Daily Inspiration: Meet Jiyoon Um

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jiyoon Um.

Hi Jiyoon, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I have always dreamed of being a storyteller for life. The desire to express emotion through stories eventually led me from my home country, South Korea, to the United States.
After graduating from Dongtan Global High School in Korea, I moved to Los Angeles to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Film Production at The Los Angeles Film School. In 2025, my first Korean short film, Left Me Behind, was nominated at the 28th Urban Film Festival. Since then, I have been working on an American short film titled Dream, Blue, Darts, continuing to explore storytelling across cultures and languages.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has not been a completely smooth road. At The Los Angeles Film School, students are not automatically assigned the role of director. To earn that position, we present our own scripts or demo versions of short films and are selected through a vote. I was fortunate to be consistently chosen, and I remain deeply grateful for those opportunities.
Even so, directing on a foreign film set was far from easy. I clearly remember the anxiety of my first set. Film productions are always limited by time, and communicating complex ideas in a second language while handling both internal pressure and external expectations was one of the hardest challenges I faced.
As I learned to steady my mindset, the fear of feeling isolated began to fade. At first, it felt as though I had been dropped alone onto another planet, speaking a different language. Coming from Korea, where Confucian values have long shaped a cultural hierarchy based on age, I was used to environments where younger people are expected to defer to those who are older.
On set, however, I began to notice something new. Regardless of age or gender, the crew worked together under the shared understanding of the director’s role, making a genuine effort to follow my vision. I do not know what commercial film sets in Korea are like, but in those moments, I felt I was seeing a small glimpse of the Hollywood I had dreamed of since childhood.
The barrier of working in a second language has not disappeared, but approaching directing with gratitude has helped me learn how to truly enjoy being on set.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I believe in the power of storytelling. Strong stories invite audiences into an emotional journey, allowing them to experience a character’s life without having lived it themselves. After watching, people reflect, share their thoughts, and reconsider how they see the world.
Among many genres, family drama is what I am most drawn to. Family has always been the core of who I am. I clearly remember the winter of 2024, when I faced one of the most difficult periods of my life after moving to Los Angeles alone. I was only eighteen, and it was my first time living without my family. Although studying abroad was my own choice, I often felt as though I had been left alone in an unfamiliar world.
To cope with that loneliness, I began writing stories about family. Most of them centered on my father. I spent days and nights writing while thinking about my family in Korea. Whenever I was fully immersed in writing, I lost all sense of time. By the time I returned to Korea for winter break, the script was complete.
That project later became a short film, and my father participated as a producer. It was his first time on a film set, so it was far from perfect or professional. Still, the process of creating something together became a deeply meaningful memory for both of us. I am proud that I was able to share the beauty of a film set with him through that experience.
I am also deeply grateful that the film we made together was nominated at the 28th Urban Film Festival in Korea.

Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I consider it a great fortune, and something I am deeply grateful for, whenever my writing receives a positive response from others. Knowing that a story I wrote resonates beyond myself feels meaningful in ways I cannot take lightly.
In high school, while attending a film academy program, I wrote a short synopsis titled Wisdom Tooth. It tells the story of a young girl who is afraid of going to the dentist due to painful memories involving her mother, yet is forced to confront that fear because of the pain from her wisdom tooth. Wanting to fully explore that story, I expanded it into a screenplay after moving to the United States.
I later submitted the script as part of my portfolio for the INT Creative Scholarship at The Los Angeles Film School. Since the scholarship is awarded to only one international student each year, I had very little expectation. When I was unexpectedly selected as the 2024 recipient, I was genuinely surprised.
Receiving that kind of recognition from outside myself meant a great deal to me. It felt like encouragement from the world, telling me that it was okay to continue pursuing what I love. Until the day I am able to write stories that are loved by many, I want to remain a storyteller who trusts her own talent and continues to write through what I call a joyful kind of pain.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ji_coorlee/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jiyoon-um-855609308/