Photo: Cliff William Fong Photography
COBRA KAI•SPECIAL
Streaming superstars: The creative talent and Karate Kid super fans behind Netflix’s hit show Cobra Kai – (from left to right) Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg.
SCREEN SENSEI In a Shimbun exclusive, we meet the creative champions behind the cameras of Cobra Kai
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IVEN there is plenty of truth in the old adage that ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’, tinkering with treasured characters and a movie franchise that has become a cinematic rite of passage for millions could so easily have been career suicide for the creators of Cobra Kai. There will certainly have been many who winced when they first heard the news that Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg — the comedic minds behind Harold & Kumar — were teaming up with Hot Tub Time Machine writer Josh Heald to spin The Karate Kid into a new narrative for YouTube Originals in 2018. History, a switch to Netflix and in excess of 73 million viewers to date has, of course, emphatically demonstrated that any fears over tarnished legacies were woefully misplaced. However, had the sceptics spent even the merest of moments in the company of Jon, Hayden and Josh, they would have known that The Karate Kid’s heritage was in the safest possible hands without the need to watch a single second of the streaming sensation. As Shimbun discovered when we sat down to talk Cobra Kai, Miyagi-Do and Eagle Fang with the trio, they care too much about all-things All Valley to make a martial arts misstep.
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SHIMBUN
Issue #5
