Zheng “Nathan” Nie is a writer-director from China. Having lived in the U.S. for fourteen years, Zheng started developing an independent spirit in filmmaking from his first day at Michigan State University as an undergrad. In 2017, upon graduating from the UCLA MFA Directing program, he won the UCLA Directors Spotlight award with his thesis film, A Proper Burial (Rest In Peace), which was screened at the DGA theater. In 2018, his film, House of the Lonesome Human Beings, won Best Screenplay at Dam Short Film Festival. The Way Home, a short film he wrote about the parallel lives of a Chinese-American teenager and his illegal immigrant father’s distinctive yet similar struggles, was selected by Shanghai International Film Festival and Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Submerged, a gay short he wrote and directed, currently has more than one million views on Youtube.

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Aside from filmmaking, Zheng also serves as the Chair of Marketing of Asian Professional Exchange, one of the oldest Asian non-profit organizations in Southern California. He's an associate programmer of the Santa Fe International Film Festival. This May, he co-organized and curated the first-ever UCLA API Film Night, showcasing 8 short films by UCLA API Alumni.