The director of the critically acclaimed Minari is set to direct the first episode, and possibly more, of Netflix and A24’s new 10-episode dramedy series, Beef. Lee Isaac Chung rose to fame when he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director earlier this year. His film Minari was nominated for 6 Academy Awards in total; It won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, Youn Yuh-Jung’s first Oscar nomination, and win. Lee Isaac Chung also received a nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

Chung's new Netflix venture will reunite him with Steven Yeun (The Walking Dead), who starred in his film Minari and was also nominated for his first Oscar for Best Actor. The series stars Yeun along with Ali Wong (Always Be My Maybe) as a couple. Chung will also executive produce the series. Yeun is also set to produce the series through his production company, Universal Remote alongside Wong.

Beef is a highly anticipated Netflix release and has been described as “two people who let a road rage incident burrow into their minds and slowly consume their every thought and action.” The series was created and is written by Lee Sung Jin who has previously worked on Dave, Tuca & Bertie, and Silicon Valley.

“Ali Wong, Steven Yeun, A24, and Netflix. It’s a dream team, and I’m honored to be collaborating with them. I’m also grateful to the guy who yelled at me in traffic three years ago. I did not let it go, and now we have a show,” says Lee Sung Jin.

“We are incredibly excited to collaborate with Lee Sung Jin and help bring this rich series to life along with the inimitable Steven Yeun and Ali Wong. Sung Jin has created a bold and at times outrageous world. It is an honest and powerful character study of two people who go about searching for connection in the unlikeliest of ways,” says Jinny Howe, VP, Drama Development, Original Series at Netflix.

The project is still in the early stages and was pitched in March 2021 to big-time bidders including Amazon and Apple with Netflix prevailing.

Filming is planned to begin at the end of January 2022 in Los Angeles and is scheduled to be completed in early Summer of 2022. Although nothing is confirmed, it is safe to say that the series will be released on Netflix around Summer/Fall of 2022.