Meet Innovator Xin Li
Xin Li originally from Mongolia, China, and currently a resident of Los Angeles, California is an up-and-rising Chinese film artist, violin / viola player, and female-minority film-winning star in the movie-making industry. Growing up around a culture of singing, dancing, music, and art encouraged her to become an artist after watching many Korean TV series on the internet. Her interest in perfecting the dramas she saw on TV inspired her to pursue training and hopes to fulfill her life-long passion for motion pictures and television. Li stated, “I felt dramas weren’t as good as I wished, so I decided to start towards a career as a TV series maker”. After 4 years of perfecting her musical interests, she left her work with the Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra as a violin and viola player to set out and travel from China to the United States to complete her Master of Fine Arts, Motion Picture & Television academic studies at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, California to couple with her dual Bachelor degrees in Law as well as Management in Cultural Industry Management from the University of Inner Mongolia, China. The Academy and undergraduate studies in law and management strengthened her specialty in film production. They allowed her to develop an entrepreneurial skill-set and niche expertise in directing, special effects, graphic design, visual arts, and animation. Collaborating with her classmates, allowed her to understand how teamwork, leadership, and developing new skills would serve her well as an emerging industry giant. Her studies broadened her interest in the short film, production, comedy, story-telling, advertising, and a more comprehensive range of other media.
Several professors who are Oscar-winning industry leaders and faculty mentors provided the support, understanding, and constructive criticism which built her self-confidence provided feedback on ways to improve and served as a bridge between the students and faculty to nurture creative ideas for new films. The professor encouraged classmates, alumni, and faculty to collaborate, practice homework assignments together as a team, network, and share stories to inspire the creation of new, cutting edge, thoughtful and much-needed films for setting a new standard for industry excellence.
New Animation Film and Past Experience
Young, beautiful, and vibrant in her 30’s she is specializing in ~20 awards-winning and industry-nominated documentaries, short realistic fiction films, advertisements, and animation movies. Li has set out to touch our souls with her creative and free-thinking art as she breaks the glass ceiling rising like the star we hope to strive towards. Her new role is serving as a jack of all trades – writer, producer as well as director. In 2019, she produced a film “Paradise: Nature Hasn’t Mercy But People Have”, a film about a campfire that happened circa 2018 and chronicles the after-effects of a campfire that happened in Paradise, China City. This best student film received recognition at the New York International Film Awards, Oniros Film Awards, California Women’s Film Festival, and Chicago Indie Film Awards. Past film projects include: “Mobo Bicycle advertisement (2021), Amazon stores’ products (2021), Commercial Portray video (2020), Mystery of Love (2020), Mochi Cage Advertisement (2020), A Sit of Summer (2020), Hobby (2020), The Translation (2019), How Can I Help You (2019), Gabe Morris (2019), Green Back (2019), A Night Of Passion (2019), In The End (2019), The Crab (2019), and Welcome to Inner Mongolia (2017).
To honor her best friend who recently gained her angel wings after her battle with breast cancer, Li continues to share her international perspective, cultural understanding, entrepreneurial go-getter spirit, and environmental perspective in remembrance of her love of friendship.
Recently, she released the new animated film “ Uninvited Guests” produced during the Pandemic – the film explores what it means to not only be human but also subconsciously understand our part in humanity’s wasteful nature. The pandemic allowed her to perfect her technological skills and perfect her techniques in being a solo-team member and also using technology to virtually connect with her film colleagues across the world.
Communication Advice on Breaking Through Barriers
Li speaks several languages: English, Mandarin, and Korean. She has and continues to work with several directors to produce notable pieces such as “Tailored Fit” worthy of Sacramento Asian Pacific Film festival recognition. Through her work and viral videos, she hopes to inspire truth, community empowerment, and passion for the love of Chinese culture. Her tri-lingual skills and experience have allowed her to connect with some of the industries’ finest across the world from China to the USA.
One of her favorite quotes is “Don’t ask someone riding a bicycle how to drive a BMW”. Simply means ask the people who have wise experiences, lessons learned from failure, and understanding of what exact steps lead to success. In the film industry, there are many opportunities to learn, grow and lead. Aspiring film creators, entrepreneurs, and artists should understand the need to pivot using technology, ask questions to the industry leaders who are trail-blazers, and become the epitome of self-confidence if and when flying solo on projects is necessary when there are limited resources or connections to complete the project.
Ms. Li hopes to collaborate with production company leaders in the industry and is available for networking opportunities through the Xin Li LinkedIn and Shin Li Facebook platforms. More information about recent works is available on her website xin-li.info. She hopes to continue to create films that empower independent women, minorities, and anyone who sets out to lead with confidence, strength, and curiosity to blaze new trails and further innovate the community with unique experiences, inspirational thinking, and newfound curiosities.
Li has a bright future ahead of her and hopes to someday run her own production company. Her prayer is to make films that Hollywood movies are focusing very little on. Producing movies that tap into the women’s inner feelings can be expressed sensitively. The goal is to capture the psychological shift and change of how tough challenges bring out the very best in everyday normal women with real stories. Her production company and network bring those stories to the TV screen.
