Meet Jie Yu

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jie Yu. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jie below.

Jie, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

As an international student who has never been to study at America before, I could be the most insecure and shy person when I first got here. I threw up during the mixer with my cohort because I was too nervous to talk with people, I dared not share my script (I am a Screenwriting student) with my cohort because I assumed that they would find my story boring. However, my confidence is gained through tons of positive feedbacks, and also my self encouragement. Luckily, my professors and cohorts are really nice, they always offer me praise and good comments on my story. This became my motive to go to class and talk with people. With their help, I realized that I was not that bad (actually quite good), and I could be even better. Self-encouragement is hard, to be honest. I made a “to-talk” list (like to-do list) which includes some tasks like “I must participate in the discussion at least twice in class” or “I must make at least three comments on my classmates’ scripts”. I forced myself to talk. At first I need to make notes about what to say, but gradually I don’t need notes anymore and can fully express myself. It feels really good when I make comments, somebody types it down and nods, and while you’re talking, they look at you in the eyes. I think that’s what communication should be. In general, my confidence and self-esteem partly rely on other’s kindness, and largely depend on myself.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I am a Screenwriting student from University of Southern California. I am originally from China. I’ve started to develop stories in my head since I was a kid and this is still the most exciting thing for me. When I listen to a piece of music, watch a film, or read a book, I will make association with my original characters. I believe that how art makes connection with me: a piece of fierce music can make me develop the whole fight scene for my characters, a dialogue in a film can make me develop a completely new story. People might think I am a little weird because I can stay in one place for hours without doing anything, but they barely know that it’s because there is a film running in my head. I am eager to learn new things. During my study at USC, sometimes I will suddenly chill and laugh in the street, simply because I am going to school and learn something new. I am going to get comments for my script to write it better. Any progress I make is one step further to show them on screen in the future. I am currently developing an indie game with my crew based on an hour-long script I wrote this semester. I also collaborated with directors to create some short films focusing on Chinese international students and their original family.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The ability to live alone, emotional stability, and curiosity. As a writer, I barely have time to be with people because I write along most of the time. So it is important that I can endure the loneliness when I am stuck in my room but can’t write a word. I need to maintain a stable emotion to do research, write outlines, and keep a rational mind to discover and explore my story and also myself. Curiosity does not mean that I need to be curious about everything to write unique story. It means the curiosity about my surroundings and the daily routines that I have ignored all the time. I believe the most boring thing can be told as a good story.

This advice is actually offered by my professor: As a writer, always Write more, Read more, and Watch more.

One of our goals is to help like-minded folks with similar goals connect and so before we go we want to ask if you are looking to partner or collab with others – and if so, what would make the ideal collaborator or partner?

I am looking for a director partner who is willing to tell personal stories and develop some short films with me. I believe it is always the relationships and emotional stuff that drive the audience to watch a film no matter what genre it is. So I really want to find a director partner who cherish the intricacy of our inner world and explore the deepness of human relationships. Please feel free to contact me if you want to collaborate. My email address is [email protected].

• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jieyu01