Director
Xiaoying Echo Su
Xiaoying Su, known as Echo Su, is a young documentary filmmaker based in New York focused on women's rights and social justice. She actively engages with social justice organizations and the AAPI community. Using visual storytelling to drive positive impact and spark essential conversations on social justice is her passion, with a background in journalism.
As the Director of Women in NAAAP-NY, Echo leads efforts to empower and educate Asian American women, encouraging their success and meaningful contributions to their communities and cultures.
Echo's expertise shines through her roles as director, producer, and editor of some short documentaries like "First Saké Brewery in New York" and "Christian Demarco.", which were screened in film festivals including DOC NYC 2022, which is an Academy-qualifying festival, also the largest documentary festival in America, Maui Film Festival 2022, and Ethnografilm Paris 2023.
Her filmmaking journey began as a co-editor of the feature film "Love Story in Xiangxi"(China) in 2017, which was screened at events such as the 27th China Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival and mroe. She also worked as a film instructor for one year in Yunnan Province in China from 2018-2019.
She holds dual master's degrees, one in MFA Social Documentary Film from the School of Visual Arts (SVA) in New York and the other in MFA Broadcast and Television from the Communication University of China.
CO-PRODUCER
Justin Zimmerman
Justin Zimmerman, MFA in Film, is a nationally recognized film director, producer, comic writer, and professor. His diverse projects have been broadcast on national public television and distributed globally. He is the recipient of multiple grants and fellowships, he contributed a story to the Eisner Award-winning graphic novel Love Is Love, and his script and comic work have been optioned on multiple occasions. He is also the founder of Bricker-Down Productions®(BDP), BDP’s narrative and documentary work has appeared in over 200 film festivals across the globe.
Cinematographer
Yaakov Gottlieb
Yaakov Gottlieb is a documentary filmmaker based in New York and Chicago who covers mainly human rights issues with a focus on themes of immigration.
He was a co-director and co-producer of La Casa del Migrante, a documentary about Mexican immigrants, which was nominated for the International Documentary Association's David L. Wolper Award. He has worked abroad at La Nación as a producer and videographer, covering topics such as poverty and resource accessibility in rural and urban areas of Buenos Aires and Argentina. He has also worked as a photographer in Iceland, documenting natural and cultural life for a travel guide.
COMPOSER & SCORE
John W. Snyder
John W. Snyder is a composer and pianist in Los Angeles. He scores films, documentaries, theatrical works, theme parks, and commercials for numerous clients such as Sundance, Sony, ABC, Warner Brothers, Capitol Records, and countless commercial products. He also provides additional arrangements and orchestrations for popular bands and international agencies such as Watsky, Daveed Digg's Clipping, Black Cat White Cat, and many others.
