Daily Inspiration: Meet Zihan “Christy” Chen

Today we’d like to introduce you to Zihan “Christy” Chen.

Zihan “Christy”, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
The reason I got into film was actually not because I have always loved movies, or I grew up watching a lot of them, etc. I was not allowed to watch any tv or movies growing up, until I was about to be in high school, and then I found an excuse to learn english through watching movies.
I was originally going for media and communications, business management and marketing when I was applying fro universities and colleges in both UK and US. I was accepted into University College London, which was one of my dream schools, and a lot of great US universities, and my parents were thrilled. But I started to feel confused – I was not sure if I wanted to continue down a path where I can already roughly map out what is going to happen in the next ten years.. BA, grad school, maybe an MBA after and then go sit in an office 9-5 and live an extremely predictable job. I felt something was missing.
On top of that I have always listened to my parents as much as I could and I just simply didnt want to do what they want me to do anymore. I wanted change, I wanted polar opposite of what I was going for originally, and the environment that I grew up in, so I picked Oberlin College to go to. I loved it so much instantly, except I couldnt figure out what my major would have to be, so I picked something that looked interesting enough- cinema studies.
Along with that I also had my mom’s old Canon 5d Mark iii with me in college. I started to take pictures of my ultimate frisbee teammates and my musical friends who play jazz forums every friday. I started to feel a joy that was a lot more vivid and intense then solving a business case- is when I take a great photo that captures a great moment, and when people smile when I see the photos. So I realized that my passion lies in production, not reading scholar essays and writing academic papers, which honestly I was first not very good at, second did not enjoy at all. I proceeded to take all the production courses I could, and then when covid hit, I decided to stay here in the US instead of going back to China so I can continue to use the equipment and be on campus, go to the editing labs.
I fell in love with production so hard, I decided undergrad was not enough. I realized coming from an artistic and athletic background makes me extra sensitive to movements and rhythm, so I pivoted my focus in production to cinematography and editing. I applied to grad school, and was fortunately to be accepted by many great schools, and I decided to go to USC.

And that’s kind of how I ended up here in LA, and 2 and half years later, I can happily and proudly say that I am a DP/first AC who has a passion in telling people’s stories, be there voices when they dont usually get heard in this world.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It definitely has not been as smooth as I wish, but I feel like I am making the best out of every problem, struggle and dilemma I have encountered .
Being in school, taking my first video production workshop online on zoom during the peak of covid in quarantine was definitely not ideal, but I learned to utilize all resources around me and actually made a little short that really connected me and my mother and resolved a lot of our issues. Then we went hybrid, I took on a video production job with the opera department in the conservatory and I was my own crew for several project from pre production planning, Dping and then edit the whole opera. These projects really trained my instinct to plan my shots well and, when physical and human resources were both quite limited, how to make the most of my time and energy. Editing stuff I shot myself made me aware I have to be very conscious of my choices that I make on set.

From that covid got better and we moved on to shooting with more people and then at USC I experienced working with actual, full crew, and that reminds me of the importance of collaboration all the time. When someone tell me that I have done great work, I always say that my crew has done great work, without them I’m just the silly person pointing around.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As my graduation date approaches, I think I have found a clearer direction for myself. I think I would like to Dp, and I’d love to go do more documentary, and as for narrative I’d like to be more focused and technical, to first ac. But I will not say no to dp a narrative projects, or music video, or commercials. I think my biggest advantage is that I am really flexible and adaptive, I like to tailor my work to the story, whatever style it calls for. I just want to tell stories, be a voice for those whose voice dont get heard often or who’s life’s story has not been seen by many..
In school and among my work friends, I am known more as a first AC than a DP, which I used get frustrated about, but I just kept pushing through and seeking more opportunities, and I have DPed more things now, and people change how they look at me. That being said, there’s nothing wrong about being seeing as a first AC and always get asked to do first AC work, I love it. It brings me back into the basics of building camera, pulling focus, makes me feel more grounded and settled and content to be, quite literally, focusing.
Another thing is that I am quite proud of that I am known for my work ethics of being reliable and responsive. People know when they call on me and I say yes, they can rely on me, that I would give them my 200%. Even if I am not available, I will always try to give them recommendations that I know can be relied upon.

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
Try everything! We dont really have the privilege to say no to a lot of things as we are starting, take as many opportunities as you can. Even if its not the best project you ll work on, you may meet great people along the way and they will be the best gift along the journey that will benefit you in the long run.

but also when you feel tired, find a chance to give yourself a break. you wont have the momentum and wont have energy to going if you dont give yourselves breaks. So go hard but also look out for yourself.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cchen4.squarespace.com except this is really quite outdated, I need to update it
• Instagram: instagram handle: christyc0207
• Other: vimeo DP reel 2025: https://vimeo.com/1066753462. portfolio of work I have done with sony cameras: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1zn0k6bPWIDVToHelKqmb-NA39Ljix4ISnKq55gi75sU/edit?slide=id.g34a78c4bf98_0_0#slide=id.g34a78c4bf98_0_0