Dan Chen is an Emmy-nominated director, writer, and producer whose work explores outsiders fighting human nature, flawed systems, and the passage of time.

He is the son of Chinese immigrants and grew up in small town Manhattan, Kansas, where he developed his love of horizon lines, portraiture, and do-it-yourself filmmaking. He graduated from the USC School of Cinematic Arts with a focus on directing and cinematography, allowing him to embark on a film career that has connected him to people all over the US and the world.

His award-winning narrative and documentary films have screened at Tribeca, AFI, Slamdance, and Full Frame, have appeared on Vimeo Staff Picks and Short of the Week, and aired on PBS. His documentary feature debut ACCEPTED received an Emmy Nomination for Outstanding Social Issue Documentary. He is a 2024 Gotham HBO Documentary Development Initiative fellow and a 2023 Warner Brothers Discovery Access Directors Program alum.

He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and 1 year old daughter, directing new projects as he prepares to make his first narrative feature film.

Management

Achieve Entertainment | Diego D. Arrambide

Diego@achieve-ent.com

Select Press

Talkhouse I'm Too Sensitive: Confessions of a Filmmaker

Deadline The Gotham, HBO Documentary Films’ Second Documentary Development Initiative Sets Cohort

Deadline ‘Accepted’ Filmmakers On How They Pivoted When “Miracle School Story” They Thought They Were Making Suddenly Exploded: “The S**t Hit The Fan”

The Guardian Accepted: behind a US college admissions scandal and the students affected

Talkhouse Why Media Representation Alone Will Never Make You Feel Accepted

The Black Cape Mag How ‘Accepted’ Director Dan Chen Shines A Light On Students Amidst A Broken System

Deadline Tribeca Doc ‘Accepted’ Acquired By Greenwich Entertainment, Gets Summer Release Date

The Hollywood Reporter ‘Accepted’: Film Review | Tribeca 2021

Filmmaker Magazine Dan Chen on his Tribeca-Debuting High School and College Admissions Doc, Accepted

Final Draft How Accepted exposed the realities of a 21st century student and the American education system

The Moveable Fest Tribeca 2021 Interview: Dan Chen on the Hard-Earned Education of Accepted

Mutha Magazine The Hype and High-Stakes of Education: A Conversation with the Filmmaker Behind Accepted

Short of the Week Ella Online Premiere

Adolescent Ella: behind the new American coming of age story

Short of the Week Giselle Online Premiere