Daily Inspiration: Meet Zhengzheng Zhao

Today we’d like to introduce you to Zhengzheng Zhao.

Hi Zhengzheng, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I started editing in 2013 by making fan vids (using TV shows and movies to create music videos), something I still do every now and then. Those videos gained a surprising amount of popularity across multiple platforms, and the response pushed me from being just a fan into wanting to pursue filmmaking professionally.

I graduated from the directing program at Shanghai Theatre Academy with a Bachelor of Arts degree, which gave me a strong foundation in visual storytelling.

I worked professionally as a visual technical director for several years, having collaborated with multiple symphony orchestras on their classical concerts productions.

When I applied to graduate school in the US, I was deeply into Stranger Things, and the character Eddie Munson had a huge influence on me, which later led to a series of uncanny, life-changing events of its own. The love for the show guided me toward Chapman University’s Dodge College to study Film Production, the same school that produced the Duffer Brothers.

I’ve always followed things I’m passionate about, and let those passions evolve into my profession.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No it hasn’t. Managing ADHD has been one of the biggest challenges in my life. It affects my focus and the way I move through daily work, but it also shaped the way I create. My mind jumps quickly between ideas, rhythms, and emotional beats. That nonlinear energy is part of what led me to music-driven work.
In short, ADHD is a double-edged sword, difficult to manage, but also a major part of my artistic voice.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a film editor who specializes in music-driven film projects: music documentaries, live performance pieces, music videos, and storytelling where sound and visual rhythm shape a viewer’s emotional experience.
My background in classical concert visuals gives me a strong technical foundation, which I now bring into my work with rock and contemporary music.

People usually describe my style as “visualizing music”, because I focus on translating musical energy directly into the edit.

I mentioned the character Eddie Munson being a huge influence before, and here’s where the chain of events took the most unexpected turns.
Even though I’ve loved rock bands for most of my life, it was my love for Eddie that finally pushed me into buying my first electric guitar and started learning. 2 years later, that decision ended up taking me somewhere I never imagined.

I was invited on stage by Green Day during their headlining set at the Coachella music festival. I was luckily picked from the audience by Billie Joe, to play guitar on “Knowledge”. I dashed onto that stage, hugged Billie, kissed him on the cheek, and proceeded to play a song I’d only ever heard, but never practiced before. My guitar skills had never even left my bedroom until then, and all of a sudden I was shredding right alongside my heroes, in front of 125,000 people. I wasn’t processing the audience at all, I was completely basking in the surreal happiness of playing with Green Day, everything was running on autopilot.
After the song ended, Billie announced that I got to keep the guitar. I later held what instantly became my most prized possession and cried my eyes out.
That night was the moment I understood my own synchronicity with the world I’m meant to be part of.

What sets me apart is that my work comes directly from survival. I grew up in a household shaped by instability and extreme repression. Music, especially rock bands, became the language of rebellion that flows through my bloodstream. I’ve survived more than I can fully articulate, and it forged the way I understand and express art, stories, and emotion.
It is why I’m drawn to working with rock bands whose art speaks the same emotional language I grew up with: rebellion, honesty, and the refusal to be silenced. My background gives me an instinctive understanding of what their music is trying to say.

What are your plans for the future?
Idealistically, I would love to collaborate with artists and rock bands that I love and that have meant so much to me, working on the other side of the rails. My goal is to tour with bands as part of their visual team, using my visual storytelling skills to help translate their music into an immersive visual experience for the audience. I want to contribute to the world that shaped me, and help carry their messages through the visuals that accompany their live shows and documentary work.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/xlexychasex
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LexyChase
• Other: https://vimeo.com/lexychase

Image Credits
Zixuan Guo
Amanda Ortega
Greg Schneider
Bing Zhao