Meet Daniel Xue | Filmmaker, Writer-Director and Cinematographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Daniel Xue and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Daniel, what role has risk played in your life or career?
As a filmmaker, I am constantly taking various risks in my life and career. Some risks are bigger than others. For example, every time I accept a gig as a crewmember is a small risk. Often, all the information I get is when/where I need to show up and the role I am doing. I’m not told anything of what the film is about, how many crewmembers I’m working with, what kind of equipment we’re working with, and what specific tasks I’m responsible for. Being a PA could mean anything from moving boxes from a warehouse all day, driving a passenger van or small truck, helping art department move props and dress the set, or helping camera department charge batteries. It could be a high budget commercial or a run-and-gun student film. You’re never sure of the circumstances until you show up on set and see for yourself.

A bigger risk I’ve taken is my choice to stay in Providence RI, where I finished my undergrad, instead of moving to NYC or LA like many of my friends have. Choosing to move to a new unfamiliar city, or choosing to not move, is taking a significant risk because you don’t know what the job market is like. The past year definitely has been tough due to the film industry strikes and things being slow to recover; it was also apparent that Providence had far fewer professional opportunities than large production hubs like NYC. However being close to school allowed me to better develop and maintain connections with RISD and Brown students, who will surely become outstanding creative professionals in the future. Being in between New York and Boston also allowed me to access opportunities from both cities. Although I may not have found as many professional opportunities in Providence as I had hoped, I’m grateful for pariticpating in numerous student films and thesis projects.

Creating a film as writer/director is a huge creative risk. I’m always looking for ways to be a little bit different than the convention, because what’s the use of creating something new if it’s just going to be the same as everything else? But being different is a risk too, because you won’t know if people will like it. Unlike other mediums of art, filmmaking is far more effort and time intensive. You might need many months of development, production, and post to create a short, and require the collaborative effort of dozens of people. And whether you have investors/grants or you’re self-funding, a film isn’t cheap to make. You don’t want to dissapoint all the crewmembers that worked hard on your project, and you don’t want all that money to go to waste. Because a single project requires so many resources, I feel like it’s a bigger risk, especially if I want to create something somewhat unconventional.

I’ll admit that I’m in a risk-averse moment in my life/career right now. After a tough year of freelancing, I’m looking for something more stable. However I want to make sure that risk-averseness does not stifle my creativity. If I want to make a crazy experimental film, it doesn’t need to be a months-long project with 30 people working on it. It could be a chill project I make with 3-5 friends in our free time, with low stakes and minimal expectations of how it’ll turn out. I want to try many different small things, short video edits or photography assignemtns that I could finish in a week or even a day. Some of these small ideas might turn out amazing, and that’s when I could adapt it for a larger project.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My cultural background as a Chinese-Canadian is an important part of my work. After moving to the US for college, I experienced a homesickness, a nostalgia, and a sort of cultural displacement, especially during the COVID lockdowns. My junior film “Xiao Long Bao” became a deeply personal experience of my homesickness and craving for a specific Shanghainese dumpling dish. For my senior film “Northeasterly Wind” I didn’t want to limit the script to only my own experiences, so I interviewed and took inspirations from the lives and relationships of my friends. My friends described the finished film as “very real”.

I want to be a part of the emerging movement of Asian artists and filmmakers. I’m so glad that acclaimed films such as “Turning Red”, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”, and “Past Lives” got the attention they deserved. In the indie world, I see films from my peers and from Asian-focused festivals that all share themes of cultural displacement, generational trauma, and homesick longing that I think are core parts of the Asian identity. Let’s keep making more good work!

I don’t want Asian identity to be the only part of my work though. For my next film, I want to switch things up, and I’m imagining a sci-fi about dreams…

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
A ton of new milk tea/boba shops have opened in Providence since I moved here. For a sugar-loaded guilty pleasure beverage, my favourite spots are Tiger Sugar, Gong Cha, or Charuma. For a meal, Denden or Heng Thai’s are excellent Asian casual restaurants. For a more upscale fine dining, Bellini’s is a great Italian place. If you can get a swipe, the Met is no doubt the best campus cafeteria in Providence. For dessert, Pastiche sells finely crafted cakes, tarts, and treats.

Rhode Island being the Ocean State, we’ll have to see the natural scenery. Newport (and the mansions) is the tourist hotspot, worth seeing if you haven’t before. Colt State Park and Beavertail State Park are more local favourites with stunning ocean views. There’s also Rhode Island Desert/Greenwhich Sand Dunes for a strange little patch of sand. Lots of interesting places if you look for them.

Being a filmbro, I have to recommend the Rustic Tri-View Drive-in Theatre. It’s a rather rare and unique experience. You can go with your friends and laugh/discuss/heckle at the film as loud as you want in your car, without disturbing others. Also would be a perfect spot for a date!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to shoutout the RISD student community and express my gratitude for their generosity with their time, effort, and mutual support. My senior FAV class was a great environment to share ideas and help each other throughout the creative process from writing the first page to exporting the last frame. Among them are my closest collaborators Sung-Sung (Parintorn), Yennefer, Sean, and Shanshan (Yiwen). Not only did they come to my aid and become key parts of film, we helped each other through crises, and served as inspirations to each other in our work. My thesis film “Northeasterly Wind” would not be possible without them, and I would’ve been in a very different place. You guys are amazing!

Website: https://danielxue.cargo.site/

Instagram: @dxkaiyuan

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/xue.daniel.50/friends/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJk71X-PKL5cLllYXFo-PYA

Other: Bilibili: https://space.bilibili.com/67784996?spm_id_from=333.337.0.0 wechat: ninjak20

Image Credits
Stills from my short film Northeasterly Wind