Daniel Dae Kim Boards North Korean Defector Documentary 'School for Defectors'

Daniel Dae Kim and his production company 3AD have joined Jeremy Workman's documentary "School for Defectors" as executive producers. The film, which premiered at the True/False Film Festival in March, has since won six awards on a festival run spanning more than a dozen stops.

The documentary is set at Jangdaehyun School, located in an industrial district of Busan, South Korea. The school enrolls just 20 students, and every one of them is a defector from North Korea. Workman gained access to a community that had never been filmed before, tracing both what the students have lived through and the lives ahead of them.

3AD joins a producing team that already includes Bearing North, WildBrush Media, SonaFilms and Hooligan Films.

"3AD and I are really excited to join 'School for Defectors' as executive producers," Kim said in a statement. "We believe deeply in the power of documentary filmmaking, and in telling the story of this special high school, Jeremy has poignantly revealed a story full of heart, humor and humanity."

What does the film say beyond North Korea?

Workman frames the film in broader terms. "What we think makes 'School for Defectors' so special is that it's not simply a story about North Korea. It's a story about youth, hope, and the universal desire to belong," he said. "Daniel Dae Kim has built a remarkable career championing stories and communities that deserve greater visibility, and we're incredibly honored to have him and 3AD help bring this film to an even wider audience."

That wider audience remains the open question. The film has screened at Florida, RiverRun, DC/DOX, Calgary, Hamptons, Woodstock, Heartland and Vancouver, and is set to screen at Doc NYC, but no distribution deal has been announced. Executive producers do not guarantee a streaming home; they guarantee advocacy.

Who is Jeremy Workman?

Workman, repped by UTA, builds portraits of unusual and often obsessive people. His credits include "Secret Mall Apartment" (Netflix), "Lily Topples the World" (Max), "Deciding Vote" (The New Yorker), "The World Before Your Feet" (Prime Video) and "Magical Universe" (AMC+). Across close to 200 reviews, his documentaries hold a combined 95% score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Who is Daniel Dae Kim?

Kim earned a Tony nomination for his role in "Yellow Face" and broke through on "Lost" and "Hawaii Five-0." He hosts and executive produces "K-Everything," a four-part CNN travel series about South Korea's cultural reach, which premiered May 9. In June, he appeared in Season 2 of "Avatar: The Last Airbender." Off screen, his testimony before Congress helped get the COVID-19 Hate Crimes Act passed. He has worked with AAPI community groups and served as advisory council co-chair of TAAF. He is repped by CAA, Linden, Gang, Tyre, Ramer, Brown & Passman, and Narrative.

Kim founded 3AD in 2014 to make work in every medium and genre built around people historically underrepresented on screen. The company's credits include the ABC hit "The Good Doctor," the Amazon Prime thriller "Butterfly" and the IFC documentary "Bad Axe," which made the Oscar shortlist in 2022. Producer John Cheng runs development at 3AD, which operates under a first-look TV pact with 20th Century Studios.

For 3AD, "School for Defectors" extends a nonfiction record that began with "Bad Axe." Whether the Busan students' story reaches theaters or a platform next depends on what the Doc NYC screening — and Kim's name — can secure.