KIMI KABUKI PW: hotsauce
Directed by: Yoko Okumara
Yoko Okumura is a genre-fluid, LGBTQ writer and director. Born in a Buddhist temple in Japan and raised in the frost bite of Minneapolis, she now lives and works in Los Angeles. Yoko just wrapped filming the Blumhouse/Epic thriller feature UNSEEN starring Midori Francis, Michael Patrick Lane and Jolene Purdue (Deadline article). She will next direct another episode of GOOD TROUBLE for Freeform, as well as an episode of A MILLION LITTLE THINGS for ABC. Yoko has previously already directed another episode of GOOD TROUBLE and a block of episodes of Freeform’s THE BOLD TYPE. Additionally, she has directed the episode "America's Largest Ball of Twine" starring Ming-na Wen and Karen Allen, for Sam Raimi's Quibi/Roku horror anthology 50 STATES OF FRIGHT, which allowed Yoko to bring her authentic, Asian-American voice to tell a story that reflects aspects of her unique American experience growing up in a small town. Further select directing credits have included Lifetime/A&E's scripted digital series FALL INTO ME. She directed and released a short documentary for Vimeo that centers around an incredible Korean-American tattoo artist and the implications of having a business/artform that requires human touch during this unprecedented era of no contact.
She currently has a feature in development she’s attached to direct with Justin Lin’s Yomyomf that Jennifer Yale will EP. Yoko has participated in the Ryan Murphy Half Program where she was mentored by director Gwyneth Horder-Payton on the Netflix show THE POLITICIAN; the Fox Directing Program through which she shadowed producing-director Jason Winer on the CBS comedy LIFE IN PIECES; and shadowed showrunner/director Peter Paige on the Freeform series GOOD TROUBLE. She was also recently accepted into the Warner Bros. Television Directors Workshop. Additionally, she was a co-creator of the digital series FACETS, a documentary episodic about trailblazing women who have carved unique life paths for themselves. Her short film, KIMI KABUKI, which tells the story of a flailing marriage that leads up to a climactic encounter by the wife to her husband which may be more than it seems, received a DGA Award, the Panavision New Filmmakers Award, and an Austin Film Festival Jury Award. She is obsessed with telling rebellious stories through underrepresented perspectives and thrives in the intersection of grit and glamour. RETTY LITTLE LIARS reboot (both for Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa), as well as two episodes of THE CHI for Showtime/Hillman Grad. She most recently directed two episodes of TWENTIES for Lena Waithe/BET and an episode of P-VALLEY for Starz/Lionsgate/Chernin/Katori Hall. Prior to that, she was selected by Lena Waithe for the AT&T Hello Labs Filmmaker Mentorship Program, where she directed the short film SPILT MILK. Her short film LAST LOOKS was showcased at the UrbanWorld Film Festival and was featured by Issa Rae in her #ShortFilmSunday lineup.
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