We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Chia Chen a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Chia, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

It’s surprisingly not the moment I fell in love with the art/performing. But it was afterwards that I just cannot bare the idea of never give it a try or pursue it. Coming from a traditional Asian family and values, being in the field of art and performing is not an obvious choice or a choice at all. It took a lot of conviction and communication before I embark on the journey.

Chia, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I started my journey of pursuing acting when I was in college in Taiwan and signed up for a Theatre class. We put on a performance of Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night”. After the curtain call, it felt like my actual calling had just begun. There was this urge that I couldn’t shake off and just wanted to stand on that stage again. After many struggles (including convincing my conservative Asian parents), I decided to move to LA and persue Acting. I know from the begininig that I would need to sharpen my tools before I can figure out how to nevigate the industry since I had no background and no connections with the Arts and acting besides a school theatre. So I audtitioned for a conservatory and I got accepted to American Academy of Dramatic Arts to futhter my acting skills in 2011.

After graduated with AA degree at AADA, I started to create my own short films asides from auditioning around. It was a great opportunity to continuing the practice, as well as learn behind the camera and meet some peer creative filmmakers. And over the years, I have created 7 short films. One of them has been selected to a local film festivals, and another has won 9 awards from multiple film fests.

Currently, I am working on a pilot for a scripted TV series. It’s something very personal and dear to my heart, combining my 2 passions – cooking and storytelling. I am hoping to be able to develope it in the near future.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The process. Sometimes we all get caught up with the outcome or trying to race to the finishline. But over the years, I realize that the journey is more interesting than the final glory. It’s the most frustrating part of creating something from scratch, but also the most rewarding part.

You constantly have this conversation within yourself that this is not good enough, or I wish I could make it better or perhaps I should just scrap it and start a new concept, etc. But once I have a small breakthrough, and I get to return to the original passion and confirmation when I started the concept, and then everything makes sense to continue. Sometimes the script/film doesn’t come out exactly what I envisioned. But it’s the process of figuring out and molding it that is the most fun part. Sometimes the journey takes a surprising turns and it comes out better than I imagined.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I truely believe everyone can be creative. There’s no specific form or path that should define what is creative and what is not. Living a life is creative. We encounter so many things on the daily basis that always chanllenge us to be creative one way or another.

But in the process of creating something, I would say that one should always practice the discipline. An idea is just an idea until it is finished. May that be a handmade craft, birthday gifts, holiday decorations or a script, one doesn’t get to the finish line by wishing it. We have to put in the time and work for it.

Maybe it doesn’t come out as good as you want them to be at first. But it would be a start to continue to fix and adjust. But you can’t build on it if you don’t have the first draft.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/Chia_Chen.la
• Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5681510/?ref_=hm_rvi_nm_i_1

Image Credits
By Alice Esposito