Erin Li

Erin was born in the United States to immigrant parents from Taiwan and raised in New Jersey. She chased what she thought was the American Dream and worked on Wall Street before pursuing her passion for filmmaking. Her unique journey informs her films, which often explore the dark side of ambition. A sci-fi filmmaker and fan, she won the Mary Shelley Award for directing Kepler X-47 and her original vision and world-building. Narrative films that Li has directed have been praised by Upworthy, Gizmodo, SciFi Now, Huffington Post, Mitú, Vimeo (Staff Pick), and curated by SXSW, LACMA Young Directors Night, Killer Films, Comic-Con, Slamdance, Refinery 29's 29 Rooms at New York Fashion Week, and SITGES.

As a commercial director, Li's work has been recognized by SHOOT and Free the Work. She’s on the director roster of INVISIBLE Collective. Select clients include: Omaze, (RED), Call of Duty, and General Electric. She has held directing fellowships with the Fox Filmmakers Lab, AFI Directing Workshop for Women, and Film Independent Project Involve. She shadowed producing director James Bamford on the last season of the CW series, Arrow. Li is represented by APA and Thruline for film and TV.

As an educator, Li has taught filmmaking in low-income public schools in Los Angeles as part of Latino Film Institute's Youth Cinema Project. She guided middle school students in grades 4-8 through the process of making a short film, from ideation and screenwriting to film production and delivery of the final cut.

She has also been an admissions reader for AFI's Directing MFA program, the AFI Directing Workshop for Women, Visual Communications Armed with a Camera, and a screenplay competition judge for UCLA's annual showcase and the Slamdance Film Festival. Li also mentors filmmakers through Visual Communications' Armed with a Camera, and has been a guest filmmaking instructor and speaker at Hollywood High School, A Place Called Home, Brooklyn Collaborative High School, Girl Scouts New York, Students Across Borders, and Outside the Lens.

Recent Creative, Scholarly Work and Publications

Directing: The Beginning and the End of Everything (dance, fantasy, short film, 2020)
A fable of loss and love. Premiered at SXSW as part of a film within the feature film Aviva. Scored by pop singer/songwriter and composer Kate Havnevik. https://vimeo.com/421367273

Lets.Give (documentary, short film, 2019)
Lets.Give, a non-profit organization run by the youth, holds an annual clothing drive and event offering free hair cuts, massages and arts & crafts for migrant farm workers and their children in Bakersfield, Calif. Migrant farm workers voice their opinions about the working conditions, the government, and the discrimination they face. https://vimeo.com/412233045

Back to Life (music video, 2017)
Client: Holy Wars, dark pop band. https://vimeo.com/232726172

Chloe Howard: I am Not Invisible (branded doc, short film, 2016)
Client: (RED), Production company: Omaze. Meeting Bono helps a high school sophomore recover after bullies assault her for having an atypical clubfoot. Screened in Australia for thousands of youth and the prime minister. https://vimeo.com/211617413

Kepler X-47 (science fiction, short film, 2014)
AFI Directing Workshop for Women Fellowship. A woman is forced to adjust to a new life in a human zoo exhibit on an alien planet. Mary Shelley Prize, Geekie Awards, SITGES, LACMA, Comic-Con; Press: SciFi Now, Gizmodo. https://vimeo.com/103502474

To the Bone (drama, short film, 2013)
Film Independent Project Involve Fellowship. A pre-teen migrant farm worker attempts to rebel against the status quo. Vimeo Staff Pick, Slamdance, TIFF Kids, LA Film Fest. Press: Upworthy, Mitu. https://vimeo.com/43576740

L.A. Coffin School (drama, short film, 2010)
Visual Communications Armed with a Camera Fellowship. A woman is kicked out of her son’s home, prompting her to enroll in a controversial school that claims to teach people how to start life anew. The instructor and class exercises force her to re-evaluate life and what it is worth. https://vimeo.com/180663350