As audiences worldwide embrace new formats like vertical mini dramas and immersive digital storytelling, creators are redefining how stories are told and experienced. Among the voices leading this shift is Yuwei Zhang, a freelance director and narrative designer whose work bridges cultures and platforms. With acclaimed vertical drama series to her name and a role at Gleam Media Studios shaping innovative story worlds, Yuwei brings a distinct perspective informed by her Chinese heritage and international experience. In this conversation with Grit Daily, she shares how cultural nuance, creative experimentation, and global collaboration are driving the future of storytelling.
Your work spans vertical mini-dramas and immersive storytelling. How has your Chinese heritage shaped the way you approach narrative design for these formats?
I think my Chinese heritage influences me most in the way I approach emotion and subtext in storytelling. In Chinese culture, people often communicate feelings in a more subtle and indirect way. Rather than saying something outright, the meaning is layered in silence, gestures, or the tension between what is said and what is left unsaid. In romantic or emotional storylines, instead of focusing on direct progress, there’s often an emphasis on the push and pull between characters, like the hesitation, restraint, or unspoken desire.
That sensibility is something Chinese television and cinema have long mastered, and I’ve found it surprisingly powerful in new formats like vertical mini dramas. Even with shorter runtimes and fast pacing, audiences in the U.S. respond strongly to that kind of emotional subtext and tension. For me, being a Chinese director means I can draw from that tradition and amplify it in these emerging formats, using subtlety and restraint as strengths to create more engaging and layered stories.
Working in the U.S. film industry, what creative opportunities have you found in bringing Chinese cultural elements into stories designed for global audiences?
Right now, many vertical mini dramas in the U.S. are actually adapted from Chinese originals. They first achieved huge success in the Chinese market before being localized into American versions. As a Chinese director working in the U.S., I see this as a real advantage because I can look at the original versions directly, understand the cultural nuances behind why they worked in China, and then bring that insight into shaping adaptations for American audiences.
What excites me is that I’m able to draw from both perspectives: the proven storytelling strategies that resonated with millions of viewers in China, and my own understanding of what speaks to U.S. audiences. That combination allows me to preserve the emotional depth and narrative tension of the originals while reinterpreting them in ways that feel natural and engaging in a new cultural context.
What are some of the unique challenges you’ve faced when translating themes or traditions from Chinese culture into formats that resonate with U.S. or international viewers?
One of the biggest challenges I’ve noticed is the difference in genre diversity. In China, the vertical mini drama market has developed into a very wide spectrum. You see everything from family melodramas to suspense and even horror, and audiences are open to experimenting with all of these. But in the U.S., the mainstream of vertical mini dramas is still heavily centered around romance. Viewers here tend to be less receptive to other genres, at least for now.
So the challenge is really about innovation within a more limited genre space. How do you keep romance fresh and layered, and how do you bring in elements of tension, humor, or even thriller-like pacing without losing the audience’s expectations? For me, that’s where creativity comes in—finding ways to expand the emotional range of romance stories while also subtly weaving in influences from other genres.
At Gleam Media Studios, you collaborate with global teams. How do cross-cultural dynamics influence the way stories are developed and told across platforms?
At Gleam, our goal is to create work that feels innovative and forward-looking. We want to use AI not just as a tool, but as a way to push the boundaries of both advertising and narrative projects into more experimental territory. In that process, cross-cultural dynamics have been incredibly valuable. Collaborating with global teams means we’re constantly exposed to different perspectives and ideas, and it creates a kind of brainstorming environment where no one approach dominates.
Often, the final piece ends up looking very different from the original idea, and that’s the beauty of it. It’s the result of different cultural viewpoints colliding, challenging assumptions, and reshaping the story in ways that feel richer and more surprising. For us, that diversity of thought is the core of how we make work that stands out.
Vertical dramas are a relatively new form of storytelling. How do you adapt traditional Chinese storytelling techniques to fit such an innovative and fast-paced digital format?
Even in China, vertical mini dramas are still a very new form. They’ve really only developed over the past three to five years. But what’s interesting is that their roots go back much further, not to film or television, but to online literature. Unlike conventional contemporary novels, online fiction is built for speed and accessibility: it prioritizes what audiences want to read, moves at a faster rhythm, and uses constant hooks and cliffhangers to hold attention.
Today, many of the most popular vertical mini drama IPs are actually adapted directly from online novels. Growing up in that cultural landscape, I was very familiar with this type of storytelling rhythm. That background makes it quite natural for me to transition into vertical dramas, because the same logic applies—fast pacing, emotional hooks, and audience-driven narratives—while still finding ways to bring depth and nuance into the format.
When working across cultures, how do you balance authenticity to your heritage with the need to create stories that appeal to a broader, sometimes very different, audience?
I think a lot of times, even though cultures look very different on the surface, the underlying emotions and values are actually universal. Love, loss, longing, ambition… Those are things that people everywhere can connect to. So for me, the balance comes from focusing less on cultural “surface details” and more on those shared human truths.
When I build stories, I try to let the cultural elements add richness and specificity, but I don’t rely on them as the sole entry point. Instead, I look for the emotional core that can resonate across borders, and then let the heritage layer become a lens that deepens how that emotion is expressed. That way, I stay authentic to my background while still creating stories that feel accessible to very different audiences.
What advice would you give to emerging filmmakers who are trying to build careers in the U.S. while staying connected to their cultural roots?
My advice would be to embrace both sides of your identity rather than seeing them as conflicting. Your cultural roots are a source of depth and authenticity, and they give you a perspective that nobody else can replicate. At the same time, working in the U.S. means learning how to frame those perspectives in ways that resonate with a broader audience.
The key is to focus on universal emotions and human truths, and then let your cultural background shape the texture and nuance of how you tell those stories. Don’t be afraid to let your roots show, but also don’t feel you have to explain everything. Trust that authenticity speaks louder than over-explaining, and that what feels specific can often be the most universal.
Looking ahead, how do you see cross-cultural storytelling evolving in the global film landscape, especially with the rise of digital platforms and immersive formats?
I think cross-cultural storytelling is only going to become more central as digital platforms and immersive formats continue to rise. Streaming, vertical dramas, and interactive experiences have already shown us that audiences are hungry for stories outside their immediate culture as long as those stories are told in ways that feel emotionally accessible.
As a Chinese filmmaker, I grew up very used to watching foreign films and shows with subtitles, because Western culture had such a strong influence on us. But when I came to the U.S., I realized that wasn’t the norm here. However, what’s exciting is that this has started to shift in the last decade, with K-pop, anime, and now even Chinese vertical moni dramas making waves in the West, and audiences are becoming more comfortable and open to subtitles. That change creates such a positive condition for cross-cultural storytelling to thrive.
So looking ahead, I’m optimistic. I don’t see the future as one culture exporting to another, but rather as hybrid forms emerging, where different traditions, aesthetics, and storytelling rhythms coexist. And that fusion is where global audiences will find both novelty and connection.
