4 Key Writing Lessons from ‘Pachinko’ Showrunner Soo Hugh

Overwriting has a place and a purpose, according to this showrunner. Apple TV’s Pachinko , a drama series based on the 2017 novel by Min Jin Lee, has garnered accolades galore since its premiere in 2022, including a Peabody Award and a Critics’ Choice Award. The story begins in 1915 in occupied Korea but reaches as far as 1989 New York City, following the trials of a Korean family. Showrunner Soo Hugh , formerly of AMC’s horror masterpiece The Terror and The Killing , has guided this complex, multigenerational tale from the beginning. Enter Now | Regular Deadline in 28 days ScreenCraft sat down with Hugh just after the show’s Season 2 premiere to ask her for advice and what her approach is to working on this intricate, emotional series. Be Flexible When Adapting a Novel Hugh said the process of adapting the book was not something that came easily to her—a writer might think that having source material is like a shortcut, but you must consider other challenges when you sit down to write. The original novel is quite expansive, and Hugh’s version does overlap and combine some parts of the storyline in new ways. But arriving there, she says, was a process. In Hugh’s case, this was a period tale in another language, which can be notoriously difficult to produce, even with popular intellectual property as your starting point. Hugh said one thing that helped her and her team was not “overthinking” it and focusing on their passion for the story. “In your first drafts, you might keep more of the book,” she said, “and then as you rewrite and rewrite and rewrite, it changes and morphs into a little bit of something else.” She added that when you adapt a book into another medium, it’s important to honor “the spirit and soul” of the original material. But don’t be married to the source and think you have to be bound to its rules, simply because it’s there. Understand that the book is a different experience than a TV show, and that will free you up to […]

Click here to view original page at 4 Key Writing Lessons from ‘Pachinko’ Showrunner Soo Hugh

© 2024, wcadmin. All rights reserved, Writers Critique, LLC Unless otherwise noted, all posts remain copyright of their respective authors.