We had the good fortune of connecting with simone chen and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi simone, we’d love to hear what makes you happy.
I am currently in a stable emotional state, feeling happy every day, and there are many things that bring me joy.
As a film producer, being involved in the creation of a meaningful film is a lengthy process. The meticulous and diverse tasks involved in pre-production, on-set management, and post-production require strong psychological support. Perhaps you are filming with your close friends, and in this process, you also get to meet new people. Everyone collaborates wholeheartedly to overcome difficulties and create something, an artwork, together, which is what brings me happiness and fulfillment.
I enjoy photography, and for me, wandering the streets or doing portrait photography with friends is a joyful activity. Creation is a part of my life. For the past two years, I have been doing 35 mm film photography. After capturing the images, I develop the film myself. The process of developing black and white film in the darkroom is quite magical. You are alone with yourself in the dark, where you can hear your own breathing and even your heartbeat. Sometimes, struggling to load the film into the spool can be frustrating. But when you finally complete everything and turn on the light, you feel a strong sense of satisfaction. Then, you have to develop the film using chemical solutions, dry it, and scan it on the computer. This process usually takes a lot of time, and I always listen to my favorite music while adjusting the colors slowly. In the end, I get pleasantly surprised by the resulting photos. I enjoy film photography because I cherish this waiting process, reminiscing about the memories. Sometimes, the photos you scan are not just photos; they are precious memories from months ago. Some people in the photos you may never see again, but these beautiful memories are forever captured on film.
I also love music, going to live gigs and concerts, where dancing and sweating make me happy. I often watch movies, sometimes more than ten a week, and finding a good movie also brings me joy. Being with friends, cooking together, and eating delicious food make me happy. Life requires a balance of passion and relaxation, doing things that bring joy, engaging in work you love, continuously learning and creating, which all make me happy.
Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I studied journalism during my undergraduate years in Guangzhou, China. From a young age, I loved watching movies. In high school, inspired by The Newsroom and the film Spotlight, I dreamed of becoming a journalist. However, my university education was mainly theoretical, with limited practical opportunities. Therefore, I sought more work experiences outside of school. At the Guangzhou International Documentary Film Festival, I served as an interpreter, reporter, and photographer during the 2017 GZDOC University Tour, conducting interviews with producers and directors from around the world. I also took on the responsibility of student ambassador for the University Tour of the 2018 GZDOC and its brand, the Golden Kapok Awards. Within the university, I planned and organized six film exhibitions to introduce students to high-quality documentary films and the film industry. These valuable festival experiences deepened my passion for film. During my senior year, I began considering what I wanted to pursue in graduate school. I had always wanted to experience different cultures and lifestyles abroad, and ultimately decided to apply for film-related graduate programs in the United States.
To apply to top art schools, I directed and produced my first script, A Friend. The story portrays the friendship between two high school boys that deteriorates due to school bullying, causing the protagonist to blur the lines between reality and imagination. The inspiration came from the end of my childhood friendship during the difficult COVID period, leading me to write the script. We faced many challenges during the shooting, but my good friend and assistant director provided crucial mental and technical support. Many of my senior schoolmates also helped, making the art direction possible and creating beautiful memories while filming on a small island.
During my three years at SCAD, I have always worked as a producer, focusing on short films, narratives, music videos, and commercials. I aim to create touching stories, believing that a good script can make a great film even without flashy effects and production design. In my second year at SCAD, I met a talented director named Qing Gan. We often discussed recent films and became friends. Together, we made two films, Green and Peekaboo. As a producer, I sometimes had differing opinions from the director, but we communicated actively and resolved issues together. For instance, during the creation of Peekaboo, Qing’s initial script didn’t portray the female character realistically. After a table read, we provided feedback from a feminist perspective, and he humbly accepted the suggestions, rewriting a better script. Our films received several festival recognitions. Peekaboo won Best Romantic Short at the Independent Shorts Awards and Best Student Film at the Los Angeles Cinematography Awards (LACA). Green won Best Student Director at the Berlin Indie Film Festival and Best Student Film Cinematography & Best Student Director at LACA. These honors were the result of the entire crew’s efforts.
Besides producing, I directed a short film last year titled Souvenirs, a romantic thriller about a girl who collects objects from her exes. Isabelle Adjani’s intense performance in Possession inspired this story. I spent three months on pre-production, including script refinement. In my Dramatic Writing class, I received valuable feedback from classmates and professor, leading to the removal of unrealistic dialogues and the addition of details that better fit the characters. I collaborated with a DP I had worked with multiple times, bonded by our mutual love for art house cinema. We shot the film in my producer’s apartment, with the production designer and I setting up the location according to the storyline. I completed the shoot in two days. During post-production, I frequently met with my editor, sound designer, and music composer. Recently, we finally completed the eight-minute short film, and I will be submitting it to several film festivals.
Making films is not easy, and I look forward to continually learning and improving through various opportunities. My work ethic involves maintaining a humble and cautious attitude, being kind to others, solving problems through patient communication, and achieving more with my team. Filmmaking with a group is a privileged experience, and I cherish the joyful moments with friends. Pursuing our artistic dreams while young is truly a passionate endeavor.
Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I really love Little Five Points. You could spend an entire day exploring here. I once found a beautiful white dress while shopping there, and later, I met a vintage shop owner in New York who told me it was a wedding dress from the 1940s. There are many interesting vintage stores, record shops, as well as places to eat and drink. If you want to buy some fun clothes and toys with friends, this place is the best!
I love animals, so I highly recommend the Atlanta Safari Park. You can drive your car and purchase animal feed. Adorable zebras, sheep, cows, deer, and giraffes will run to your window to eat the food from your hand. Sometimes, their saliva might even drip on you! It’s a very fun and surprising experience.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I am about to graduate from SCAD with an MFA degree in Film and TV. Throughout my three-year journey at SCAD, I have worked on many sets in various positions. Early on, I discovered that I was particularly suited for producing. I enjoy interacting with people, excel at communicating with different departments, and can create detailed plans for all aspects of production. Between 2023 and 2024, I produced two major projects, which also served as my graduation projects: Yo, Yoyo and A Fairytale Romance. Both films had very long pre-production periods, during which we, as the main creative team, not only had to secure funding but also find the right crew and cast, and determine filming locations and equipment. Without a capable team, it would be impossible to create a good film, and we also built strong friendships during the shooting process.
Yo, Yoyo follows the story of a protagonist named Yoyo, who chooses to stop speaking after his parents’ death and makes a living by crab fishing. One day, he attends a public class aimed at building trust, where he encounters Aliana. As they navigate the intricate game of establishing a connection, Yoyo’s aspirations blur the lines between illusion and reality in his quest for love. Because we wanted our film to have a dreamy feel, we decided to shoot on 16mm film, which was a huge challenge for us as it was our first time shooting on film. As the producer, I also took on some tasks I had never done before, such as driving four hours to the Kodak film lab to develop the film after the first week of shooting. We ultimately selected a camera team and lighting team familiar with film, who created a detailed shooting plan and equipment list, resulting in ideal visuals. My director and I are both from China, and two of our friends with years of production and directing experience flew from China to Savannah to help us. We shot for two weekends, six days in total, with a crew of 40-50 people and over a dozen extras. Everyone genuinely believed in the story and wanted to help us realize this “dream.” Without everyone’s collaborative efforts, we couldn’t have completed this project.
A Fairytale Romance is a mermaid story, a genre I had never produced before. Our team was entirely female-led, with almost all department heads being women. Participating in this production allowed me to experience what a truly professional team is like. During pre-production, we had regular weekly meetings where the director, producers, and I would gather to discuss the week’s progress. I was responsible for casting, and we held many auditions before finally selecting the lead actors. There is a grand wedding scene in the film, and I single-handedly found 50 extras who met the requirements and collaborated with the costume designer to present a perfect wedding. We faced many challenges during shooting, such as underwater photography for the first time. Our executive producers, who had previously produced Netflix’s Merpeople documentary, provided a lot of help. They recommended a professional underwater photographer who did a really good job. We also found several professional safety divers and underwater camera assistants. The perfect underwater dream sequence in the film lasts only a few seconds, but the effort behind it was the result of the entire team’s hard work. I am grateful to have met such professional, interesting friends who love and respect film. Now that the film is completed, we are about to send it for a big festival run. I believe that hard work will bring fruitful rewards.
Website: https://sites.google.com/view/simonechen/home?pli=1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pangggglggggg/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simonechen-18b971225/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@yuhangchen3125
Image Credits
Simone Chen