Gloria Ui Young Kim

Gloria Ui Young Kim

Born in Seoul, Korea, writer/director Gloria Ui Young Kim comes from a long line of media makers. She’s an alumna of the Canadian Film Centre’s Director’s Lab, TIFF Talent Lab,  NSI Shaw Media Diverse TV Director’s Program, CBC Diverse Creators Workshop and Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC). She recently directed, wrote and produced her first feature, Queen of the Morning Calm, (Women In the Director’s Chair Feature Film Award, Harold Greenberg Fund, Telefilm Canada), which premiered at the 2019 Whistler Film Festival and was nominated for the Borsos Award. The film’s script placed in the 2nd round at the Sundance Screenwriting Lab and earned Gloria Spotlight on Screenwriters and Telefilm Canada New Voices Awards. Her last short Flamenco, (CBC, 2015) won the 2017 Corus Fearless Female Filmmaker Award.

Her other short films for CBC that have won many awards and ‘festivaled’ all over the world. She has won numerous Golds for her commercial work at the Bessies, Cannes Lions, ADCC, Marketing Magazine Awards, and has had over a million views online. She recently directed several episodes of Sinking Ship’s Odd Squad (TVO, PBS) and Dino Dana (TVO, Amazon); Riverbanks’ When I Grow Up (TVO) and BGM’s It’s My Party (TVO). She was chosen by Women In View as one of the 2017 Five in Focus, and is on the Board of Directors for Women in Film and Television-Toronto. She just completed a stint as a writer in the writing room of Breakthrough Entertainment’s Blood and Water for OMNI and has earned a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Direction for It’s My Party. Gloria and her writing partner Samora Smallwood have received development funding from the Canada Council/CBC Creation Accelerator for their thriller series, Gone.


Awards & Nominations

Queen of the Morning Calm (feature film)
2020 William F. White International Inc Reel Indie Award – Canadian Film Fest
2020 DGC Ontario Best Direction Award – Canadian Film Fest
2020 Special Jury Prize, Best Breakout Performance, Eponine Lee – Canadian Film Fest
2019 Nomination, Borsos Award, Whistler Film Festival
2016 Women In the Director’s Chair Feature Film Award (WIDC FFA)
2015 Spotlight on Screenwriters – Women In Film & Video-DC

It’s My Party (series)
2020 – Canadian Screen Award Nomination, Best Direction (with Sharon Lewis)