When Danny Kim ’08 came to UW–Madison, he had plans to become a doctor. The university’s prominent biochemistry program played a large part in his decision to visit and ultimately enroll as a premed student. But it was in the Department of Communication Arts where Kim found his real passion: film.
“I didn’t realize you could study film and take classes in production,” says Kim. “I switched to a comm arts major. Since then, I haven’t looked back and have continued to pursue my dreams.”
Kim is now the founder and executive director of Docu+, a South Korea–based studio that’s dedicated to producing documentaries with a focus on social issues. His first feature-length film produced through Docu+, Zero Waste (2023), highlights South Korea’s plastic pollution crisis and earned Kim the 2023 Emerging Filmmaker Award at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.
What drew you to documentary filmmaking as a medium for storytelling?
After college, I worked in various media organizations but eventually became a journalist for several years. As a trained video journalist at Agence France-Presse, I was exposed to many stories that I wanted to turn into long-form documentary pieces. However, our newsroom at the time didn’t have the resources for that. So I decided to quit my job and enroll in graduate school to pursue documentary filmmaking.
I believe documentary filmmaking is the most effective medium for social impact issues, especially if you construct a narrative arc that humanizes the story. It goes beyond the facts and figures reported in the news, allowing viewers to empathize with the subjects more deeply.
Why did you decide to establish Docu+?
In 2021, during the pandemic, my priorities shifted. Instead of working for others and being a cog in a big machine, I decided to pursue what truly matters to me and make a meaningful impact in this complex world. So I took a big risk and started my own production company. For my inaugural project, I wanted to choose a topic that would resonate with a wide audience. I decided that an environmental documentary would be a good start and could be tied into an effective impact campaign. That year, I began developing and went into production for Zero Waste.
Can you share more about the story behind Zero Waste?
In 2021, when I founded my company, we were going through the COVID-19 pandemic. I noticed that in my office, after just one week, there was a mountain of garbage. This made me curious — if I, as a single individual, consume so much plastic, where does all the garbage go in Korea, with a population of about 52 million? Our landmass is not as large as the U.S. or China, so I started researching and discovered that our landfill is over capacity and much of our waste is ending up in the oceans. I wanted to find young millennials and Gen Z-ers who are working to curb this plastic pollution crisis in Korea. Thanks to social media, finding them wasn’t too difficult.
Where can people watch it?
Zero Waste is currently available on the following platforms in the U.S.: Vudu, Tubi, Roku, and soon to be available on Prime Video, Hoopla, and Xumo.
You also offer an internship through Docu+. What’s the importance of such opportunities to students interested in the industry?
I started a strategic partnership with the [UW’s] Intern Abroad program in 2022. My first intern helped me remotely from Madison, and at that time, I was wrapping up Zero Waste. She was instrumental in creating English subtitles.
In 2024, I began taking in-person interns, and I had two interns that year. As [the founder of] a young start-up film production company, I offered them the chance to experience every aspect of film production, from A to Z. They also had to learn the hard way that working for a film production company is not always as glamorous as it might seem. We spend a lot of time in preproduction and research, and being on set is only a fraction of the experience, though it’s often the most sought-after aspect for young students. I also gave them the freedom to handle my social media accounts, which helped me tremendously last year.
What are you working on now?
I’m currently working on my second feature documentary film, called August, Again. It’s a character-driven impact documentary following a second-generation Korean atomic bomb survivor, Ms. Han Jeongsun, who is fighting for her son’s medical treatment rights in Korea. This documentary is especially timely as this year marks the 80th anniversary of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, and we are still living in a world where nuclear threats are real. I plan to finish this film by the end of this year and take it through the film festival circuit in 2026 before a wider release in theaters and on streaming platforms.
