About
JAY ZHAO 赵佳童
LA based. USC School of Cinematic Arts, Film&TV Production MFA
A junior storyteller, film director, cinematographer
A human like you.
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Jay Zhao believes that impactful stories in the form of cinema can change how we see ourselves, our past, and our future.
He discovers an interesting spot between high-concept narratives and internally realistic, self-reflection-driven themes. He makes “social sciences” films that often feature the compromises and rebellions of our values, desires, and identities against the world we have to embrace.
Jay’s stories focus more on the mundane individuals from the broader social majority, questioning their insignificant roles, the pressures of being normal, and their ignored belonging. His voice in storytelling aims to enlighten or retrieve the self-awareness and selfhood that people have lost as they adapt to the collective.
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Every story is worth telling.
Jay specialises in film directing and cinematography: narratives, commercials, fashion films, and music videos. He offers creative and production services to bring your ones onto the screen.
Crew Roles Avaliable:
Directing Dept: 1st AD, Script Supervisor.
Cam & Electricity: Cam Operator, Gaffer.
Post-Production: Avid Media Composer & Davinci Resolve Studio.
Distribution: Trailer, Poster, EPK, Subtitle Supervisor.
Key Collaborators:
NetEase Game’s “Eggy Party” TVC 网易游戏《蛋仔派对》
ReelShort Exclusive
Please contact Jay directly to help shape your stories.
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Disclaimer: I hate writing in third-person narration to introduce myself as a filmmaker, so let’s give up doing it.
Born and raised in Shenzhen, China, I began my journey with storytelling from a school lunch break: my friends and I escaped from the campus for 2 hours and made a video using an iPhone 5 about a superhero saving a dog (Yes, my debut, perhaps).
I was later sent to Sydney, Australia, for high school and my Bachelor of Media degree at UNSW. While studying algorithms, new media, and communication arts, I won the first prize for my short film and got a chance to be screened at the Palace Cinema, Sydney Broadway.
And the Pandora box opened: I made a sci-fi micro-feature “Relove” and went to the Sydney Lift-Off Film Festival, the same year Leo Messi won the FIFA World Cup. The very last short I directed before graduating, “Palm Parade”, took a Semi-Finalist at Flicker’s Rhode Island Film Festival, Winner of Cinematography at the Young Australian Film Festival, and was streamed on TV at Channel 31.
To me, the journey of storytelling means a process of self-discovery, an imagination production, where the micro world and the macro world are interconnected.
Well, stories never stop. Maybe I will rewrite this piece someday and realize how silly I am now. But I’m glad you read till here.