Interview with Filmmaker & Journalist, Cassius Michael Kim

By: Myriam Akbar

    Meet Cassius Michael Kim–he is a filmmaker and journalist based in Los Angeles! He was born in Seoul, Korea, moved to Northern California as a child, and spent 20 years living in New York City. He founded The Smoking Section, a creative studio and production company that creates award-winning documentaries, original short films, and series. Their work includes Man On The Run (Netflix), Stockton On My Mind (HBO), The Wonder List with Bill Weir (CNN), and original narrative films: Kali, Not Here, and La Guerra Verde. You can find them on YouTube, where their channel consists of project trailers, field notes, exclusive clips, and two-minute reviews. When he created the name The Smoking Section, he knew he wanted something that evoked exclusivity, edge, irreverence, and the spirit of the French New Wave. “It sounds like a place for people who don’t want to be in the main room. Those who might be having the more interesting conversation or experience, somewhere quieter and more discreet,” he says.

    Watching movies was a big part of Kim’s youth. His mother loved them and would often take him to the theater. “I remember her taking me to see The Crow on Halloween, which has always stuck with me,” he shares. He grew up in a small town with limited leisure activities, so he and his friends spent a lot of time at the theater on the weekends. They also went to Blockbuster and Hollywood Video, and dug deep into the indie section. Kim recalls thinking about how different films like Kids, Clerks, and The Ice Storm were from what he had watched growing up. However, it was Pulp Fiction that truly changed how he viewed cinema and story structure. “It was the first film that really challenged not just the way I thought a story could be told, but also my sense of what kinds of stories people wanted to see,” he says. When it comes to genre, Kim appreciates all kinds, but admits that he’s very fond of horror and spy thrillers. The main thing he looks for is emotional resonance and believes that it can be achieved in any genre. Over the years, he’s delved into classic cinema more. His goal is to learn from the filmmakers who came before us and made the art form what it is today.

    When asked about how he got his start in journalism and filmmaking, Kim says writing was one of the first creative careers he envisioned for himself. “It’s something I both enjoy doing and can’t live without, even though it’s also what I wrestle with the most,” he shares. As a teen, he wrote for his high school’s newspaper and found his way back to journalism in his mid-20s, when he was hired by ABC News. He began on the show What Would You Do? before moving on to a variety of other programs and divisions within the network. Kim’s career in TV journalism led him to become senior producer of a documentary series at CNN alongside the correspondent Bill Weir. They created The Wonder List with Bill Weir, which is about some of the most beautiful and remote places around the world. They traveled to places like Vanuatu, Madagascar, and the Galápagos, examining how they were changing for the next generation. Towards the end of his time at CNN, he began taking screenwriting more seriously. He knew he wanted to build something of his own, a company through which he could develop and produce his own films. “I remember a conversation I had with my executive producer from when I was working at ABC News Digital. She asked me what my five-year plan was, and I blurted out that I wanted to make a horror movie,” he shares. While working there, he was already shooting and producing his own material. He began to realize that filmmaking wasn’t so far removed from what he was already doing, which made his ambition feel more attainable. As his second job out of college, he also worked for producers at an independent film production company. Here he learned a ton about what goes into making a film.

    Recently, Kim’s short film KALI was released and is available to watch on YouTube. It was inspired by a dream he had of a child in front of a campfire, gnawing on a human limb. This image stayed with him for weeks, and it became the closing scene of the film. He built the rest of the story backwards from that ending. There were a few other influences used to complete the concept, for example, his fascination with mythology. He wanted to a story about a mythic or god-like figure bound to the human realm and stripped of their immortality. He was also reading Stephen King’s Holly, which prominently features cannibalism.

    NOT HERE and LA GUERRA VERDE are two other short films that were recently released, which are available on The Smoking Section’s YouTube. Kim’s new project drops in a few weeks: a serialized mockumentary called APPETITES. It’s about an aspiring competitive eater trying to provide for himself and his family in this age of late-stage capitalism. He is also planning to premiere his documentary short, ONLY IN DREAMS, about a young Brooklyn tattoo artist who’s been living in DACA limbo for most of her adult life. “Her story feels especially urgent as immigrants in America increasingly face persecution and oppression,” he says. Recently, he and a friend finished a feature script called DON’T LOOK DOWN, a crime drama about two brothers in rural Oregon whose desperate circumstances lead them down a path with devastating consequences. They are hoping to begin production in early 2027.

    When asked what his favorite genre is to direct, Kim said, “I’m still learning what suits me best, but I do enjoy working in a variety of genres and forms. I don’t believe in limiting myself to one thing; that’s for sure.” When it comes to the filmmaking process, he considers what he values about cinema himself: stories that resonate with the audience. His goal is to leave people thinking and feeling things they may not have expected.