ABOUT DOROTHY
Dorothy Xiao is a first generation Chinese American writer and director with a degree in Psychology from UCLA. Named after her parents’ immigration lawyer, Dorothy grew up in the multicultural neighborhood of Alhambra, known for having some of the best Chinese food in Los Angeles. In her film work, Dorothy creates grounded family dramas with a hint of fantasy, exploring themes of resilience, friendship, and hope, inspired by the diverse immigrant communities she grew up around.
Dorothy has directed 13 short films and has worked on over 30 film and video projects with companies like CBS, HBO, and Disney. She was an Alliance of Women Directors - Directing the Actor Lab Fellow and winner of the 2023 CAPE Julia S. Gouw Short Film Challenge, (presented by the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment and Janet Yang Productions).
Dorothy’s films total over 600,000 views online and have screened at multiple film festivals such as the Nevada City Film Festival, DTLA Film Festival, and the Oscar-qualifying Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. She directed the award-winning short film COLORFUL MINDS for the 2022 CBS Leadership Pipeline Challenge, which won a donation of $75,000 from CBS to the nonprofit Painted Brain. Her short film DIVE BAR recently played on board Alaska Airlines. She is an alumnus of the Jubilee Media Fellowship, where she wrote and directed the short film EXPOSURE, which now lives on a Youtube channel with over 7 million subscribers.
In her past life prior to being a filmmaker, Dorothy worked in animal research administration, wrangled 5th graders for an after school program, and oversaw web development for nonprofits. Dorothy was also the Branding & Communications Manager at Visual Communications, the first non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the voices of Asian American & Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander filmmakers, where she was a short film programmer for the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.
Dorothy is an avid supporter of empowering underrepresented voices in media, and when not making films, Dorothy lives on an almost daily diet of boba milk tea, reads juicy romance novels, and binge watches anime with her 30-year-old stuffed bunny Rabby.
Affiliations: Alliance of Women Directors, Women In Media, Women of Color Unite, Ghetto Film School Roster, Blackmagic Collective, Filmshop LA
