Film Screening and Production Team’s Talk: Same Old – An Award-Winning Short Film by Lloyd Lee Choi

Lloyd Lee Choi is a Korean-Canadian writer/director based in Brooklyn. His short film, SAME OLD, had its World Premiere at the 75th Cannes Film Festival, 1 of 9 films in the main competition. It went on to premiere at TIFF (Special Jury Mention), New York Film Festival, and won 1st place at the HBOmax APA Visionaries Awards and Best Short at Raindance. It has screened at over 100 festivals around the world. The feature film adaptation is currently in post-production with Hisako Films and Significant Productions.

Lloyd’s recent short film, CLOSING DYNASTY won the Crystal Bear for Best Short Film (Generations) at the 73rd Berlinale, the Audience Award at SXSW, the Grand Jury Prize at AFI Fest, Best US Short at Palm Springs, and Best Short Film at Hawaii Int’ Film Festival. The film was supported through the Future Gold Film Fellowship – 1 of 3 filmmakers selected by Netflix, Tribeca, and Gold House. It’s currently streaming on Netflix.

Tony is a Chinese American film producer based in New York City. He has helped produce four feature films and over thirty short films, which have been screened at numerous festivals, including the Cannes Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, New York Film Festival, and more. He served as an executive producer for the feature film Seagrass, which won the FIPRESCI Prize at the Toronto International Film Festival and for Bunnylovr, which premiered at Sundance.

He was selected as a 2023 Sundance Producer’s Intensive Fellow. He has interned with The Population, co-founded by Oscar-Winner Mollye Asher, Mynette Louie, & Derek Nguyen as well as Emjag Productions, led by Alexandra Milchan and Scott Lambert (Wolf of Wall Street & Tar). Yang holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Film and TV Production from Michigan State University and a Master’s Degree in Creative Producing from Columbia University. His most recent film that he served as a lead producer, Blue Sun Palace, premiered at Critics Week in the 2024 Cannes Film Festival in which it was awarded the French Touch Jury Award.

Limin was born in Hangzhou, China. He has played the lead role in the short film “Same Old” (Cannes Short Films Competition) and a supporting role in the feature film “Blue Sun Palace” (Cannes Critic’s Week). He studied acting at the Stella Adler Studio. Besides acting, Limin works in finance. He is the CIO of Nebula Research. Limin has a Ph.D. degree in Physics from the University of Pennsylvania.

Mingjie Li is a New York-based actor, casting director, and writer/director. She played the lead roles in NYC Women’s Fund-winning films “My Heavenly City” and “Yu Under Water”; and supporting roles in “Same Old” (Cannes Short Films Competition), and the upcoming MGM film “Preparation for the Next Life”, directed by Oscar-Nominee Bing Liu. She has written and directed two short films- “Swans Of Hudson River” and “Sound of Fire”. Both films are currently in the festival run. So far, “Swans of Hudson River” has been selected by the New York Shorts International Film Festival. As a casting director, she has cast 5 vertical mini-series, more than 20 short films, and one feature film, many of which have premiered at Oscar-qualifying festivals around the world.

Susan Yuqing Feng joined China Institute in America as Director of Programs in October of 2023. Before joining CI, Susan was the Editor in Chief of Bitpush News, a leading block chain media based in New York and a columnist for the Financial Times Chinese Edition.

Throughout her journalism career, Susan conducted interviews with a multitude of world economic and political leaders, including Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, Alan Greenspan, Paul Volker, President Clinton, Zbigniew Brzeziński, Michael Bloomberg, Thomas Friedman, and many more.  Susan has also directed the documentary series “World Movers” which was released in March 2018. It illustrated the emerging new world order 70 years after WWII, shedding light on what has changed the U.S. and the world and the forces affecting everyone. It focused on the relationships between technology and globalization, the impact on immigration, and the future of U.S.-China relations.

Susan graduated from Columbia University and got her MA in International Affairs.