Every year thousands of people dream of directing content and movies for social media or the big screen. Many of them start out as actors or take a stab at creating some social media content and, if they are lucky, can pick up a few small roles in a TV commercial or get a few hundred followers on a social media channel. Eventually, a tiny handful of them will break through to more notoriety which lets them gain additional recognition and respect among their peers.
Unfortunately, however, a large majority of these people ultimately give up and walk away from their dreams because they simply don’t have the vision, drive, or ability to turn their aspirations into reality.
But what about those people who have a natural talent for directing? That rare breed that grasps the ability from a young age to capture the hearts of people through powerful and encaptivating cinema and social media. People who, it seems, are born with an extraordinary gift that very few can explain.
Qiu Zhengda fits this category perfectly and the most amazing thing is that his career has only just begun.
Qiu became the center of attention at the 2021 Asian Film Festival in Los Angeles, California. Although he is already a big name in the social media directing world, he wanted to reach further in his career by creating a unique short film. Over 200+ people had submitted short films to show off their talent and knowledge for the big event so Qiu understood that it was going to be a challenge to be noticed and one that would take not only great skill but a greater amount of determination.
He knew that the world-renowned event in LA would bring additional attention to his popularity in social media and had worked feverishly to create a powerful and meaningful short film that would capture his audience and display his unique talents. He had created a story that would embrace the feelings of redemption and forgiveness while bringing to light social issues that are often overlooked in our modern world.
As the big event got underway, there were thousands of people who gathered to witness the creativity that is conveyed through film by movie directors from all over the world. As audiences spent time watching the magnitude of gifted story-telling on the screen, there was a sense of exhilaration combined with anxiety as each participant waited to see what their efforts would bring.
One short film, however, by the name of “Salvation”, stood out from all the rest. It fascinated its audience by telling the story of a thief who had burglarized a home and threw his adventures, had come to learn of a blind elderly lady who could not care for herself because of the death of her son. This discovery led the thief on a path to make amends for his ways as well as bring awareness to the issues that many elderly people who have no family face today.
As the judges gathered to announce the winners of the competition, Qiu Zhengdz waited in silence to find out what, if any, impressions his contribution to the festival had given. When the time came to present the Emerging Director Award, Qiu Zhengda was ecstatic when the judges announced him as the winner. The natural talents that he had developed in social media directing and planning took him to his next pinnacle and he was ecstatic.
People who already knew him understood that he had amazing talents but this was just another way to show them off. Qiu has been making a name for himself for many years in the social media realm by being one of the main producers of popular YouTube channel content such as Mr. Unicorn (known as the #f§3SHOW in China) which is the genius of Douyin, the popular Chinese social media influencer. The #f4SHOW is prominent in both China and the United States.
Qiu’s name and reputation have spread further in the world of gifted artists. He and Mr. Unicorn hads worked with many established names in the entertainment industry such as talented singers like Akon, TV personalities such as Jonathan Cheban (Foodgod) as well as the well-known Hollywood actress Maggie Q.
Qiu has a knack for social media development and planning and it shows. Mr. Unicorn has gained international notoriety and has approximately 60 million combined social media followers and is only growing bigger. Because of his huge success online, Qiu has been able to cooperate in working with other popular music stars by the name of Salem llese and LilHuddy who are quite famous in the music and social media world.
In a recent interview, Qiu stated “Many filmmakers can be somewhat repulsed by new (social) media content, but I believe that image expressions are all interchangeable and good stories don’t change because of the communication platform. The two years of being a new (social) media director have allowed me to come into contact with more different people and hear different stories. This has made me understand how important it is to tell a good thing and to tell a good story.”
Qiu has the right creative juices and inborn expertise to continue his incredible journey. His Master’s Degree in Film and Media from the New York Film Academy combined with drive and intuition has given him the perfect set of tools to continue to achieve great things in his career moving forward. During his university years, he was big into studying photography and focusing heavily on the relationships between light and shadows for filmmaking. All of that combined with a 3.54 GPA is reason enough to see clearly that Qiu Zhengda is the real deal.
The world of social media planning and directing has a breath of fresh air with Qiu Zhengda and only time will tell how far his dynamic capabilities will take him. In our opinion, it won’t be long before he will make another indelible film or social media contribution that will capture our hearts and open our minds to things we could have never imagined. Good luck Qiu!