Eris Qian is based in New York City and considers herself as a global nomad. Born and raised in China, she has lived and studied in five continents. The diverse cultural background allows her to tell stories about the Asian diaspora experience from a unique perspective.
Born to a doctor’s household in China, Eris grew up fascinated by natural history and dreamt of becoming a nature documentarian, which came true when she joined the National Museum of Natural History as a Video Producer after she graduated from college.
Eris then went back to China to explore stories of her roots. During her career as a freelance documentary filmmaker, she focused on the disappearing natural and cultural heritage. She made many successful shorts and TV documentaries in various locations, including Hong Kong, Tibet, Ganzhou, and Shanghai. Every piece of her professional work has more than 100,000 plays on digital platforms. And her television documentary has earned the highest rating in the non-scripted category of weekend primetime on Shenzhen National Satellite Channel.
With an interdisciplinary background, Eris uses storytelling to breakdown complex subjects and communicate with the audience. She is also drawn to tell stories of the underrepresented, due to her own cultural diasporic experience.
Meanwhile, Eris is a published travel writer and was featured by TEDx, National Geographic Traveler, Shanghai Weekly, and Hunan TV for her outstanding work as an opinion leader and documentary filmmaker.
Eris recently graduated from the MBA/MFA dual degrees at New York University. At the film school, she produced six award-winning short narrative films. At the business school, she learns life-essential skills like finance and accounting, brings honor to her Asian family, and observes the mysterious American corporate life, which she portrays in her creative work.
Education
2017 - 2020
MBA/MFA, New York University
2011 - 2013
BA in Media Studies, first-class distinction, University of Virginia
Summer 2012
Semester at Sea, Trans-Atlantic and Mediterranean
Fall 2010
Exchange Program, La Trobe University
2008 - 2010
English, East China Normal University
Awards
2018 - 2020
2017
2012
2012
2010
2009 - 2010
2008 - 2009
Tisch School of the Arts Scholarship, NYU Grad Film Department
Story Mining & Co. Sholarship, NYU Stern School of Business
Education Abroad Symposium Prize, University of Virginia
Merit and Alumni Scholarships, Semester at Sea
Department of Education, Employment and Work Relations Scholarship, La Trobe University
Third Class Scholarship, East China Normal University
First Class Scholarship, East China Normal University