Lee Sung Jin is further cementing his place at Netflix. The Beef creator has launched a new production company, LILA Pictures, under his renewed multi-year deal with the streamer, and it comes with two new series in development: a limited drama starring Ali Wong called The Only Child and a drama series from Beef alum Gene Hong titled Citizen’s Arrest.
Netflix and Lee announced the new company on Wednesday. Lee first signed an overall deal with Netflix back in 2023, and his renewed partnership will see him continue to create scripted series and feature films exclusively for the streamer.
LILA Pictures (pronounced LEE-lah) takes its name from a Sanskrit word meaning “divine play.” The company will develop original film and TV projects for Lee to create, executive produce, write, and direct, while also backing up-and-coming creative voices. Hyunji Ward, who began her career at UTA and spent the past four years at Dakota Johnson’s TeaTime Pictures, joins as SVP of Film & Television.
Here’s what Lee had to say about the launch:
I’m excited to launch LILA PICTURES with the support of my creative home at Netflix and the help of Hyunji Ward, our new SVP of Film and TV. In Sanskrit, lila can be interpreted as ‘the divine play,’ and I’m grateful to reflect that through film and television, alongside close friends and collaborators like Ali Wong and Gene Hong. This is just the beginning. There will also be merch.
What are The Only Child and Citizen’s Arrest about?
The Only Child is a limited drama series that reunites Lee with Ali Wong, who will produce and star. Wong will play the mother of a professional archer preparing to compete for her first gold medal. Acclaimed playwright and screenwriter Ava Wong Davies (Industry) is also attached.
The series marks Wong’s return to television following her Emmy-winning turn opposite Steven Yeun in the first season of Beef.
Citizen’s Arrest is a new drama series created by Gene Hong, a writer on Beef. It follows two longtime friends and neighbors whose obsession with solving a local crime becomes an escape from the private crises neither of them is ready to face.
Both projects are in development, so neither has a release date or additional casting at this stage.
Where does this leave Beef?
Today’s announcement doesn’t mention a third season of Beef, which is hardly surprising given the show’s mixed fortunes in its second outing.
Awards voters still love it. The second season led all limited or anthology series with 16 nominations at the 2026 Emmys, taking the show to 29 nominations and 11 wins across its two installments. Audiences were harder to win back, though. As we reported at the time, Season 2 opened with 2.4M views, a 58% drop from Season 1’s 5.8M, and its two-week total of 6.5M was well behind the 17.8M Season 1 had reached at the same point.
That didn’t put Lee’s future with Netflix in doubt. On the Q1 earnings call, co-CEO Ted Sarandos indicated that Lee would be making projects for Netflix for years to come, and LILA Pictures is further proof of that commitment.
Lee’s other recent work includes co-writing Marvel’s X-Men with Joanna Calo, reuniting him with director Jake Schreier, and executive producing Alex Russell’s Lurker.
We’ll keep you posted as The Only Child and Citizen’s Arrest progress. Are you excited to see Ali Wong back on Netflix in another Lee Sung Jin collaboration? Let us know in the comments below.
