Angela Chen is a film and commercial director born and raised in the heart of Texas with family roots from Taiwan and China. Her personal family narrative feature as a writer/director is the recipient of the Russo Brothers’ AGBO and AFI’s Development Grant. Fly Girl, a comedy feature she is attached to direct, was invited to participate in 2020’s Tribeca Film Institute’s TFI Network .
Angela’s films have won numerous awards and premiered at SXSW, Tribeca Film Festival, Austin Film Festival and more. She was also a recipient of the ITVS Diversity Development Fund for her documentary feature and she was an Armed with a Camera Fellow at Visual Communications, a fellow at the International Storytellers Lab in Italy’s Castle Gandolfo, and a fellow within the Women in Film Mentorship program.
In 2019, she was shortlisted for the Sony Diversity Directors Program, Film Independent’s Project Involve, and Lena Waithe’s AT&T Hello Lab Director Program. Her short, OUR HOME HERE, is currently in the festival circuit and has played at 25 film festivals, winning many best narrative short awards along the way.
Her directing clients have included Turner Broadcasting’s SUPER DELUXE where she was contracted as a writer and director for short form and formerly at BAMM.tv in San Francisco where she created, directed and hosted the travel program BAMM WoW that was distributed internationally. Her directing clients for branded have included Google/YouTube, Masaki, Artemis, and AUDI. Throughout the span of her career, she has also taught at many non-profit filmmaking programs investing in youths from marginalized communities.
As the eldest child of immigrant refugee parents, she is drawn to stories of connection and characters who thrive within intricate and flawed societies. Her storytelling approach aims to bridge thought-provoking perspectives and invoke inspiration through deeply realized characters in both entertaining and authentic ways.
She is a Directing graduate from the American Film Institute Conservatory MFA program in Los Angeles and studied Film and Television at the University of Texas at Austin with a minor in Asian American studies. Angela is also the Global Creative Director at HTC & VIVE.