Soo Hugh is bringing Min Jin Lee’s work to the screen with her television adaptation of “Pachinko,” set to premiere in March. Now there’s word that Hugh will help other Asian Pacific stories come to life. She, alongside UCP, has established the Thousand Miles Project, an incubator designed to “develop creators who want to tell stories about the Asian Pacific diaspora,” The Hollywood Reporter confirms. The initiative was first announced last year, when Hugh inked an overall deal with UCP. Writer/director Ria Tobaccowala is the program lead.
“I would love to see people apply to this program who were like me, who had no idea how to even take that first step,” said Hugh, who was in marketing and advertising before making the switch to TV. “We’ve created a program that is information-focused to expose people who don’t have that front-row seat yet to how the industry works. If we can just teach that first step from all these other people who have done it, they can figure out what path they want to take.”
Thousand Miles will hold a virtual workshop for up to 20 participants on June 11 and June 18. The fundamentals of TV writing and the business will be covered via panels and lectures by writers, execs, managers, agents, and other industry figures. After the workshop, the participants will submit series concepts. Three of those concepts will be selected for a paid 24-week pilot script development lab, which will include guidance from Hugh and her team and general meetings with reps and producers.
“The goal is three shows made,” Hugh explained, emphasizing the importance of compensating the lab participants. “We wanted to choose a few projects we really believe in and give those writers a platform to say, ‘I am a paid writer.’ The key is to treat all three projects like legitimate studio projects.”
Hugh’s TV writing and producing credits include “The Terror,” “See,” and “Under the Dome.” “Pachinko,” on which she serves as showrunner, debuts March 25 on Apple TV+. Also among the projects on her slate are writing the new “Flight of the Navigators” for Disney and producing an Amazon pic penned by Lynn Nottage.
Applications for the Thousand Miles Project will be accepted February 1-March 31. Find out more here.
