We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Zemo Zheng. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Zemo below.

Hi Zemo , thanks for joining us today. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your career and how did you resolve those issues?

We recently had the wonderful opportunity of working with one of the top institutions in Beijing, China, on a huge immersive LED digital installation. The installation is now currently being exhibited as part an international symposium with all eyes on it. The technologies involved in building the installation as well as designing and crafting the visuals that’s being displayed in it has been one of the hardest things we’ve ever done. We ran into a lot of unexpected technical difficulties, and with the timeframe we were given and coordinating with an entire other team on the other end of the time zone, we really pushed the envelope in terms of delivering the final product. There was one night, the team and I stayed up all night because the files kept glitching on our computer and could not be rendered out. This issue was completely unexpected and it was so frustrating to us because we could see that we had done really quality work right in front of us but we could not get it out. The problem was that these things also took so long for the computer to simply process, our team felt like we spent so much time just waiting. And the other team in China was telling us that the technicians in the venue were about to leave, so we were really stressed out about timing because the day after would be the opening day. So, we were really racing with time. Of course, eventually we were able to deliver quality work in the last possible second, and I guess my take was that in a dire situation like that, you could really discovered that there were so many creative ways or workarounds on a single issue. I feel like people sell them talk about their frustrations and doing these projects. But the reality is everybody has been super stressed out at one point in their career because of unexpected problems. It’s important to recognize the inevitability of these unexpected issues, and just know that there are so many solutions can be thought of, even the ones that seemed impossible before. It seemed impossible because you were not desperate for solutions yet.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I started as a fashion photographer back in Boston, and moved to LA and my area of expertise quickly expanded into fashion, beauty, skincare, or even tech commercials. Then, soon enough I started doing videography work for a Netflix Reality TV show — The Bling Empire, and from there I ventured into videography, short films, and mini-documentaries for artists. Starting this year, because of all the emerging technologies, I founded my company, Seemingly Virtual LLC, which focuses on virtual production. Our mission is to incorporate the newest tech, AR, VR, AI, into the traditional production practices to innovate, making visuals that are surreal yet tangible.

Now, as my business structure evolves with my capabilities, and also with my team, we find that our structure is being defined or shaped more and more by our current consumers and revenue streams. Seemingly virtual originally had three distinctive branches, which were commercial campaigns, immersive experiences, and curatorial Art. Now, we see a strong merge between the immersive experiences and the art, as we are putting on a lot of immersive gallery shows and interactive museum experiences. .I also see the commercial branch eventually merge with the other two, for example, building immersive experience with creative design for brand activation is some thing we are currently pursuing.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

Here’s the thing, I have tried to work in a big company or get a corporate job, I am proud to say that I am the most passionate when I work for myself. Even when I had full-time job before, I was always finding ways to partner up with the business that I was working for, so I guess I was also always working for myself in a way. My side hustle was fashion photography at the beginning, but I also always knew that I can I just be someone who does one thing for the rest of my life, I have to constantly look for new things and evolve. I started my photography career working for a local photography studio, and then after proving myself to have the talent for not only taking pictures but also leading an entire team, I quickly switch to be a partner for the studio. After two years, studio and I had a creative difference in terms of what kind of clientele we should get it, and that’s when I realized I could build my own brand and get the clientele that I truly want, so I created my own photography brand. After that, I had a really good year and then I came to the time that I chose to move to California, which I pretty much had to start over my entire career and build everything from the ground up. I truly think how I build my business to start with was always from a collaborative approach, and that’s what I did when I moved to California. I never look for a job, I just look for partnerships and try to hire for my own projects.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Well I am Chinese, so representing traditional Chinese culture and also really showing people the intricacies and the depth behind the culture elements it’s some thing that’s really exciting and close to my heart. I think if you look at a lot of my work, you can see strong cultural roots and influence by traditional Chinese aesthetics. However, I always looked innovate and modernize, in a culturally appropriate way of course, the traditional Chinese aesthetics. Every year around lunar you new year time, I would create a series of campaign revolving around my cultural background and my understanding of different type of representation. They could be from a book that I grew up with, or a poem that I have always liked, or a mirror inspiration that I saw once when I was little, but those things have influenced my Art and my creative journey so deeply, I think everyone will see it.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @zemovisuals
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zhenze-zheng/