Cathy Yan facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Cathy Yan
Yan in 2020 at the Birds of Prey London Launch Party
Born	1986 (age 38–39) China
Alma mater	Princeton University New York University
Occupation	Filmmaker
Years active	2010–present
Chinese name
Simplified Chinese	阎羽茜
Traditional Chinese	閻羽茜
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Yán Yǔxi

Cathy Yan Yuxi (born in 1986) is a talented filmmaker. She is a director, writer, and producer. Cathy was born in China and is now an American citizen. She is known for directing movies like Dead Pigs (2018) and Birds of Prey (2020). Birds of Prey is part of the exciting DC Extended Universe!

Early Life and Education

Cathy Yan was born in China. She grew up in Northern Virginia, near Washington, D.C.. When she was a baby, her father moved to the U.S. to study. Two years later, her mother also moved to America. Cathy stayed in China with her grandparents for a while. At age four, she joined her parents in America.

Cathy was a very creative child. Her family, especially her father, encouraged her artistic side. By age eight, she loved carrying a video camera. She enjoyed expressing herself through art and even dancing. When she was fourteen, she moved to Hong Kong for high school.

She went to Princeton University and graduated in 2008. She studied public and international affairs there. Later, in 2016, she earned two degrees from New York University. She studied business and film at the same time!

Cathy Yan's Career

Before becoming a filmmaker, Cathy Yan worked as a reporter. She wrote for big newspapers like the Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal. She reported from New York, Hong Kong, and Beijing.

Early Films and Dead Pigs

Cathy started by writing and directing several short films. She also made a web-series. She created content for famous brands like Armani and Spotify. In 2018, she directed her first full-length movie, Dead Pigs.

The movie Dead Pigs was inspired by a real event. In 2013, many dead pigs were found floating in the Huangpu River in China. Cathy filmed this dark comedy in Shanghai. She worked with a team that spoke both Chinese and English. The famous director Jia Zhangke helped produce the film. Dead Pigs was shown at the Sundance Film Festival. It won a special award for its amazing cast.

Directing Birds of Prey

In April 2018, Cathy Yan was chosen to direct a big superhero movie. It was Birds of Prey, featuring the DC Comics character Harley Quinn. The movie came out on February 7, 2020. It received many good reviews.

Margot Robbie starred in the movie and also helped produce it. Cathy Yan made history with this film. She was the second woman to direct a DC movie. She was also the first Asian woman to direct any major US superhero film!

Recent Projects

Cathy Yan continues to work on exciting projects. She is directing and producing a film based on Sour Heart. This is a book of short stories by Jenny Zhang. Cathy is also helping to write the script with Jenny Zhang. The story is about a young girl's experience moving from Shanghai to New York in the 1990s.

In 2021, Cathy directed an episode of the popular HBO show Succession. The episode was called "The Disruption". For her work on this episode, she was nominated for a top award, the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series.

Film Styles and Themes

Cathy Yan gets ideas from many different filmmakers. She admires Chinese directors like Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou. Her father loved Chinese movies from the 1990s. This helped Cathy discover more East Asian art-house films, like those by Wong Kar-wai.

She also enjoys American movies. She likes the work of Robert Altman and Paul Thomas Anderson. Cathy describes her film Dead Pigs as a mix of American independent films and classic Chinese independent films. These are the types of movies she grew up watching.

Filmography

Feature Films

Television

See also

In Spanish: Cathy Yan para niños