Beef creator Lee Sung Jin launches Lila Pictures under renewed Netflix pact

Lee Sung Jin

Sela Shiloni

Beef creator Lee Sung Jin has launched a new production company, Lila Pictures, under a renewed multi-year creative partnership with Netflix.

The US-based company will develop scripted series and feature films exclusively for the streamer, with Lee attached to create, write, direct and executive produce projects.

Hyunji Ward, who spent four years at Dakota Johnson’s TeaTime Picture, has been appointed senior VP of film and television.

Netflix and Lila Pictures have also unveiled two projects in development. The first is The Only Child, a limited drama series reuniting Lee with Beef star Ali Wong, who will produce and star as the mother of a professional archer preparing to compete for her first gold medal. The project will also involve playwright and Industry writer Ava Wong Davies.

The second project, Citizen’s Arrest, is a drama series created by Beef writer Gene Hong. It follows two longtime friends and neighbours who become consumed by investigating a local crime as a way of avoiding problems in their own lives.

“Im excited to launch Lila Pictures with the support of my creative home at Netflix and the help of Hyunji Ward,” said Sung Jin.

“In Sanskrit, lila can be interpreted as ‘the divine play,’ and I’m grateful to reflect that through film and television, alongside close friends and collaborators like Ali Wong and Gene Hong. This is just the beginning. There will also be merch.”