is an incredible time to be able to tell stories that reflect the diverse America I grew up in and how Asian American culture weaved its way through the fabric of our society. Getting a chance to collaborate with visionaries like Leonard and Laeta has been a dream.”
Said Christine Holder: “Will’s extraordinary talent and dedication to authentic storytelling goes hand in hand with everything that Wonder Street believes at it’s core. Curating inclusive content that strives to enrich the consumer’s experience and provide a pathway to seeing life through an otherwise unfamiliar lens is of pivotal importance and the cornerstone of this partnership. We are thrilled to have Leonard’s books as a launching off point for this mission.”