Daniel Dae Kim on how 'Butterfly' showcases South Korean locations and crew

Prime Video’s Butterfly stars Daniel Dae Kim as David Jung, a retired spy living in hiding in South Korea whose life is upended when the daughter who believed he was dead turns up on his doorstep.  

Despite the setting, the source material – a graphic novel by Arash Amel, which was adapted by US writers Ken Woodruff and Steph Cha – is not set in South Korea. When Kim, who executive produces via his 3AD production banner, was first introduced to the material by Boom! Studios, he saw an opportunity to transpose the story to a different country. 

“I saw shooting in South Korea as the ability to tell a story that I was uniquely equipped to tell,” says Kim. “Because I was born in South Korea and raised in America, I have an understanding of both cultures, and when you're looking to shoot in a place other than where you live, a level of respect for the culture and authenticity are two elements that are absolutely necessary.” 

Kim and co-creator/showrunner Woodruff discuss showcasing unknown parts of South Korea, how filming on location adds inimitable realism, and pushing production boundaries. 

How did you decide this was a story that could logistically be made in South Korea? 

KIM: I think when Hollywood has gone to other countries in the past, there's been a bit of a tourist perspective. They're not invested in the country itself but want to show pictures of the Eiffel Tower or make sure the mountains are visible if they're shooting in the Alps. But that's it. 

Daniel Dae Kim; Source: Juhan Noh/Prime

We could go beyond the surface, if you have the right kind of storytelling with the right kind of storytellers. I feel lucky that we're living in a time where people want that kind of authenticity.  

What was it like shooting across the various areas of South Korea, outside of the ones we’re used to seeing like Seoul and Busan?

KIM: We shot in over 20 cities in South Korea [from February to July 2024]. We were everywhere, which speaks to the level of understanding and desire to actually showcase Korea beyond what might be on a postcard.  

When we're in a remote area of the south, we really shot in the remote area of the south. There's a sequence where you're watching 4x4s cross a creek and a river to get to the location. That's actually what we had to do to get there. We wanted that depth in showcasing the country, because that reflects the story. If David's hiding in Korea, he really has to be hiding and not in a soundstage.  

That meant we were dealing with a lot of the elements through three different seasons in Korea, which provided a number of challenges, but I felt like that was necessary and so did the rest of the producing team, and I think it enriches the show. 

WOODRUFF: We scouted three separate times all over Korea – Busan, Seoul, Pohang. There were so many times where we were on a scout or filming, and some of the crew said “I've never been here before. I don't even know what this place is.”

What was it like preparing to film in South Korea as someone without familiarity of the country, or the language, compared with the realities of working there?

WOODRUFF: [South Korea] is one of the most cinematic places I've ever seen, so I knew the end result would be worth it. I was also a little scared of working with department heads and crew who don't speak English, and I don't speak Korean. It turned out the language barrier wasn't an issue. We had translators and there's a common language in film that everyone kind of speaks. The most challenging part was [adapting to] the process in which people do things. 

Reina Hardesty, Daniel Dae Kim; Source: Juhan Noh/Prime

I was really curious to learn how they do things, and I also felt that same curiosity from the Korean crew.  It was a mutual eagerness to understand the other’s process that really made the whole thing very fun. The challenges were things like weather – the regular things that affect US film productions [too]. 

How do you balance logistical production needs versus creative needs?

KIM: It depends so much on what the demands of that particular day are. For us, the most challenging days were when we had an expensive location and an extensive fight sequence.  

For instance, the main train station fight. They are intricately choreographed and depend a lot on the actual geography that you can't necessarily mimic when you're rehearsing. When you get [to location], you'll find certain things that aren't like you rehearsed. 

Then it becomes a race against the clock to be to be true to what you choreographed but also adapt to your new surroundings. And you're fighting the usual things that you fight on a set, like light and location expenses. We were operating in an active train station where they were holding up trains so we could shoot there. We were really fortunate that way, but we also needed to be very mindful of the circumstances. 

WOODRUFF: It was difficult to get clearance to film there, but we had an incredible producer on the ground in Korea [Seon Kwon Hwang ] and we worked with film commissions – the Seoul Film Commission, the Busan Film Commission – and we met with the mayor of Seoul. 

What was the process like in terms of getting support from local film commissions?  

KIM: It's about respect, mutual respect. Going in with the right attitude because you're asking a really big favour. 

 (L-R) Kim Tae-hee, Daniel Dae Kim, Lee Il-hwa, Sung Dong-il; Source: Juhan Noh/Prime

It also helps to have a really good local production services team who understand permitting and locations. We had a great production services team in Nine Tailed Fox. It was a lot of things coming together in the most beneficial way for us to get this story to the screen. 

How much of your crew did you bring over from the US? 

KIM: A network or a studio will understandably want known quantities for everyone from above the line to production. Our show broke a lot of ground in that we really didn't bring a lot of crew over from America. We hired completely from Korea, even the [heads of department], who are usually brought over from the States. But it was important to me to make the commitment to Korea to say we're trusting our Korean crew. 

WOODRUFF: I can't imagine the shows that I've worked on or been aware of at networks that would do this. Not just [filming in] the country but being so far away from executives being able to come onto the set, using different department heads that they've never worked with before. To Amazon's credit, they let us.

Were there moments where the locations in the story had to give way to what was logistically feasible? 

KIM: The priority was always what the story called for – what is the best way and place to use that will tell our story the best. Every decision on location came from there. And that's not always the case, but for us it is in the same way [we choreograph] the action on our show. It is grounded in the emotional relationships between the characters.  

Our is not meant to be a travel show first. We are telling a story, and the fact that we have knowledge deep enough to go to places that you haven't seen before is a beautiful bonus.