Under pressure from her estranged father, a young Chinese architect living in New York agrees to establish guardianship of the 6-year-old half-brother she has never met so that she can obtain a visa to pursue her dream job at a prestigious architecture firm.
Lu is a young, self-reliant Chinese immigrant fighting to make a life for herself in New York City. Her hard work seems to pay off when she is offered an internship at the architecture firm of her dreams. The only obstacle is her visa, which will soon expire. Just as she begins to agonize over her lack of options, her estranged father appears with a potential solution. He pleads for her to assume guardianship of the seven-year-old half- brother she has never met, so that the boy can receive life-saving medical care in the U.S. This begrudgingly accepted arrangement, which will allow Lu to remain in the country, in fact does so much more. As she reexamines both her priorities and her past, her outlook is forever changed, and she slowly mends her relationship with the family she left behind.
Born in Beijing, China, Ran is a transmedia writer and director whose work spans live action and animation.A graduate of NYU Tisch's BFA in Film and Television Production program, Ran's short films have been celebrated at prestigious film festivals worldwide. Her debut feature, MODEL, received critical acclaim and earned awards at several Academy Award® and BAFTA-qualifying film festivals, including the Best International Dramatic Feature Award at the 35th Edmonton International Film Festival, the New Talent Award at the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival, and the Emerging Director Award at the 43rd Asian American International Film Festival. Featured in Variety China, the film had a theatrical release in China in 2021 through United Entertainment and is distributed across major Chinese streaming platforms including iQiyi, Youku, Mango TV, and Tencent. In the U.S., Model was released digitally through Viki and Smart Cinema.
Prior to making live action films, Ran established herself as a storyboard artist at Blue Sky Studios, contributing to animated features including SPIES IN DISGUISE, THE PEANUTS MOVIE, FERDINAND, and the ICE AGE franchise. She subsequently joined Strange Weather Films in Los Angeles, collaborating with Aron Warner — Academy Award®-winning producer of Shrek — on the production of WISH DRAGON.
Recognized as one of ISA's Top 25 Writers to Watch, Ran is a recipient of the NYSCA/NYFA Artist Grant in Screenwriting, CineStory Foundation Scholarships, and an Alibaba Pictures Script Development Grant. Her scripts have earned selection to the Stowe Narrative Lab and placement on both Coverfly's Red List and The Black List. She has developed feature films with Wanda Pictures and written film and television projects for Ruiyi Film and ViuTV. Her transnational background across Hollywood and China deeply informs her storytelling, driving a passion for nuanced, character-driven narratives that blend genre while exploring themes of autonomy and belonging.
A member of the Writers Guild of America (WGA), the Chinese Directors Guild, Gold House Futures and the 2026 cohort of Rideback Rise, Ran is a Directing Fellow in AFI's DWW+ Program and is currently completing her sci-fi thriller short IMPRINT. She is also developing her second feature film, FELT.
37th Edmonton International Film Festival
43rd Asian American International Film Festival – Winner, Emerging Director Award
Woodstock Film Festival
Shanghai International Film Festival
Hainan International Film Festival
37th Edmonton International Film Festival - Best International Dramatic Feature
43rd Asian American International Film Festival – Winner, Emerging Director Award
Shanghai International Film Festival - New Talent Award
Hainan International Film Festival - Winner, Best Director
Alibaba Pictures Script Development Grant
Co-writer, Director, Producer - Ran Jing
Director of photography - Zach Kuperstein
Production Designer - Doriane Desfaugeres
Editor - Ron Dulin
Producers - Yuxiang Wen, Ran Jing, Steve Gao, Enya Sun
