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

Hi Hyunjin, what role has risk played in your life or career?
I was the person who always tried to avoid the risk. I studied business so it was natural for me to analyze the potential risk and minimize it whenever I made a decision. Every path I chose had more chances to succeed, or I had a safety net in case it doesn’t work. However, one day, I realize that the ‘safe choices’ I’ve made so far were always my second favorite ones. I was too afraid to take the risk to go for what I truly wanted, so I compromised it. Especially in my career, I wanted to be a creator, but never fully devoted myself to becoming one, and took a job in a similar business. Once I started my career in a safety net, again I was afraid to give up the career I’ve been building, so I stuck to it for 10 years. And I realized I was never happy. Even though I was in a reasonable position from other people’s expectations, I was not proud of myself. And finally, I decided to take the biggest risk in my life and start to study filmmaking. It’s been almost 2 years since I completely changed my life direction, and I have never been this happy and felt fortunate. So the ‘Risk’ for me, was my enemy in the past, which has become my best friend now.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Fortunately, the short film I shot in America last year had a good result in festivals. I was invited in a couple of film festivals and won the Best performance award in Toronto LGBTQ film festival. I was able to hear many good audience reactions about the film which was tremendously encouraging as it was my first American production.

Right now, I’m working on my first feature film. I finished the script a few months ago and aiming to start the production next year. It’s a lot of work with an expensive budget, which makes me feel intimated many times, but I feel this is something that gets me truely excited everyday. I’ve met many good people who are interested in my project so far, so am trying my best to make it successful collaborating with them. It’s a drama with a lot of emotions, so I’m excited about the casting process. I love to discover the hidden side of an actor which can’t be shown in his/her everyday life but can only be shown through a scene, and I think my movie will be an opportunity for them to navigate a lot of complex emotions. I can’t wait to go through that journey with them.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If it is a week-long trip we can start light. On the first day, I will show around the area I live, North Hollywood and Burbank, which is the heart of the films and theater business in LA. After driving around the town, we will have dinner in my favorite American comfort dining and cocktail restaurant Little Tony’s, which is right in front of my place. The next day, we will check out the famous California beach either Huntington, Manhattan, or Venice beach. After enjoying the sunbathing, we can drop by Little Tokyo to shop around the vintage shops and have dinner in my favorite sushi restaurant. We will come back home not too late because we have to sleep early for the travel to San Diego the next day. We will spend two nights in San Diego to visit the beautiful beaches, old town, bar hopping in the Gaslamp Quarter, Little Italy, etc. After coming back from San Diego, we can slow down and maybe have one shopping day in Melrose or Old Pasadena. For the last weekend, we will go for a one-day winery train trip to Napa Valley, getting tipsy all day and having unforgettable conversations.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My mom has been always my mentor and biggest supporter. She is a strong female who brought up me and my sister till now and taught us to become better people. She is a person who knows how to find her own happiness from a smallest things, which let her keep the sparkles in her eyes at the age of 60s. I want to grow old like her. My first directing teacher Nick Sivakumaran and cinematography teacher Matt Kohnen at New York Film Academy were the people who taught me the beautiful passion for filmmaking. The amount of joy they have in the workshop made me realize that ‘people can actually love their own job’, instead of doing it for the sake of money. It was an eye-opening experience and I felt that I wanted to become like them.
My best friend Nebal Shafi is the one who will be my creative partner for a lifetime. He has been the person who completes my imperfection since the day 1 we met each other, and till now he is the first person who sees my work and the last person who takes care of it as if it is his own project.

Website: https://www.leehjin.com/

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

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