‘Beef’ Creator Lee Sung Jin Thanks Real-Life Road Rage Nemesis as He Accepts Award at IndieWire Honors

“Beef” creator and executive producer Lee Sung Jin thanked his therapist — and some jerk in a white SUV — upon receiving the Visionary Award in Television at the 2023 IndieWire Honors. It makes sense if you’ve seen his show: a 10-episode black comedy tribute to senseless feuds starring Steven Yeun and Ali Wong that took Netflix by storm this spring.

“‘Beef’ was loosely based on a road rage incident that I got into,” the showrunner said during his acceptance speech, delivered on December 6 at NeueHouse Hollywood. “This dude in a white SUV honked and yelled at me. And for some reason, on this day, I was like, ‘Eh, I’m gonna follow you.'”

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“It was very anticlimactic and very stupid on my part, but it did lead to this award,” he joked. “So I would be remiss to not thank this man; I hope he honks and yells, inspiring others for years to come.”

Celebrated alongside Greta Gerwig for “Barbie,” Todd Haynes for “May December,” and more, the showrunner further described his mining personal experience for his smash hit. IndieWire previously described the series as the “most sure bet” for the Emmy for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series.

“The show is basically about how we’re all the same thing experiencing itself, and I’m very thankful for the other same things I got to collaborate with on the show,” Lee said, shouting out his cast and crew as well as the support he received from his wife. “A lot of the darker elements of the show, the suicidal ideation and things like that, that was just mine from my personal life. So I also need to thank my therapist Joanne, who is probably the only reason I’m alive.”

Prior to the awards ceremony, Lee spoke at-length with IndieWire about the series. As a writer and director, he infused his main characters with many of the dark experiences he’s weathered in his own life.

“[Danny and Amy] are both people who are very ashamed of the darker parts of their psyche, and they’re trying to hide it from the people that they love,” Lee said. “All their actions are to sort of protect what they see inside themselves as not worthy to be seen. It really took all these crazy events of Season 1 for them to break down their walls and basically look at each other and be like, ‘Oh, here’s the only other person who is as horrible as me and they’re still climbing into a bed and holding me at the end of the day.’ That was the main feeling that we wanted to convey through the show.”

A veteran writer known for “Dave,” “Tuca & Bertie,” and “Undone,” Lee got his first shot at directing thanks to “Beef.” It was co-produced by Netflix and A24 Television.

“Directing is something I’ve been wanting to do for several years, but I knew that I really wanted to study it and understand it on a deep level before I even attempted it,” he said. “By the time I was directing the finale… I felt pretty confident. There were hurdles that came up, but I did — I do really love directing. It’s such a more direct reward than writing. Writing you just stare at a page and you’re not even really sure, and after you write it takes so long before you even see it come to life — whereas directing you can adjust something, see it in a monitor and be like oh that helped, or made it worse.”

Echoing the statements he made on stage at IndieWire Honors, Lee reflected on the impact of his show and said, “I’ve had so many people come up and say that they’ve struggled with their mental health or they’ve had suicidal ideation and just feel not as alone having seen the show. That’s very impactful to me and it makes me not feel that way. It’s very life-affirming.”

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