Soo Hugh, television writer and executive producer of AMC’s “The Terror” and creator of ABC’s “The Whispers,” has inked a multi-year overall deal with Universal Content Productions to develop, write and produce projects for the studio.
In addition, Hugh will launch an incubator program with the goal of helping find new Asian talent to create shows and jumpstart fruitful careers in the entertainment industry.
“From ‘The Terror’ to ‘Pachinko,’ Soo has captured epic stories with intimate, complex characters. She’s the rare talent who has the ability to write across time and space while always making a show feel modern and unexpected. We are thrilled to partner with her to bring that vision and versatility to UCP,” UCP president Beatrice Springborn said in a statement.
Hugh, a Yale University and University of Southern California alumna, is currently working on bringing the award-winning Min Jin Lee novel “Pachinko” to the small screen for Apple Plus. Per the logline, the period drama will chronicle the hopes and dreams of four generations of a Korean immigrant family. The story begins with forbidden love and moves into a saga that journeys between Korea, Japan and America to tell the story of war and peace, love and loss, triumph and reckoning. The story will be told in Korean, Japanese, and English. Korean superstar Lee Min Ho among those starring in the series, including Jin Ha, Anna Sawai, Minha Kim, Soji Arai and Kaho Minami. Kogonada and Justin Chon are on board to direct, with Kogonada directing the first four episodes and is an executive producer on the series. Chon will also direct four episodes, on which he will be an executive producer.
Hugh is producing a film for Amazon written by documentary filmmaker Tony Gerber and Pulitzer-winning playwright Lynn Nottage, as well as the reboot of the ’80s sci-fi adventure flick “Flight of the Navigators” for Disney. Her other credits include AMC’s “The Killing” and CBS’ “Under the Dome.” She is represented by WME, Management 360 and Jeffrey Frankel at Mckuin Frankel.
Similarly, the Universal Studio Group division announced an incubator for diverse voices when “Vida” creator Tanya Saracho signed an overall deal last August.