Comedian Alisha Dhillon and creator Quentin Lee, both alumni of the Canadian Screen Award-winning series “Comedy Invasion,” are reuniting to co-create the vertical series “Unleeshed,” set to broadcast worldwide on Asian American Movies (AAM.tv) for Thanksgiving 2026.
Dhillon wrote and stars in the new series, which unfolds in the Los Angeles world of standup comedy and roast battles. She previously starred in and wrote the “Comedy Invasion” episode “Woman of Ganja,” which Lee created and directed and which won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Comedy Special in 2024.
Season 1 follows a South Asian standup comic and aspiring actor who puts her ambitions on hold to look after her ailing father back home, only to discover her hardest fight isn’t landing jokes – it’s quieting the self-doubt convinced she’ll never measure up.
Dhillon and Lee are producing “Unleeshed” through Lee’s banner, Margin Films, with principal photography set to begin in August. The completed first season will serve as AAM.tv’s inaugural original vertical series, debuting worldwide as exclusive programming in November.
“When I first read the pilot for ‘Unleeshed,’ I immediately fell in love with the world Alisha created – a world drawn from her own lived experiences,” said Lee, who is co-creator, executive producer and director on the project. “With the rapid rise of vertical storytelling, I saw 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 ‘Unleeshed’ to remind myself and others that confidence is built through action and our biggest limits are self-made,” added Dhillon. “I hope people see themselves in Alisha and discover that even life’s toughest moments can hold something worth laughing about.”
Dhillon’s standup credentials include finalist honors at the 2025 San Francisco Comedy Competition and a runner-up finish at Rooster T. Feathers Comedy Competition, plus sets at SF Sketchfest and JFL Northwest, along with the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. She’s also appeared in Prime Video’s stand-up docu-series “Comedy Invasion” and reigns as the Bay Area’s Roast Battle champion.
Lee’s directing and producing credits span more than 10 features, alongside four television series he created, among them “Comedy Invasion.” He launched Margin Films in Los Angeles in 1996, and the company turns 30 this year. Its debut feature, “Shopping for Fangs,” had its international premiere in the Perspective Canada program at the 1997 Toronto Film Festival.
The platform can be accessed via iOS, Android or Roku, and offers a curated lineup of diasporic Asian films, documentaries, shorts and series from around the world.