Meet the Mexican American talent behind 'KPop Demon Hunters'

The House of Pies, a Los Feliz institution, is bustling connected a chilly January morning.

It wouldn’t beryllium shocking if immoderate of the patrons present for meal were casually chit-chatting astir the taste behemoth that “KPop Demon Hunters” has become. After all, the 2025 animated saga astir 3 euphony stars warring otherworldly foes is present the most-watched movie ever connected Netflix; “Golden,” its showstopping track, has since go the archetypal Korean popular opus to ever triumph a Grammy.

But for Danya Jimenez, 29, who sits crossed from maine sipping coffee, the reception to the movie she began penning connected backmost successful 2020 isn’t wholly surprising, but surely delayed.

“When we archetypal started moving connected it, I was like, ‘People are going to beryllium obsessed with this. It’s going to beryllium the champion happening ever,’” she recalls. But arsenic respective years passed, and she and her penning spouse and champion person Hannah McMechan, 30, moved connected to different projects. They weren’t definite if “KPop” would ever spot the airy of day. Production for animation takes time.

It wasn’t until she learned that her Mexican parents were organically alert of the movie that Jimenez considered it could really unrecorded up to the imaginable she initially had hoped for.

“Without maine saying anything, my parents were like, ‘People are talking astir this’ — similar my dad’s co-workers oregon my aunt’s friends — that’s erstwhile I started to realize, ‘This mightiness beryllium thing big,’” she says.

“But ne'er successful my beingness did I deliberation it would beryllium astatine this scale.”

“KPop Demon Hunters” is present nominated for 2 Academy Awards: animated diagnostic and archetypal song. And that’s connected apical of however ubiquitous the characters — Rumi, Mira and Zoey — already are.

“Everyone sends maine photos of knockoff ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ dolls from crossed the border,” Jimenez says laughing. “My person got maine a garment from Mexicali with the 3 girls, but they bash not look thing similar themselves. She adjacent got my sanction connected it, which was awesome.”

After graduating from Loyola Marymount University successful 2018, Jimenez and McMechan rapidly recovered their footing successful the industry, arsenic good arsenic representation. But it was their inactive unproduced screenplay, “Luna Likes,” astir a Mexican American teenage miss obsessed with the precocious cook and writer Anthony Bourdain, that tangentially enactment them connected the “KPop” path.

“Luna Likes” earned the brace a spot astatine the prestigious Sundance Screenwriters Lab, wherever Nicole Perlman, who co-wrote “Guardians of the Galaxy,” served arsenic 1 of their advisors. Perlman, credited arsenic a accumulation advisor connected “KPop,” thought they would beryllium a bully fit.

Jimenez didn’t spot the transportation betwixt her R-rated drama astir a moody Mexican American teen and a PG animated diagnostic acceptable successful the satellite of K-pop music, but the duo inactive pitched. Their thought much intimately resembled an indie dramedy than an epic enactment flick.

“If [our mentation of ‘KPop’] were live-action, it would’ve been a million-dollar budget. It was the smallest movie ever. Our large finale was a excavation party,” Jimenez says. “We had each of the girls and the boys with instruments, which evidently is not a happening successful K-pop, and everyone was making out.”

Even though their archetypal transportation wouldn’t enactment for the film, Maggie Kang, the co-director and besides a co-writer, believed their voices arsenic 2 young women who were champion friends, roommates and originative collaborators could assistance the movie’s heroines consciousness much authentic.

“Maggie had already interviewed each of the much established writers, particularly older men,” Jimenez says. “She knows the culture. She knew K-pop, she’s an animator. She conscionable needed the girls’ voices to travel through, truthful I deliberation that’s wherefore we got hired.”

Kang confirms this via email: “It’s ever large to collaborate with writers who are the existent property of your characters! Hannah and Danya were precisely that,” she says. “They were precise adjuvant successful bringing a fresh, young dependable to HUNTR/X.”

Neither Jimenez nor McMechan were K-pop fans astatine the time. As portion of their research, they some started watching K-pop videos, but it was McMechan who got “sucked into the K-hole” first. Still, it didn’t instrumentality agelong until the video for BTS’ “Life Goes On” entranced Jimenez.

“K-pop is simply a stream that you autumn into, and it conscionable takes you,” Jimenez says. BTS and Got7 are her favourite groups. For McMechan, the ensemble that captivates her astir is Stray Kids.

In penning the trio of demon hunters, the co-writers modeled them aft themselves. The characters’ propensity for disfigured faces, silliness and a spot of grossness too, stems from the portrayals of girlhood and young womanhood that entreaty to them. Jimenez, who says she was an angsty teen, astir intimately identifies with the rebellious Mira.

“I person a monotone vibe,” says Jimenez. “People ever deliberation that I’m a bitch conscionable due to the fact that I person a resting bitch face,” she says. “But arsenic you tin spot successful the movie, Mira cares truthful overmuch astir having everyone beryllium truly close. I consciousness similar that’s however I’m with each my friends.”

Characters with beardown personalities that are not simplistically likable consciousness the truest to Jimenez. In “Luna Likes,” the prickly protagonist is straight inspired by her experiences increasing up, arsenic good arsenic the enslaved she shared with her dada implicit Bourdain’s “Parts Unknown” show.

“There’s a unit to amusement that Mexicans are bully radical and we’re hard workers. I was like, ‘Let’s marque her benignant of bitchy and precise flawed,’” Jimenez says astir Luna. “She’s a teen successful America and she should beryllium fixed each the aforesaid opportunities — and besides the forgiveness for being an ass— and [as] selfish astatine that property arsenic anybody else.”

Hannah McMechan, left, and Danya Jimenez, co-writers of “KPop Demon Hunters,” met successful college.

(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)

Though their upbringings were markedly different, it was their shared comedic sensibilities that connected Jimenez and McMechan erstwhile they met successful college. The 2 were adjacent agelong earlier deciding to pen stories together. “Having a penning spouse is the best. I consciousness atrocious for radical who don’t person a penning partner, nary discourtesy to them,” says Jimenez.

McMechan explains that their penning concern works due to the fact that it’s grounded connected existent friendship. And she believes they would not person gotten this acold without each other. While McMechan’s beardown suit is looking astatine the bigger picture, Jimenez finds wit successful the details.

“Danya is decidedly funnier than me,” says McMechan. “It’s truly hard to constitute drama successful dialog versus drama successful a concern due to the fact that if you’re putting the drama successful the dialogue, it tin dependable truthful forced and cringey. But she’s truly bully astatine making it dependable earthy but inactive truly funny.”

Though she had been penning stories for herself arsenic a teen, Jimenez didn’t see it a vocation way until arsenic a precocious schooler she watched the romanticist drama “No Strings Attached,” successful which Ashton Kutcher plays a accumulation adjunct for a TV series.

“He is having a horrible time. But I was truthful obsessed with movies and TV, and I was like, ‘That looks incredible. I privation to beryllium doing what he’s doing,’” she recalls. “And my dada was like, ‘That’s a job.’”

Danya Jimenez grew up successful Orange County.

(Carlin Stiehl / For The Times)

As an infant, Jimenez spent immoderate clip surviving successful Tijuana, wherever her parents are from, until the household settled backmost successful San Diego, wherever she was born. And erstwhile she was astir 5 years old, Jimenez, an lone child, and her parents relocated to Orange County. Until then, Jimenez mostly spoke Spanish, which made for a tricky modulation erstwhile starting school.

“I knew English, but it conscionable wasn’t a habit,” she recalls. “I would rise my manus and accidentally talk Spanish successful class. My teachers would beryllium like, ‘We’re disquieted astir her vocabulary.’ That was ever an issue, truthful it’s truly comic that I turned retired to beryllium a writer.”

As she points retired successful her nonrecreational bio, it was movies and TV that helped with her English vocabulary, particularly the Disney sitcom “Lizzie McGuire.”

Jimenez describes increasing up successful Orange County with fewer Latinos astir extracurricular of her household arsenic an alienating experience. She admits to feeling large shame for immoderate of her behaviors arsenic a teen acrophobic of being treated otherwise and hopeless to acceptable in.

“I would talk Spanish to my ma similar successful a country due to the fact that I didn’t privation everyone other to perceive maine talk Spanish,” Jimenez confesses. “If my ma pulled up to schoolhouse to driblet maine disconnected playing Spanish hits from the ‘80s oregon banda, I was like, ‘Can you crook it down please?’”

Like a batch of young Latinos, she’s present taking steps to link with her heritage, and, successful a way, atone for those moments wherever she fto what others mightiness deliberation rob her of her pride.

“During the pandemic I cornered my grandma to marque each of her recipes again truthful I could constitute them down,” she recalls. “Now I person them each written down connected a website. Or if my ma corrects maine for thing that I’m saying successful Spanish, I present listen.”

At the hazard of angering her, Jimenez describes her parent arsenic a “cool mom,” and compares her to Amy Poehler’s quality successful “Mean Girls.” Raised successful a household without fiscal struggles, Jimenez doesn’t often subordinate to stories astir Latinos successful the U.S. that marque it to movie and TV. Her anticipation is to grow Latino storytelling beyond the tropes.

“That’s precise important to me, to conscionable archer Latino stories oregon Mexican stories successful a mode that’s conscionable authentic to maine and hopefully idiosyncratic other is like, ‘Yes, that’s me,’” she says. “A batch of radical person definite expectations for Latino stories that I’m not consenting to compromise on.”

Though they inactive would similar to marque “Luna Likes” if fixed the chance, for now, Jimenez and McMechan volition proceed their accelerated ascent.

They’re “goin’ up, up, up” due to the fact that it is their “moment.” They precocious wrapped the Apple TV amusement “Brothers” starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson that filmed successful Texas. They are besides penning the diagnostic “Attack of the Fifty Foot Woman” for Tim Burton to direct, with Margot Robbie successful talks to star.

“I consciousness similar I’ve conscionable been operating successful a authorities of daze for the past, I don’t cognize however galore months since June,” says Jimenez successful her signature deadpan affect. “But if I deliberation astir it excessively much, I’d beryllium a tense wreck.”