Beef became a very buzzy title the moment it dropped on Netflix. The show begins with extreme road rage — some very aggressive honking that turns into a suburbia car chase involving Steven Yeun’s Danny Cho and Ali Wong’s Amy Lau. Even when that specific incident ends, Danny and Amy just can’t let it go and the two get caught up in a relentless rivalry that sends both of their lives spiraling, taking quite a few family members and friends down with them.
The show is a creative feat in every respect. It’s brimming with style and technical prowess, it features a downright stellar ensemble that successfully makes the most of the show’s dark comedy without ever undermining the troubling complexity of the situation they find themselves in, and it’s all shepherded by a creator, showrunner, writer, and director with a firm handle on Beef’s unique style, tone, pace, and thematic heft, Lee Sung Jin. The show scored 13 Emmy nominations and deserves every single one of them — and then some. (Particularly one for cinematographer Larkin Seiple.)
With Phase 2 voting now underway, I got the chance to celebrate Beef’s nominations with Jake Schreier. Not only is Schreier nominated for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series as part of the producing team, but he also scored a nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for his work on Episode 9, “The Great Fabricator,” an episode that happens to feature one of the best death scenes of 2023.
Check out this video interview to hear all about the behind-the-scenes discussions that went into creating that especially unforgettable moment as well Schreier’s experience directing Yeun and Young Mazino in one of the episode's most emotional scenes, and loads more.
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