Cathy Yan

Cathy Yan Yuxi (; born 1986) is a Chinese-born American film director, screenwriter, and producer. Her films include the comedy-drama film Dead Pigs and Birds of Prey (2020), the eighth installment of the DC Extended Universe.

Early life and education Yan was born in China and raised in Northern Virginia, near Washington, D.C. While her family was living in China, Yan's father was given a visa to study sociology in the U.S. Two years later her mother left for America, and Yan remained in China with her grandparents. At age four she was reunited with her parents in America. By age 8, Yan was carrying around a video camera, eager to express herself through art and through dancing as a choreographer.

Career Yan worked as a reporter for the Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal

After writing and directing several short films, Yan also shot a web-series and content for brands such as Armani, Subway, Spotify and The Innocence Project. By 2018, Yan made her feature debut with Dead Pigs. The film was inspired by the 2013 Huangpu River dead pigs incident, in which 16,000 dead pigs were found floating down the Huangpu River. Funded by Chinese investors, Yan shot the dark comedy in Shanghai with a bilingual crew then completed the film in New York; director Jia Zhangke executive produced. Yan removed 12 minutes from the film in its wider February 2021 release on the streaming platform Mubi.

In April 2018, Yan was selected to direct the Harley Quinn DC Extended Universe superhero film Birds of Prey, based on the comic of the same name. The film was released on February 7, 2020 to positive reviews. Margot Robbie starred and co-produced and Christina Hodson wrote the script.

, Yan is working on directing and producing A24's film adaptation of Sour Heart, a collection of short stories by Jenny Zhang. Yan will co-write the script alongside Zhang for the autobiographical coming-of-age story about the immigrant experience of a young girl who moved from Shanghai to New York in the 90s.

In February 2021, Yan started developing an adaptation of Rachel Khong's short story, The Freshening. FilmNation Entertainment and Ali Wong were set to produce the feature, with Yan writing and directing.

In 2021, Yan directed an episode of the HBO drama series Succession called "The Disruption", in season three, episode three, for which she was nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series.

Styles and themes Yan's cinematic influences include Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou. Since Yan's father was a big fan of the nineties era of Chinese cinema, Yan expanded into East Asian art-house cinema, which included Wong Kar-wai. Including American cinema, Yan appreciates the works of Robert Altman and Paul Thomas Anderson. Yan considers Dead Pigs as "a marriage of the American indie and classic Chinese indie tones she grew up with."

Filmography Short film Year Title Director Writer Producer 2010 Phishing 2013 Last Night 2014 Dinosaur Rider Entropy Of Tooth and Time 2015 Humpty 2016 Down River According to My Mother 2017 Groomed

Feature film Year Title Director Writer 2018 Dead Pigs 2020 Birds of Prey 2026 The Gallerist

Television Year Title Note 2021 Succession Episode: "The Disruption"