Talent Guide

Steven Liang

  • Discipline:Director, Writer
  • Program Year:Directing Lab 2017

Bio

A native of the San Gabriel Valley, Steven Liang is an award-winning director and House Ballroom scene photographer. He is invested in telling the stories about the resilience of those living on the fringes. Liang’s latest short film, Afuera (2016), which features a predominately transgender-Latina cast, premiered at the 2016 LA Film Festival, before screening at Palm Springs ShortFest, NBC ShortFest, & Outfest. The film garnered distribution from Frameline Distribution, and was featured in Vice and Vibe Magazines. His previous short, Coming Home (2015), a Taiwan-U.S. co-production, screened at 30 international film festivals, including the Seattle International Film Festival and Outfest. The film made history as the first gay-themed project funded by the Taiwan Tourism Bureau, and was distributed by Outplay Films. Liang’s documentary short, A Better Life (2014), garnered the AbelCine Grant for excellence in nonfiction filmmaking. Liang started his entertainment career in 2006, when his high school video diary, See Me, screened at Outfest. Formerly, he interned for Justin Lin’s Universal-based Barnstorm Pictures, Participant Media, and Visual Communications. Liang holds a B.A. from Pitzer College and an M.F.A. in Directing from UCLA Film School. Liang is a Fulbright Scholar.

Current Project

Coming of Age

Logline

Grand Prize follows Gia, a shy, determined Black trans girl who must negotiate between the life her mother set out for her, and the fantastical world of Ballroom and competitive Vogue Performance.