Meet Dongwon Oh | Screenwriter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dongwon Oh and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dongwon, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I moved around a lot as a child. I was born in Korea, raised in India and settled in the U.S for college / graduate school, At home I was in a Korean setting with my family, at the international school in New Delhi I was in this faux-American system and outside with my friends in the real world, I was in India.

My parents wished I had an affinity for the sciences, but all my relatives are in the arts in one way or another and even my mechanical engineer father confessed to me once that he wished he had the luxury to have pursued journalism as a young man.

So it’s no wonder I ended up in the arts, I was this culmination of nature and nurture. I remember loving the Eragon books as a child, as well as the Bartimaeus Sequence books (and Percy Jackson, of course). I think my rabid reading habits sprouted from a way to escape the constant change in my surroundings, then as I grew older, the escapist habits turned into curiosities about my world and I ended up double majoring in creative writing and international relations at my college in Upstate New York.

Halfway through my creative writing degree, I realized I couldn’t see a future where I was writing novels, or see myself in one of the prestigious, coveted workshops in Iowa with only other prose writers & poets and cornfields to keep me company. And whether it’s my own perfectionist tendencies or my Korean upbringing, I didn’t want to imagine continuing my writing education if it wasn’t the best possible education.

So I pivoted to another lifelong passion (though yes, I was only 20 at the time so hardly a long life), and applied to film schools with screenwriting programs and landed at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My childhood was always this mix of in-betweens. I quickly picked up English and graduated from the English as a Second Language (ESL) course very quickly, leading to this jealousy from other Korean students because their parents would scold them about their ESL progress by comparing them to me.

But I was – still am not – American, so as I started to spend more time with the American (and just non-Korean students), I found myself not quite fitting in.

Fast-forward a dozen years, I found myself in a screenwriting graduate program writing stories Korean stories with Hollywood aesthetics and structure, helping Korean and Chinese student directors bring their visions to life on the page. Writing has been and still is a way for me to understand the world at large.

Though, one of the lessons I learned recently is that movies, novels, television, are no guide for real life and just because I escaped into them as a child, doesn’t mean I can continue to escape real life and real experiences. A professor I admire hugely once told me that writing is important but living a full life is as, if not more, important. With screenwriting and especially in a town like Los Angeles where Hollywood looms large, it’s easy to live and breathe film. I’m learning now to try and give myself the attention that I give my stories.

In time, I want to bring K-dramas to the American market, to tell the stories that I wish I’d seen growing up and for my work to be a source of comfort and excitement for the audience.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
There’s this french toast at Metro Cafe (locations in Culver City and El Segundo) that I adore. I think Griffith Park is a must, followed by a dinner at Jitlada – but not the Hollywood Walk of Fame, unless my friend insists on the especially touristy areas.

A criminally underrated beach is Dockweiler Beach, where you can have a bonfire and an adventure all day if you bring umbrellas and such.

I think the ideal week long trip starts with a show, maybe at the Wiltern, some hikes (and great brunch spots), one of the smaller movie theaters you can only get in LA like the Nuart, a beach day, and nature days like at Joshua Tree.

To be honest – screenwriters are not the best hosts, we tend to be solitary creatures holed up in our rooms contemplating story. I’m trying to get better at this!

And if you’re feeling inclined, go strike with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA for fair wages, against unregulated AI use and the future of creative industries in Hollywood!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
First off – parents – because I wouldn’t be here without their support in all ways. And friends, especially the friends who are close in and outside of the industry because Los Angeles has a way of becoming all about work and the hustle.

Second, a few professors. Lytton Smith, Jessica Fenn and Rachel Hall, all part of the English faculty at State University of New York at Geneseo, who were fundamental in shaping my love of literature and my passion for storytelling. The screenwriting faculty at LMU, especially professor Mary Kuryla and another professor, Deborah Dean Davis, both of who taught me to be confident in my own stories, the basics of screenwriting and that I will always, always be learning. I owe all these professors everything.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ohdongwon/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dongwon-oh/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ohhdongwon