Jennifer Kim’s unique brand of tragicomedy infused with heart recently landed her management with Industry Entertainment. Her specialty? Writing rebellious AAPI female characters who try to take down the system — but in a lighthearted way. Her writing partially stems from her career as a journalism teacher, along with a distinctly memorable childhood.

“I was born and raised in the Appalachian region of Ohio with straight-up hillbilly kids. So my sister and I, we were like, the first and only Asians in an all-white hillbilly school. So like, imagine me with a mullet. And I actually found out that a lot of people danced when they were in school back in the day, but we had square dancing. It's like, a strong memory,” she said.

“But I also grew up with a lot of pollution from the Ohio River,” she continued, “and actually, all this weirdness plays into my writing because I grew up knowing a lot of kids who died from the [pollution]. ... Yes, it's sad. I knew three kids who had leukemia. The town is known for its pollution in the river and in the air. Martin Sheen once came to our town and protested at one of the factories. ... My father died when I was a child, too. And so tragedy, I'm good at that tragic death. Illness, dying, it's all my wheelhouse. But then because I grew up in such a weird environment, and I'm Korean, too; Koreans have their own special brand of humor. And so I've got those two sides.”

But it was while recovering from her teaching career that Kim recognized she was perhaps meant to be a TV writer. 

“I did go to film school a long time ago, twice. I also worked at PBS a long time ago [as a producer]. Then I went into teaching and journalism and personal essay writing, but then this controversy happened with my students.”

That was when reality became more dramatic than fiction for Kim, all because she encouraged her journalism students to fight for their rights. (You can read the full story here). In the end, Kim realized the story needed to be told, and she needed to be the one to write it and her students became her "writers room."

"We had a great time,” she said.

“That sparked me to get into TV writing specifically because TV is so awesome right now. I was like, 'I'm gonna try. I'm going to try to write it as a TV thing.' And I hadn't written TV, so I took a class. I've taken a lot of classes — a lot,” she chuckled. 

“I finished it in 2018 and then that placed as a finalist in the ScreenCraft Fellowship. And so then I was like, 'Oh, my god. I still got it.' I'm just kidding. No, it’s because I used to write features.” 

Kim describes Newsers, a one-hour YA dramedy, as Freaks and Geeks meets All the President’s Men — with her own twist, of course.

She also went into trauma therapy, which, along with Jen Grisanti’s Storywise class, she credits with helping her write in her own voice.

“It was very hard for me to figure out my voice, especially since life calcified me. So, I definitely had to do the work with classes, consultants, books, shows, and trauma therapy to unblock myself. Fortunately, I was able to get in touch with my inner child; my 13-year-old self, to write my Witches script, which opened the doors for management.”

While Kim honed her voice — “I’m in the YA-family realm with quirky, strong Asian-American, API female leads. It’s the offbeat, sweet, gentle kind of script (Korean American Witches Society). But then my last one [The Incredible Kimchi Dokkaebi], I went totally opposite in direction; I went to the absurd realm and older characters... There’s a potential for magical realism in there [Witches]. I mean, they’re discovering their power.” — she also honed her mindset, because it takes a very strong one in this industry. A six-time fellowship finalist, Kim’s also been rejected by four fellowships in one month. And yet, she’s still here, still writing, and still thinking positive.

“I'm having a tremendous amount of fun. You know when somebody believes in you, all of a sudden everything just elevates? I think the next one I write will be my third original script for the year, but then I also wrote a spec this year. I never thought I would be that type of person who could crank out more than once a year. You just keep doing it and it gets so much easier,” she said.

That, and “anger really works for me. My last script is about Korean-American rage. And so that was very easy to channel. Whatever emotion I'm feeling, I kind of go for it. But what is the routine? I mean, I set a timer and I just keep going. I get up early, you know, and I try to write every day. I enjoy it.”

That, and Kim credits Roadmap Writers' AAPI initiative and Joey Tuccio for making things happen for her in terms of getting representation, as well as Coverfly for taking what she describes as an early interest in her work.

"I don't want to sound like an ad," she said. "I was just really lucky in that way.” 

Maybe it’s the journalist in her, but one of Kim’s motivations is to give a “voice to the voiceless,” whether it's her former students and their families or stories about immigration — “I have a different story than more recent immigration stories,” she said — and on Facebook she’s an admin for Roadmap Writers Presents: The Cookout, a group for BIPOC writers to connect. She arranged a gathering for the group with a manager-producer to give back to the writing community that has supported her. 

“I'm also a member of Women of Color Unite and in the #StartWith8 mentoring program as a mentee, which I love! I have two mentors now from the program, and I adore both of them. My first mentors ever. I have, however, mentored tons of high school kids from under-resourced schools and am proud to say they have gone on to great colleges, productive lives, and are civically engaged. I still have a few that I love to help, especially if they are going into entertainment. I have them come to the talks I coordinate. I try to stay in their orbit. I love working with young people!”

That, and she loves Spike Lee.

“Like, hardcore. I mean, I don't write like Spike Lee, but I do love what he does. And so I think in some small way, I'm trying to do that as well, but in a more... Koreans are, you know, we're kind of off the wall.”

And I am so looking forward to seeing where that sensibility takes Kim’s work onscreen.