Legacy Project

Ted Kim was born in Seattle, Washington, to Korean immigrant parents who arrived in the United States shortly after the Korean War ended. His father came from a line of ministers in Pyongyang and moved to Philadelphia, where he studied at seminary. His mother joined him there, and together they settled in Seattle, where she earned a doctorate while raising Ted and his six siblings—all while being a pastor’s wife.

James Shin is the President of Film & Television at HYBE America, where he develops Korean and Korean American talent—both in the U.S. and abroad—across music, film, and TV. Born in Chicago to immigrant parents with entrepreneurial spirits, James was a violin and piano prodigy who earned a full scholarship to Phillips Andover and later attended Princeton, where he served as concertmaster. After recognizing signs of burnout from his musical career, he pivoted to entertainment, studying the many pathways through which he might break into the industry.

Grace Yun is a distinguished production designer renowned for her work on films like Hereditary (2018), First Reformed (2017), and Past Lives (2023), as well as television series such as Ramy and Beef (2023).

Leonardo Nam was born in 1979 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the youngest of three children born to Korean immigrants who left their country in the aftermath of the Korean War. When he was six years old, his family moved to Australia, where he recalls being first moved by the spirit of acting while playing the role of Edmund in King Lear during an after-school program in Sydney. He describes the world of drama and theater as a source of refuge and community from a tumultuous household.

Harry Yoon was born in 1971 in South Korea and moved to the United States with his family when he was five years old. He recalls growing up in the East Bay fondly, with parents who recognized and nurtured his passion for entertaining others at an early age. Although he did “a little bit of film school” in college, his first career was in the tech industry. Having seen his parents sacrifice so much for their kids, Harry initially chose to pursue a stable career over his dream of working in film.

Kevin Woo was born in 1991 in Seoul, South Korea, to quite the musical family: his father was a pianist, his uncle a classically trained opera singer, and his aunts were artists. Growing up in the Bay, Kevin was naturally attuned to music, singing in his church’s praise band and putting on karaoke performances with his sister at home—favorites included the Spice Girls, Shania Twain, and NSYNC.

In Memoriam. Lisa (Quan) Chong came to the US when she was 2 years old. Her mother left the family at age 5, then she was sent back to Korea at age 11, only to return to her father in Los Angeles at age 14. Despite her turbulent childhood, she graduated Loyola Marymount University and her passion is helping others by working in the nonprofit world. Hers is a story of struggle and resilience with a large dose of grace.

So Yun Um is a Korean American filmmaker from Los Angeles, California. She tells us about growing up in L.A. as a child in the ‘90s, a dynamic city full of fashion, enterprise, and of course, a large Korean community.

Daniel K. Isaac was born in 1988 in Los Angeles, California, to Korean immigrant parents who separated when he was a toddler. He grew up performing in church plays and participating in the Boy Scouts, later discovering his passion for theater through his high school’s productions. While in high school, he entered conversion therapy, influenced by his religious upbringing, but found in theater the family and community he longed for. Determined to pursue acting, he studied theater at UC San Diego, where he performed in a production every single quarter of his enrollment.