As an Asian director, screenwriter, and producer, Chloe Zhao’s success brings lots of joy to the Asian community. As a child, she had a curiosity about Western Pop culture. Although she was very rebellious, she continues to grow to show that her future endeavors are still undecided. Becoming a successful filmmaker with multiple nominations throughout her career exemplified that. Before her decision to pursue filmmaking, she worked multiple jobs before studying film production at New York University Tisch School of the Arts. Her second featured film called “The Rider(2017)”, was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Film and Best Director. Additionally, her short film “Daughters” received recognition at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival winning her Best Student Live Action Short at the 2010 Palm Springs International ShortFest and Special Jury Prize at 2010 Cinequest Film Festival. As of recently, Chloe Zhao was positioned to direct as well as write the screenplay for Bass Reeves’ biopic in April of 2018. Soon after, she was also hired to direct the film “ Eternals” by Marvel studios.
As a Chinese filmmaker who directed the film “Nomadland” and won the best director at the 2021 Golden Globes, old news resurfaced of her talking in a negative way about her country, many Chinese nationalists were disappointed. Negative commentary aggravated many which resulted in the censorship of “Nomadland” in China. At the beginning of her career, she found herself at a crossroads such as how she wanted to continue her journey into filmmaking. As overwhelming as that already is, coming to a new country was another struggle that she faced especially since she had the “American Dream” perspective most immigrants have. She enrolled in NYU and had reflected on the idea that she may not be capable of making good films.
Chloe Zhao believed that film was something that combined all her interests, meeting new people as well as learning more about their backgrounds. At the time, she did not know many people within the film industry leading to the decision to attend NYU's Graduate Film Program. Common struggles, when starting in the film industry, are whether you will be able to find an audience that will enjoy your art. While there are independent projects, it takes a lot of time and effort due to lack of funding as well as studio access. This portrays why it’s important to remember that there's always room for improvement within any industry, with the film industry being no exception. Creating a better environment for the creators is a significant factor that should not be ignored.
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