Lanzhu Jian is a filmmaker from the Miao Minority Culture in the Southwest of China. When she turned 16, she quit high school and moved to Beijing on her own, to study art in order to pursue her dreams of being an artist and director. During her undergraduate studies at Beijing Film Academy, she focused on experimental animation, specializing in stop motion and pixilation. When she turned 19, She worked as a photographer's assistant and interpreter for a Photographer from Switzerland who was researching an article in Tibet. After she turned 22, she traveled as a photographer to her hometown in Guizhou province together with a Danish anthropologist who was conducting a study of "guanxi", the Chinese variant of the network society and how it is utilized in the day-to-day life of Chinese people. The trip greatly inspired her to tell the story of Chinas ongoing turmoil and change, and how it affects the lives and world-views of the Chinese people. Now she is studying in USC School of Cinematic Arts pursuing her professional career as a Director and Producer. During 2011 to 2013, while study at USC, Lanzhu Jian was awarded The Muller Family Scholarship, T.C.Wang Fellowship and Gene Autry Endowed Scholarship for her ability as a filmmaker.