SHINHO LEE
Assistant Arts Professor at Dramatic Writing Department
New York University Tisch School of the Arts Asia
Raised in: Born and raised in Seoul, South Korea
Courses I teach: Grad Screenwriting I, Thesis Screenwriting I & II, Screenwriting Lab, Collaborative Film for 2nd Year Writing Students & 3rd Year Film Students, Feature Writing for 3rd Year Film Students.
Educated in: New York (BFA NYU Tisch Film & Television 2000; MFA NYU Tisch Dramatic Writing Department 2002), Los Angeles (MFA American Film Institute Screenwriting 2003)
Proudest Professional Moment: The Red Snow, a screenplay that I wrote while at Tisch Dramatic Writing Department, won 2003 Hartley-Merrill Award that was announced at Cannes Film Festival; The Chaser, a Korean film, that I co-wrote became a hit in South Korea in 2008 and is expected to be remade by Warner Bros., starring Leonardo DiCaprio; Sayonara Itsuka, a Japanese language film, that I wrote became the highest grossing Korean film in Japan in 2010.
I’m Now Working On: A love story set in New York City to be produced by Terence Chang (Tisch alum; producer of Face/Off, Red Cliff, Hard Boiled); A US-Korea co-production project that deals with the rumored to be true story about a Korean soldier who had a fling with Marilyn Monroe in 1954; A suspense thriller set in Singapore to be produced in 2012; An action blockbuster film set in four Asian countries to be produced in 2012-2013.
I Teach Because: I have found that teaching is an excellent way to hone one’s screenwriting skills. I have come to realize that teaching and film work go hand in hand – each activity helps to perfect the other. I see teaching as extension of my screenwriting work and screenwriting as an extension of my teaching. In my mind, they are collectively part of my art. Teaching is something that I enjoy because not only does it engage me intellectually, but also because I find gratification in helping young filmmakers during their formative years and the dynamic interaction with students keeps one “on your toes.” Not only does one learn from doing, but also from teaching. From these experiences, I have been avidly trying to lend a helping hand to young filmmakers like myself, whenever and wherever possible. It is part of circle of learning and creating.
I Believe: While I was a student at Tisch, particularly in the Dramatic Writing Department in NY, I found great personal satisfaction in taking part of workshop sessions with fellow writers. As a growing filmmaker, I learned from these experiences and found the workshop setting provided by Tisch to be creatively healthy and therapeutic. As a multilingual filmmaker who understands the filmmaking traditions of the East and the West, I was able to find ways to strengthen my dramaturgical skills to create well-balanced works that would appeal to the worldwide audiences. This is part of the reason why I gladly accepted the offer to teach at Tisch Asia where one could advance his or her career while learning from other fellow aspiring filmmakers that come from all over the world.
Tisch School of the Arts Asia is: Tisch Asia gives students endless opportunities to grow further as filmmakers. Students can definitely benefit from fellow classmates’ diverse cultural backgrounds and experiences. Tisch Asia also provides a cozy professional environment where students from all departments can network and interact with one another. The future lies in Asia, and in China in particular where film industry is growing at a scorching pace. Simply being at Tisch Asia, students are constantly reminded of the significance of the Asian markets where their future audiences live and breathe.
