‘Yolk’ Optioned As A TV Series

As of July 28, Variety reported exclusively that NYT Bestselling author Mary H.K. Choi had the rights to her 2021 contemporary novel Yolk acquired to be adapted into a television series with Picturestart.

The novel follows two estranged sisters, Jayne and June Baek— Jayne is making her way through fashion school in New York City, while her sister June has a high-finance paying job and has never really struggled in her life, until she’s diagnosed with uterine cancer. Now the sisters have to reunite, flung together by circumstances, but get into a messy plot of switching places and committing insurance fraud.

Choi will be adapting her novel for the screenplay alongside Jessica O’Toole (“XOXO Kitty”, “Jane The Virgin”), with O’Toole serving as showrunner.

Executive producers attach to the project include Erik Feig, founder and CEO of Picturestart, Samie Kim Falvey, Julia Hammer, Emily Wissink alongside Jermaine Johnson of 3 Arts and Lulu Wang (director of The Farewell) and Dani Melia of Local Time, a newly formed production company.

Feig stated in the article, “Mary is quickly proving herself to be the voice of a generation, applying her keen observational eye to the universal themes of family, identity, and belonging in this peerless coming-of-age story. She’s viciously funny but deeply empathetic at the same time, and the moment we read ‘Yolk,’ we knew it was a series we had to make at Picturestart—and we knew Mary had to be the one to adapt it.”

According to Choi’s Instagram post, she exclaimed, “SO. PUMPED. Also exquisitely in love with this entire team so hard already. I can’t wait to make this so good and so squish and so sob…”

Jayne Baek is barely getting by. She shuffles through fashion school, saddled with a deadbeat boyfriend, clout-chasing friends, and a wretched eating disorder that she’s not fully ready to confront. But that’s New York City, right? At least she isn’t in Texas anymore, and is finally living in a city that feels right for her.

On the other hand, her sister June is dazzlingly rich with a high-flying finance job and a massive apartment. Unlike Jayne, June has never struggled a day in her life. Until she’s diagnosed with uterine cancer.

Suddenly, these estranged sisters who have nothing in common are living together. Because sisterly obligations are kind of important when one of you is dying.

Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi is out now!

‘I Believe In A Thing Called Love’ Headed To Netflix

On July 19, it was announced exclusively through The Hollywood Reporter that Maurene Goo’s I Believe In A Thing Called Love has not only been acquired by Netflix, but in addition actor Byung-hun Lee will also star.

The novel follows Desi, a talented and overachieving high school senior who, after being inspired by the K-Dramas she and her widower father watch together, follows their formula to try and find love. Lee will play the role of Desi’s father.

Mary Lee, principal leader of A-Major Media said “Maurene found a way to tap into the fun world of K-dramas through the perspective of a girl who learns that life is something that you can’t control, and Yulin’s voice was perfect for the adaptation.”

Goo’s 2017 YA novel was originally optioned as a film back in February of 2020, where it was revealed that Yulin Kuang and Byung-hun Lee would be attached to the project (screenwriter and producer/actor respectively).

Desi Lee believes anything is possible if you have a plan. That’s how she became student body president. Varsity soccer star. And it’s how she’ll get into Stanford. But—she’s never had a boyfriend. In fact, she’s a disaster in romance, a clumsy, stammering humiliation magnet whose botched attempts at flirting have become legendary with her friends.

So when the hottest human specimen to have ever lived walks into her life one day, Desi decides to tackle her flirting failures with the same zest she’s applied to everything else in her life. She finds guidance in the Korean dramas her father has been obsessively watching for years—where the hapless heroine always seems to end up in the arms of her true love by episode ten. It’s a simple formula, and Desi is a quick study.

Armed with her “K Drama Steps to True Love,” Desi goes after the moody, elusive artist Luca Drakos—and boat rescues, love triangles, and staged car crashes ensue. But when the fun and games turn to true feels, Desi finds out that real love is about way more than just drama.

I Believe In A Thing Called Love by Maurene Goo is out now!

‘Somewhere Only We Know’ To Be Adapted As A Film For Netflix

On June 22, it was announced through an exclusive with The Hollywood Reporter that Maurene Goo’s 2019 YA Contemporary novel ‘Somewhere Only We Know‘ is set to be developed as feature film through Netflix with Lana Cho attached to adapt.

Alongside Netflix picking up the rights to Goo’s novel, the “independently financed” motion picture and television production company Escape Artists, will also be producing. Goo has also been confirmed to be an executive producer.

The novel follows Lucky, one of the biggest K-Pop stars on the scene, who’s hoping to successfully accomplish her breakout performance to boost her career. Tabloid reporter Jack runs into the famous star, where the two decide to have an adventure across Hong Kong and romance blossoms.

Cho, producer and writer, is known for projects such as Four Weddings And A Funeral, Timeless, even CW’s Arrow.

Through Escape Artists, Todd Black, Jason Blumenthal, Steve Tisch, Tony Shaw and Logan Kriete are set to e producers. David Bloomfield will also serve as an executive producer.

10 00 p.m.: Lucky is the biggest K-pop star on the scene, and she’s just performed her hit song “Heartbeat” in Hong Kong to thousands of adoring fans. She’s about to debut on The Tonight Show in America, hopefully a breakout performance for her career. But right now? She’s in her fancy hotel, trying to fall asleep but dying for a hamburger.

11 00 p.m.: Jack is sneaking into a fancy hotel, on assignment for his tabloid job that he keeps secret from his parents. On his way out of the hotel, he runs into a girl wearing slippers, a girl who is single-mindedly determined to find a hamburger. She looks kind of familiar. She’s very cute. He’s maybe curious.

12:00 a.m.: Nothing will ever be the same.

Somewhere Only We Know by Maurene Goo is out now!

The Downstairs Girl To Be Adapted As A TV Series

On April 8, an exclusive through Variety reported that Stacey Lee’s 2019 YA Historical Fiction novel, The Downstairs Girl, was optioned as a half-hour television series with Bound Entertainment.

The Korean-based entertainment studio is collaborating with Lee on the project, where she will also be an executive producer. Aminta Goyel, Daytime Emmy and WGA-award winning writer, is adapting the novel.

“I’m excited for Miss Sweetie to step into the homes of modern viewers, who might not have imagined a heroine like this could exist in 1890 Atlanta,” mentioned Lee.

Samuel Ha, founder of Bound Entertainment alongside international feature development vet Jamie Lai, will serve as executive producers.

As a Korean-American growing up in the South Ha stated he’s always wanted to “tell stories that included people who look like me in our history, set in the area I grew up…Stacey has been a leader in seeing the possibility of the characters in our history we may have overlooked, and we’re excited to have Aminta work with us in bringing this delightful and authentic YA story to screen.”

Lee’s novel follows Chinese-American Jo Kuan, a lady’s maid and secret journalist, who moonlights as a newspaper advice columnist in 1890’s Atlanta.

Bound Entertainment is focused on sharing stories from and about the Asian diaspora, based in Seoul and Los Angeles.

As of April 7, Lee became a NYT Bestselling author for the paperback version of The Downstairs Girl.

By day, seventeen-year-old Jo Kuan works as a lady’s maid for the cruel daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Atlanta. But by night, Jo moonlights as the pseudonymous author of a newspaper advice column for the genteel Southern lady, “Dear Miss Sweetie.” When her column becomes wildly popular, she uses the power of the pen to address some of society’s ills, but she’s not prepared for the backlash that follows when her column challenges fixed ideas about race and gender.

While her opponents clamor to uncover the secret identity of Miss Sweetie, a mysterious letter sets Jo off on a search for her own past and the parents who abandoned her as a baby. But when her efforts put her in the crosshairs of Atlanta’s most notorious criminal, Jo must decide whether she, a girl used to living in the shadows, is ready to step into the light. With prose that is witty, insightful, and at times heartbreaking, Stacey Lee masterfully crafts an extraordinary social drama set in the New South.

The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee is out now!