Cali (pronounced Kay-Lee) likes to start with the people, working backward to fill in the story and layering her films with carefully considered compositions to weave everything together. As an Asian American with a mixed ethnic background, she has found great inspiration in celebrating diverse voices and perspectives, always looking to bring people together.
While character-driven storytelling is the underlying force of her work, her photographer’s eye for epic landscapes is inescapable. Natural beauty, after all, is another larger-than-life character. Often times, you’ll find Cali immersed in nature – whether she’s longboard surfing, on the open road with her motorcycle, or bombing down twisty hills with her road bike, she likes to live within the elements.
For as long as Cali can remember, she’s had a desire to tell stories. Her background in various art forms – from sewing and writing stories to piano and photography – all inform her attention to detail and filmmaking approach.
Cali graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in Film Production and cut her teeth as a commercial editor and storyteller at ad agency Mekanism. She then made the transition to director, helming award-winning campaigns for Amazon, Cox, Google, Sparklight, Nivea, HP, Apple, Vizio, Muscle Milk, Uber, and so on. Her work has been featured in Vimeo Staff Picks, National Geographic, The Atlantic, PBS, Slate, and Popular Science. Cali is currently based in Los Angeles.
