Kelly Chen
Masterclass with Rufus Choi
For my young artist’s project, I decided to create a high-value production masterclass with Steinway Artist pianist Rufus Choi, who after the COVID-19 pandemic felt the urge to embrace an online presence that could reach a wider audience. I identified with this goal because personally as a classical pianist and filmmaker I always wanted to bridge the gap between both worlds and find a way that the teachings of classical music could appeal to the contemporary audience. With many industries reaching a high level of both live action production and the use of multimedia whether it be AR/VR, I realized that we could apply the same theory to inspire people to learn and play classical music by taking a more contemporary approach. Therefore my film crew and I decided to highlight Mr. Choi’s wonderful teachings and forever encapsulate it in a video series that would last forever and many viewers around the world could watch.
Kelly Chen is a film producer, composer, pianist, and director with a passion for telling social impact narratives and documentaries while supporting a diverse cast behind and in front of the camera. Originally from Los Angeles, California, Kelly started her professional career as a classical pianist, competing internationally and pursuing a degree in Piano Performance with a minor in Future Cinema from the University of Southern California. Her love for performance work and hard work led her to explore several film sets within the USC School of Cinematic Arts and Interactive Media and Games. She fell in love telling diverse stories in any capacity within multimedia, and developed a large portfolio working in post-production sound, film composition, audio-engineering, even game audio and composition for virtual reality games. After founding the company Cinema Latte Productions, a company aimed to unite the Black and Asian community, she realized that she loved producing films. Kelly is best known for her producing work in Unspoken Vows, crowdfunding $7,000 for her social impact marketing campaign, Happy Happy Happy, a short film that celebrates East Asian culture, and The Professor, Azumah Nelson, a graduate-level short film by the Master’s program at USC. She also enjoys exploring the intersection of her passions, such as music and film, and directed a new series with music company Steinway & Sons to present a new form of teaching piano virtually, presented as an online masterclass. Kelly truly believes in the impact and power of storytelling in multimedia, practicing traditional filmmaking techniques and combining it with evolutionary ideas, stories, and technology to create one unique and meaningful experience.