Koji Steven Saki
Writer/Producer Koji Steven Sakai, a graduate of the University of Southern California’s Masters of Professional Writing program, is the founder of Little Nalu Pictures LLC. His film and television projects have played on Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Peacock, Paramount+, Roku, and Tubi. In his career, he has worked with a variety of talented and award-winning actors and filmmakers, including Michael Jai White, Mickey Rourke, Terrence Howard, Cuba Gooding Jr., RZA, and Quentin Lee.
He has written nine feature films that have been produced, Haunted Highway (2006), The People I’ve Slept With (2009), Santa & Me (2013), #1 Serial Killer (2013), Dying to Kill (2016), Last Girl (2020), The Commando (2022), Skeletons in the Closet (2022), and Nyctophobia (2022). In addition, his screenplay, Romeo, Juliet, & Rosaline, was optioned by Amazon Studios.
Koji wrote and produced the feature film, The Commando, starring Michael Jai White and Oscar nominee Mickey Rourke. The Commando was directed by Asif Akbar and released by Paramount Pictures in January 2022.
Earlier this year, Koji wrote and produced Skeletons in the Closet, which is currently in post-production. Skeletons was directed by Lance Kawas and Asif Akbar and stars Oscar nominee Terrence Howard, Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr, Clifton Powell, and Valery M. Ortiz.
Nyctophobia is Koji’s most recent film, where he served as a writer and producer on the project. The film stars Bianca D’Ambrosio, Chiara D’Ambrosio, BJ Tanner, Dana Powell, Sean O’Bryan, and Dean McDermott. Nyctophobia was directed by Kim Noonan with executive producer RZA.
Koji is currently writing for a Japanese television series slated for Disney+ (Hulu in the United States).
He has produced seven feature films, The People I’ve Slept With, #1 Serial Killer, Dying to Kill, Last Girl, The Commando, Skeletons in the Closet, and Nyctophobia; Dwayne Perkins: Take Note (2015), a one-hour comedy special that originally aired on Netflix; Comedy InvAsian and Comedy InvAsian 2.0 (2017 to present), a television series featuring the nation’s top Asian American comedians, Season 1 originally premiered on Hulu and Season 2 premiered on Peacock in May of this year, and Brash Girls Club (2019), a limited comedy series that premiered on Tubi.
Koji’s debut novel, Romeo & Juliet Vs. Zombies, was originally published by Luthando Coeur in 2015 and in audiobook in 2016, his Amazon Kindle World novella, Operation Survive, was released in 2016, and his graphic novel, 442, was released online in 2017 by Stela and in print by Little Nalu Pictures LLC in 2019. His latest novel, Zombie Run, was released in print and ebook in 2019 by Solstice Publishing, his graphic novel, Santa Vs. Zombies, was released in print in 2019 by Outland Entertainment, and his latest comic book, Yasuke: The African Samurai, was also released in print by Outland Entertainment.
His stories have been featured in New Frontiers: The Many Worlds of George Takei, Secret Identities: The Asian American Superhero Anthology, Secret Identities Volume 2: Shattered, and Pho for Life.
He has received several prestigious fellowships, writing awards, and grants. They include the Screenwriting Expo 4: New Visions Fellowship Award (2005), Visual Communication’s Armed with a Camera fellowship (2006), Film Independent’s Project: Involve fellowship (2007), The Writers Boot Camp Fellowship (2009), The Producers Guild: Power of Diversity Workshop fellowship (2009), California Civil Liberties Public Education Grant (2016), and the Tribecca Film Institute Pond5 Program grant (2019).
He has also served as a judge for the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival screenwriting competition, UCLA Extension’s Feature Film Writing Competition, the Final Draft Big Break screenwriting competition, the Holidays 365 International Film Festival, CineStory TV Contest, and a mentor at the CineStory Foundation retreat.
He writes, produces, and hosts The Unofficial Official Story Podcast with co-hosts actor Jennifer Field and comedian Dwayne Perkins. They look at the paranormal, conspiracies, true crime, and the unexplainable and try to come up with what really happened.
Koji’s passion for writing is only matched by his love to teach others how to do it. He is currently a screenwriting instructor at UCLA Extension and New York Film Academy and has taught at Chapman University. In 2020, he launched an online screenwriting course on Udemy.
He lives with his wife, eleven-year-old son, and one-year-old Shepard mix in South Pasadena, California. Don’t tell his family, but his true love is the Los Angeles Lakers, whom he follows with such passion it drives his loved ones crazy.
