new year's eve

Synopsis: In the morning of New Year’s Eve, the old man is writing Chinese calligraphy when he oversees a man in the suit talking to his son and daughter-in-law about selling the old courtyard house. As the dark falls, the family gathered in the dining room for dumplings. The old man’s last attempt to persuade his family that he prefers to live in the old house instead of migrating to America fails. Reveling in the nostalgic memory of lighting firecrackers with his departed wife and juvenile son, he decides to take his grandson to shoot off some forbidden fireworks as a commemoration for the lost time. Their secret plan is exposed when his son comes to call them for dinner. After a long moment on his own, he decides to proceed with his unlawful action and makes fireworks blooming in the sky once again. The sound of fireworks is soon blended with the police siren at far.

2021

Media coverage

year of the tiger

In 2022 I was selected to direct a special documentary produced by National Geographic and Land Rover about the Chinese Year of the Tiger. As Land Rover was the project's sponsor, we include several shots of their special edition Range Rover Sport built to honor the New Year. As their SUV traveled across Beijing’s financial districts and surrounding rural mountain landscapes, we told the story of several famous street artists collaborating to create a giant graffiti mural of a majestic tiger intertwined with the Land Rover logo. Before the shoot, I researched comparable films and commercials to create a detailed storyboard that would illustrate my visual approach. The documentary has more than 337,000 views on Weibo, China’s leading social media platform.

2022

johns hopkins

"reintroducing writing"

2023

animation "the egg"

The Egg is an NYU Animation directed by Evin Zhang and edited and supervised by Steven Lyu. The Egg is the Winner of 2022 James Richard Janowsky Award, and was officially selected by 2021 Brooklyn Film Festival (Kid Film Fest section), and the 52th ASIFA East Animation Festival.

Synopsis: The last dinosaur on the earth, Dino, happens to find an egg near an erupting volcano. He then discovers something he never sees in his entire life. However, in the end, a hard decision is present right before him: survival or………

2022

other projects

coming soon

A small melodrama of masculinity and the burdens our parents carry.

Monsoon is an NYU Thesis film directed by Jaap Deinum and produced by Steven Lyu and Jack Birchler.

Synopsis: A Chinese immigrant flies home to China with his son to attend his sister's funeral and, in what he thinks is an effort to shield his son, he remains stoic — a "strong father figure." But really, he's suppressing both grief and the guilt he feels for having been away in the US, which takes a heavy toll on the son. In the end, he'll either have to come to terms with loss and finally be vulnerable, or risk losing the relationship with his son.

We partnered with Asian CineVision, a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to growing the community of Asian diasporic artists.

Monsoon (in post-production)

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