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The Screenwriting Life with Meg LeFauve and Lorien McKenna

265 | KPop Demon Hunters Directors: Maggie Kang & Chris Appelhans on Balancing Heart, Humor & Music

The Screenwriting Life with Meg LeFauve and Lorien McKenna

Meg LeFauve & Lorien McKenna

Tv & Film

4.91.1K Ratings

🗓️ 2 October 2025

⏱️ 54 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

JOIN TSL WORKSHOPS: https://tslworkshops.circle.so This week, we’re joined by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans, the writer-directors of KPOP DEMON HUNTERS, to unpack the craft behind one of the year's biggest movies. From finding the emotional core of their story to shaping "Golden" into a late-breaking "I Want" song, Maggie and Chris share how they balanced friendship, romance, comedy, worldbuilding, and music all in one movie. We also dive into the messy joy of writing in editorial, why tiny character moments like "Couch, Couch, Couch" carry so much weight, and how specificity in both music and story can unlock something universal. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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Hey everyone, welcome back to the screenwriting life. I'm Lorian McKenna, and today I'm really excited to talk to K-pop Demon Hunters, co-directors,

0:42.3

and co-writers, Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans. Maggie is a director at Sony Pictures Animation,

0:48.3

where she's worked on a number of celebrated animated films, including The Crudes, A New Age, Kung Fu Panda 3, and Minions, The Rise of Gru.

0:57.7

She also served as head of story on the Lego Ninjago movie. Chris is also a director at Sony Pictures

1:03.0

Animation. He wrote and directed the hit Netflix film Wish Dragon and has worked on beloved movies

1:08.0

like Coraline, The Princess and the Frog, and Rise of the Guardian.

1:12.5

Together, they co-directed and co-wrote K-pop Demon Hunters. The film has become a global phenomenon,

1:18.1

becoming the most watch original title in Netflix history with 266 million views. Its original

1:24.1

soundtrack shot to number one and the top 10 spots on multiple music and streaming

1:28.5

charts, making history as the first film soundtrack ever to have four songs in the Billboard Hot 100s

1:34.7

Top 10. Welcome to the show. Thank you. Thank you for having us. Thanks. Awesome. So before we get

1:41.6

into our conversation, we have a segment called Adventures in Screenwriting,

1:47.0

where we talk about our weeks.

1:48.0

And I usually go first, so I'll kick us off.

...

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