How ‘Pachinko’ Producers Beat the Odds With an Epic Streaming Series Starring ‘Minari’ Oscar Winner Yuh-Jung Youn
variety.comDiane Garrett Ambitious in scope and storytelling, “Pachinko” seems tailor-made for today’s international streaming wars. It arrives March 25 on Apple TV Plus with a literary pedigree and “Minari” Oscar winner Yuh-jung Youn in a starring role.
But a greenlight was far from assured when producers shopped it around to TV networks four years ago.At the time, “Crazy Rich Asians” had yet to become a box office hit, and Korean entertainment was not nearly as popular on a global scale as it is now.
And producers were determined to secure a premium budget akin to that of “The Crown” or “Succession” to tell the trilingual story, which interweaves timelines in Korea, Japan and the U.S.“In retrospect, I think we were insane,” says executive producer Michael Ellenberg, an HBO vet and founder of Media Res, the production company behind the show.
Theresa Kang-Lowe, WME agent-turned-executive producer of “Pachinko,” played TV matchmaker for the adaptation of Min Jin Lee’s 2017 bestseller of the same name, which spans 100 years and tackles issues of immigration and tough wartime occupation.
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