Chun Sung-Il
Biography
Cheon Seong-il (also known as Chun Sung-il) is a South Korean screenwriter, film director, and producer, recognised for his contributions to Korean cinema and television. He is best known for writing the historical action drama The Slave Hunters (2010), the film The Long Way Home (2015), and the Netflix zombie thriller series All of Us Are Dead (2022). His work covers various genres, including historical drama, action, comedy, romance, suspense, and thriller.
Cheon began his career in the South Korean entertainment industry as a screenwriter and gradually expanded into film production and directing. He established a production company in 2007 and initially developed projects for Korean cinema. His early writing credits include Midnight Ballad for Ghost Theater (2006), Once Upon a Time (2008), and My Girlfriend Is an Agent (2009). He also worked as an executive producer on several film projects.
One of the most significant achievements of his career came with the historical television drama The Slave Hunters (2010), also known as Chuno. The series follows a slave hunter searching for a runaway slave during Korea's Joseon dynasty. Cheon's screenplay received widespread recognition, earning him the Best TV Screenplay award at the 46th Baeksang Arts Awards in 2010. He also wrote the action drama Fugitive: Plan B (2010), starring Rain and Lee Na-young.
He continued working in cinema with films such as Lady Daddy (2010), A Millionaire on the Run (2012), and The Pirates (2014). He served as a screenwriter and producer on several of these productions. In 2015, he directed and wrote The Long Way Home, a Korean war comedy-drama about two soldiers from opposing sides who unexpectedly become connected during the Korean War. The film demonstrated his abilities as both a screenwriter and director.
Cheon also worked on the legal drama Your Honor (2018), starring Yoon Shi-yoon and Lee Yoo-young, and the romantic television series The Package (2017). His other television writing credits include 7th Grade Civil Servant (2013) and L.U.C.A.: The Beginning (2021), a science-fiction action thriller.
In 2022, Cheon gained international recognition as the screenwriter of the Netflix original series All of Us Are Dead. Based on the popular Korean webtoon Now at Our School, the series follows a group of high school students struggling to survive after a zombie virus spreads throughout their school. The show's international popularity further established his reputation as a writer capable of developing suspenseful stories for global audiences. In the same year, he also wrote The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure, an adventure comedy film.
His later projects include the historical television series The Murky Stream (2025), for which he served as a screenwriter. He has continued working across film and television, exploring different storytelling formats and genres.
