Comedian Alisha Dillon and creator Quentin Lee, alums of the Canadian Screen Award-winning series “Comedy Invasion,” are reuniting to co-create the vertical series “Unleashed,” set to air globally on Thanksgiving Day 2026 on Asian American Movies (AAM.tv).
Dillon will write and star in a new series set in the world of stand-up comedy and roast battles in Los Angeles. She previously starred in and wrote the Comedy Invasion episode “Women of Ganja,” which was produced and directed by Lee and won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Comedy Special in 2024.
Season 1 follows a South Asian stand-up comedian and aspiring actor who puts her ambitions on hold to stay home to care for her sick father, but finds that her toughest struggle isn’t cracking jokes, but quelling the self-doubt that convinces her she’ll never be able to match.
Dillon and Lee are producing Unleashed through Lee’s Margin Film banner, with principal photography set to begin in August. The completed first season will serve as AAM.tv’s first original vertical series and will debut worldwide as an exclusive in November.
“When I first read the pilot for Unleashed, I immediately fell in love with the world Alisha had created, a world drawn from her own real-life experiences,” said Lee, who is co-creator, executive producer, and director of the project. “With the rapid rise of Vertical storytelling, we thought it was an exciting opportunity to adapt the pilot into the first season of a Vertical series, allowing it to serve not only as compelling entertainment, but also as a proof of concept for future seasons.”
“I wrote ‘Unleashed’ to remind myself and others that confidence is built through action, and that our greatest limits are those we create for ourselves,” Dillon added. “I hope people see themselves in Alisha and discover that even in life’s most difficult moments, there is something worth laughing about.”
Dillon’s stand-up credentials include finalist honors in the 2025 San Francisco Comedy Competition, runner-up in the Rooster T. Feathers Comedy Competition, as well as set appearances at SF Sketchfest and JFL Northwest, and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. She also appears on Prime Video’s stand-up documentary series Comedy Invasion and is the reigning Bay Area roast battle champion.
Lee’s directing and producing work spans more than 10 features, including four television series he created, including Comedy Invasion. He started Margin Films in Los Angeles in 1996, and the company is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. His debut film, Shopping for Fangs, had its international premiere at the 1997 Toronto Film Festival’s Perspectives Canada program.
The platform can be accessed via iOS, Android, or Roku and offers a curated lineup of diaspora Asian films, documentaries, short films, and series from around the world.
