# Emily Yoshida
**Emily Yoshida** (エミリー・ヨシダ) is an American screenwriter, director, and film critic, best known as a staff writer on the FX series *Shōgun* (2024) and as cohost of the pop-culture podcast *Night Call*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3241600/) • [2](https://www.elle.com/author/223233/emily-yoshida/) Before moving into television writing, she worked for roughly a decade as a critic and journalist for outlets including New York Magazine's *Vulture*, *The Verge*, *Elle*, and *Vanity Fair*.[3](https://letterboxd.com/emilyyoshida/) • [4](https://maximumfun.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Heat-Rocks-Ep.-129_Final-Draft.pdf)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Known for | Staff writer on *Shōgun* (2024); cohost of the *Night Call* podcast[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3241600/) • [2](https://www.elle.com/author/223233/emily-yoshida/) |
| *Shōgun* episodes | Wrote episode 1x04, "The Eightfold Fence" (March 12, 2024), and episode 1x10, "A Dream of a Dream" (April 23, 2024)[5](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/136858/emily-yoshida) |
| Education | Iowa City High School (2003); BA in film production, UCLA (2008)[6](https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/shogun-writer-emily-yoshida-makes-120521799.html) |
| Journalism | Film critic for New York Magazine and *Vulture*; formerly a writer for *The Verge*[7](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/IMDb/pr/pdf/IMDbPressRelease_022817SXSWJury.pdf) • [3](https://letterboxd.com/emilyyoshida/) |
| Directing | Co-wrote, co-directed, and co-starred in the 2011 indie film *Salad Days*; directed the music video for Speedy Ortiz's "Lucky 88"[4](https://maximumfun.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Heat-Rocks-Ep.-129_Final-Draft.pdf) |
## Early life and education
Yoshida is from [Iowa City, Iowa](https://www.edgepedia.org/iowa-city-iowa), where she attended Iowa City High School, graduating in 2003.[6](https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/shogun-writer-emily-yoshida-makes-120521799.html) She earned a bachelor of arts in film production from UCLA in 2008, and UCLA's School of Theater, Film and [Television](https://www.edgepedia.org/television) lists her among its notable alumni as a writer on *Shōgun*.[6](https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/shogun-writer-emily-yoshida-makes-120521799.html) • [8](https://www.toolsforfilm.com/directory/film-schools/ucla-school-of-theater-film-and-television) A January 2025 profile in the *Des Moines Register*, which named her one of its 15 People to Watch in 2025, described her as 39 years old at the time.[6](https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/shogun-writer-emily-yoshida-makes-120521799.html)
Her first screen work was the 2011 independent film *Salad Days*, which she co-wrote, co-directed, and co-starred in.[4](https://maximumfun.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Heat-Rocks-Ep.-129_Final-Draft.pdf)
## Criticism and journalism
**Film critic.** Yoshida established her public profile as a film critic for New York Magazine and its culture site *Vulture*, where her author archive shows a steady run of reviews, interviews, and essays from 2019 through 2021, covering releases such as *Us*, *Booksmart*, *The Farewell*, and *Midsommar*.[9](https://www.vulture.com/author/emily-yoshida/) She had previously written for the sports-and-pop-culture site Grantland, and later contributed to *Elle* and *Vanity Fair*.[4](https://maximumfun.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Heat-Rocks-Ep.-129_Final-Draft.pdf) A 2017 press release announcing the 2018 SXSW Film Festival juries identified her as a film critic for New York Magazine and *Vulture* and cohost of *Night Call*.[7](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/IMDb/pr/pdf/IMDbPressRelease_022817SXSWJury.pdf)
Her criticism has been picked up in academic and industry contexts. A dissertation on [Park Chan-wook](https://www.edgepedia.org/park-chan-wook)'s *The Handmaiden* cites her observation that the film's sex scenes position the bodies on screen in ways that feel "clinical in a way that takes one out of the film," and a scholarly article on celebrity studies quotes her view that the A-lister "comeback" is as much a social phenomenon as an industry one.[10](https://etda.libraries.psu.edu/files/final_submissions/25479) • [11](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/19392397.2022.2159669) On the review aggregator Metacritic, her byline carries 239 movie reviews with an average critic score of 62.[12](https://www.metacritic.com/critic/emily-yoshida/)
## Podcasts
Yoshida cohosts *Night Call*, a pop-culture podcast, with Molly Lambert and Tess Lynch; the show grew out of her earlier podcast *Girls in Hoodies*, which she had cohosted with Lambert on Grantland.[4](https://maximumfun.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Heat-Rocks-Ep.-129_Final-Draft.pdf) She is a recurring guest on the film podcast *Blank Check with Griffin and David*, where episodes covering directors such as Park Chan-wook, Satoshi Kon, and [George Miller](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-miller) feature her as a guest.[13](https://blank-check.fandom.com/wiki/Emily_Yoshida)
## Shōgun and screenwriting
Yoshida joined the writers' room of *Shōgun*, the FX adaptation of [James Clavell](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-clavell)'s historical novel, as a staff writer, with credited episodes "The Eightfold Fence" and the finale "A Dream of a Dream".[5](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/136858/emily-yoshida) • [14](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3241600/news/) The season 2 writers' room includes her alongside co-creator Rachel Kondo, Justin Marks, Shannon Goss, Matt Lambert, Maegan Houang, Caillin Puente, and Sofie Somoroff.[14](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3241600/news/) When *Shōgun* won Best Drama Series at the [Emmy Awards](https://www.edgepedia.org/emmy-awards), she described being on stage amid the celebration in her Iowa hometown profile.[6](https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/shogun-writer-emily-yoshida-makes-120521799.html)
Her Bluesky profile describes her as a writer on *Shōgun* and on *[Kennedy](https://www.edgepedia.org/kennedy-upcoming-tv-series)* (2027).[15](https://bsky.app/profile/emilyyoshida.bsky.social)
## Directing and acting
She has also appeared on screen: she guest-starred as Elsie in the *Poker Face* episode "Rest in Metal" (January 26, 2023) and appeared as herself in the *Mr. Robot* special *Mr.Robot_dec0d3d.doc* (June 20, 2016).[5](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/136858/emily-yoshida)
## References
1. [Emily Yoshida, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3241600/)
2. [Emily Yoshida, ELLE author page](https://www.elle.com/author/223233/emily-yoshida/)
3. [EmilyYoshida profile, Letterboxd](https://letterboxd.com/emilyyoshida/)
4. [Heat Rocks episode 129 transcript, Maximum Fun](https://maximumfun.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Heat-Rocks-Ep.-129_Final-Draft.pdf)
5. [Emily Yoshida, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/136858/emily-yoshida)
6. [Emily Yoshida, 'Shogun' scriptwriter, is home in Iowa City, Hollywood, Des Moines Register via Yahoo](https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/shogun-writer-emily-yoshida-makes-120521799.html)
7. [2018 SXSW Film Festival Juries press release, IMDb](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/G/01/IMDb/pr/pdf/IMDbPressRelease_022817SXSWJury.pdf)
8. [UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television directory, Tools for Film](https://www.toolsforfilm.com/directory/film-schools/ucla-school-of-theater-film-and-television)
9. [Emily Yoshida author archive, Vulture](https://www.vulture.com/author/emily-yoshida/)
10. [Fleshly Japonisme dissertation, Penn State](https://etda.libraries.psu.edu/files/final_submissions/25479)
11. [Introduction, Celebrity Studies special issue, Taylor & Francis](https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/19392397.2022.2159669)
12. [Emily Yoshida critic page, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/critic/emily-yoshida/)
13. [Emily Yoshida, Blank Check with Griffin and David Wiki](https://blank-check.fandom.com/wiki/Emily_Yoshida)
14. [Emily Yoshida news, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm3241600/news/)
15. [Emily Yoshida on Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/emilyyoshida.bsky.social)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Film and television directors*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license