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Lee Sung Jin (Korean: 이성진; born 1981), also known as Sonny Lee,[1] is a Korean-American writer and director. He is known for creating the Netflix series Beef, for which he received the 2023 Primetime Emmy Awards for directing and writing for a limited series.[2]
Lee Sung Jin | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1981 (age 42–43) |
| Other names | Sonny Lee |
| Education | University Of Pennsylvania (BA) |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Spouse | Caty Solone |
Lee Sung Jin was born in South Korea in 1981.[3] His family moved frequently in his youth; he moved to the United States when he was nine months old, and returned to Korea for third through fifth grade.[4] He then relocated from Seoul to Minnesota, United States, in sixth grade.[5] He also lived in Illinois, Louisiana, Iowa, and Texas.[6] He recalls it being “a horrible time to have a name no one can pronounce" and chose to go by "Sonny" instead.[7]
He attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he sang in an a cappella group.[8] He graduated in 2003 with a degree in economics.[9][4]
After graduating from college, Lee worked a variety of part-time jobs while writing scripts.[4] He interned at the Sony record label Barsuk Records.[8] He wrote for the series Undone, Tuca & Bertie, Dave, and Silicon Valley.[7] In 2008, he worked as a screenwriter for It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.[4]
He was inspired to create Beef by a road rage confrontation he experienced with a middle-aged white man in Los Angeles.[10] "I thought there was something interesting there, how we’re all locked in our subjective world views, and we go around projecting a lot on the other person and not really seeing things for what they are," he said of the incident.[11] He also served as director, executive producer and showrunner on the series, forced to remotely direct scenes for the season finale "with my face on an iPad" because of a COVID-19 infection.[1][12]
In August 2023, he visited South Korea to speak at a conference on the creation of films. During this, he said that he had not been back to South Korea for around 25 years, since his childhood.[3]
In November 2023, Variety reported that Lee had signed a multiyear deal to produce content for Netflix.[1]
Lee is the screenwriter for the 2025 Marvel Cinematic Universe film Thunderbolts*, which is his first credit for screenwriting on a produced film.[13]
Lee wrote, directed and produced the music video for BTS leader RM's "Come Back to Me," a prerelease track from his second solo album Right Place, Wrong Person, released May 2024.[14]
Lee lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Caty Solone, and three dogs.[6][15][16] He plays the violin, guitar and piano.[9]
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