Haiyang Yu - Writer/ Director
Based in LA and Mainland China.
Haiyang Yu is a writer-director who believes thought-provoking and touching story art has the energy to influence the world.
He started his writing career as a Mandarin creative copywriter after he got his bachelors degree in communications in China. His portfolio of work for world-leading advertising agencies such as TBWA, JWT, Saatchi&Saatchi, and Ogilvy, includes over 20 local and global well-known brands, like McDonald’s, GE, Adidas, COACH, Absolut Vodka, Clinique, Skittles, Mini Maid, just name a few. From TV Commercial, print ads, digital campaigns, to integrated marketing communications, he has influenced Chinese consumers with his solid writing skills and disruptive creative ideas, which led him to win the prestigious creative awards FWA and China Effie Awards.
With a passion for film making, he transitioned to the film industry in 2016. He wrote and directed his first narrative short film “Barber,” which discusses euthanasia and its alternatives. The film was accepted by Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner. He continued taking risks and challenging himself in his storytelling and cinematic art world. He worked with an independent musician Eian O’Brien and directed the music video “Catchpenny Ritz,” which asks consumers what effect their purchases have on the world. In 2018, he wrote and directed the narrative short “Hold On” about a devout Catholic mother’s struggle after she discovers her disabled son is homosexual. The story attracted and supported from Italian actress Lidia Vitale who appeared in over 50 films including two of them won Venice Film Festival and one won Cannes Film Festival. She loved and believed in the story and his vision as a director, so she flew halfway around the world to star in the short. Inspired by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Ingmar Bergman, and Federico Fellini, Haiyang Yu digs into humanity, creates dramatic stories, and films them in a poetic way. With the bicultural point of view and decade of experience working with artists around the globe, Haiyang has made the leap into features. He slates upcoming feature projects, including “Nice To Meet Me,” a fun, thought-provoking body-swap comedy; “Falling Days,” a Chinese-American homosexual’s love and life tragedy in this ever-changing world.
He studied at ArtCenter College of Design and recently earned MFA with a major in directing . He was mentored by Oscar nominated director Matia Karrell, and Golden Berlin Bear Winner Director Richard Pearce, and Paul Guay, co-writer of Liar Liar starring Jim Carrey.
From fireside folk tales, to racy comedies, to cinematic dramas. Haiyang believes in narratives are essential to human beings. He brings his pre-eminent storytelling skills to sculpt in time and space, explore humanity, present human life, and find solace in faith. All packaged in delicate, compelling visual art.
于海洋
广告、MV，电影编剧导演，坚信深刻动人的故事拥有绵延不绝的能量，足以影响世界，对话未来。
2010年，以中文创意文案身份正式开启写作生涯，六年间先后就职于世界顶级广告公司TBWA, JWT, Saatchi&Saatchi, Ogilvy，为超过二十多个国际和本土著名品牌提供创意和文案写作服务，他的客户包括麦当劳，GE通用电气，阿迪达斯，COACH，绝对伏特加，倩碧，彩虹糖，自然堂，美汁源果粒橙……用多变的写作风格，深入中国不同消费群体的内心，从影视广告、平面广告、数字互动营销到整合营销传播，他用扎实的文字功底和颠覆性的创意作品影响中国消费者。
2016年起，他加入电影行业，编剧并执导首部剧情短片《理发师》。在电影中，他探讨安乐死问题，思考什么才是告别这个世界的最好方式。该片入选戛纳电影节短片角，并受邀亲临戛纳电影宫，与来自全世界的优秀电影人互动交流。
同年，他远赴美国洛杉矶，于艺术中心设计学院攻读导演专业硕士学位，师从奥斯卡提名导演Matia Karrell, 柏林电影节金熊奖导演Richard Pearce. 与此同时，在写作和视觉艺术领域，他继续挑战与创新。在他导演制片的MV Catchpenny Ritz 中，与美国独立音乐家合作，对物欲横流的当今时代进行反思，思考消费行为给我们的世界带来的负面影响。该MV入围多个电影节，并荣获Best Music Video殊荣。在2019年，他编剧并导演英文剧情短片Hold On, 将思想的触角延伸到性、性取向及宗教等深刻议题。该故事剧本受到意大利演员Lidia Vitale的青睐（其参演电影作品多次在戛纳国际电影节和威尼斯国际电影节展映并获奖），她为这部短片专程从罗马赶往洛杉矶完成合作拍摄。
受俄国作家陀思妥耶夫斯基，电影导演 英格玛伯格曼和费里尼的影响，于海洋致力于深挖人性，创造富有戏剧性和诗意的影像化故事。长达十年的职业化写作经验，及与来自全球不同文化背景的艺术家和创意人的合作经历，让于海洋扎根于中国本土文化的同时，具备国际视野，助力他讲出影响全球的动人故事。
从万年前围坐在火边讲述的民间传说，到今日坐在地铁里观看的手机视频，故事始终伴随着人类生活，塑造了人类理解和参与世界的方式。于海洋借助故事的力量，雕刻时间与空间，探索人性边界，创作人类生活，深入每一个人的信仰与灵魂深处。
