American writer and director From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lee Sung Jin (Korean: 이성진; born October 2, 1981), also known as Sonny Lee,[1] is an American screenwriter and director. He is best 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 | |
|---|---|
| 이성진 | |
| Born | October 2, 1981 |
| Other names | Sonny Lee |
| Citizenship |
|
| Alma mater | University Of Pennsylvania (BA) |
| Occupations | |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Known for | Beef |
| Spouse | Caty Solone |
| Korean name | |
| Hangul | 이성진 |
| Hanja | 李成震 |
| Revised Romanization | I Seong-jin |
| McCune–Reischauer | Yi Sŏng-jin |
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 moved to Los Angeles and worked a variety of part-time jobs while writing scripts.[4] He interned at the record label Barsuk Records.[8] He wrote for the series Undone, Tuca & Bertie, Dave, and Silicon Valley.[7] In 2008, he worked as a staff write and executive story editor 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]
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Thunderbolts* | No | Yes | Co-screenwriter |
| Year | Title | Creator | Director | Writer | Executive producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007–2008 | Rob & Big | No | No | Consultant Writer | No | 24 episodes |
| 2008–2009 | It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia | No | No | Executive Story Editor | No | 26 episodes |
| 2010 | Mothman | Yes | No | Yes | No | TV movie; co-screenwriter |
| 2010–2014 | 2 Broke Girls | No | No | Yes | No | 7 episodes |
| 2015 | Silicon Valley | No | No | Yes | No | Episode: "Server Space" |
| 2016 | The Real O'Neals | No | No | Yes | No | Episode: "The Real Book Club" |
| 2018 | Tuca & Bertie | No | No | Yes | No | 2 episodes |
| 2021 | Dave | No | No | Yes | No | 2 episodes |
| 2023–present | Beef | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also showrunner; directed episode: "Figures of Light" |
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | RM's Come Back to Me | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Year | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primetime Emmy Awards | ||||
| 2015 | Outstanding Comedy Series | Silicon Valley | Nominated | [17] |
| 2023 | Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or movie | Beef (episode "The Birds Don't Sing, They Screech in Pain") | Won | [18] |
| Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie | Beef (episode "Figures of Light") | Won | [18] | |
| Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series | Beef | Won | [18] | |
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