Hollywood Executives See Growing Market for Asian Stories, but ‘Every Movie Is Still a Fight’

Hollywood’s appetite for Asian stories has broadened, but for Lionsgate’s Helen Lee-Kim, “every movie is still a fight.”

Lee-Kim, the studio’s president of international, made the remark at the Busan International Film Festival‘s Asian Contents & Film Market during the panel “UTA × Gold House: Hollywood & The Asian Diaspora,” moderated by Variety‘s Asia Editor Naman Ramachandran.

The discussion brought together representatives from Lionsgate, UTA, Gold House Studios, Hybe America Studios and East West Bank to examine how Asian stories can reach wider audiences without sacrificing their cultural identity.

Lee-Kim said pandemic viewing, despite the disruption COVID brought to the industry, exposed audiences to films across languages and helped make language less of a barrier. Asian content can attract viewers beyond Asia, she said, with a compelling concept remaining central to its commercial appeal.

She pointed to “Karoshi,” the action thriller starring Teo Yoo and directed by Takashi Doscher, as an example of bringing Asian talent into Hollywood filmmaking. Such projects still require studios and distributors to take individual creative bets, she said.

UTA’s David Park cited “Parasite” and “Squid Game” as breakthroughs that demonstrated possibilities once difficult to imagine. Their success has expanded the routes available to Asian filmmakers beyond moving to Hollywood and working in English, he said.

Discussing Na Hong-Jin’s Korean project “Hope,” Park highlighted its ambition, original concept and global genre appeal, with Asian actors in the leading roles alongside international stars.

Park also pointed to “Past Lives” and “Tokyo Vice” as examples of multicultural storytelling grounded in particular experiences. He expressed a desire for more such collaborations to develop organically, cautioning against allowing calculations about global audiences to dictate the work.

Christine Yi, president of Gold House Studios, said the company was looking across genres, without a prescribed category. What mattered was originality and a human, subjective perspective, she said. Its interest in new voices did not require creators to compromise or deliberately internationalize their material.

Hybe America Studios president James Shin emphasized collaboration with artists and Korean creative teams as the company builds its film and television business. Discussing “K-Pop: The Debut,” he stressed the importance of working across cultures through creative partnerships.

East West Bank executive vice president Bennett Pozil, who financed “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” pointed to growing investment activity across Southeast Asia. He cited the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) as an example of funding being channeled directly into the industry, alongside co-production investments in Singapore and Thailand.

His view on cross-border storytelling was shared across the panel as multilingual and multicultural filmmaking opens more paths to audiences.

“Don’t force anything,” Pozil said. “It has to be authentic.”