nathan xia
Written by: Milla Nguyen
I had the opportunity to interview Nathan Xia, a talented filmmaker and alum of the LMU production program. Our conversation spans many topics: Nathan’s early childhood memories, his craft of blending music and film, and his plans to imprint his mark on the world. Nathan Xia is a rising star to watch. As an experienced writer-director, an actor, and singer-songwriter, he has proven himself to be deeply passionate about the arts. He was born and raised in San Diego, California. Growing up, Nathan always went against the grain because of his tenacity. He never shied away from a challenge. Even when he was told ‘no’ by adults in his life, it made him want to do something more. He said, “I was a mischievous kid. I was the unconventional Asian kid. Not in a malicious way, I just did things that made sense to me.” Later on, he transformed this spirit into leadership skills. In high school, he eventually became student government president and traveled to student leadership conferences as a speaker. He said, “These experiences helped me learn how to effectively lead and inspire people, how to bring out the best in each person, how to collaborate and bring a vision to life. Critical for working as a director later on. When I traveled throughout California, my favorite part was talking to people from all walks of life.”
I asked Nathan if he remembered when he wanted to be a filmmaker. When he was younger, he took piano lessons. His piano teacher was particularly strict and forced all of her students to buy cameras so they could film her hand movements, and replicate them exactly. As a form of rebellion, Nathan deleted all of the videos, refused to copy her, and used his camera to film what he wanted. From then on, he found that filming was a form of self expression. He said, “I just made comedy sketches because I loved making people laugh. I would love to shoot something and see their reactions. There’s no greater feeling than to entertain someone with something silly I made.”
Nathan Xia is a Loyola Marymount University alumnus. He attended the production program, the place where he learned from the ground up and discovered more passions along the way. He said, “I got a lot from working with my peers. I shot films outside of the curriculum. Objectively, my early stuff wasn’t good, but it’s a process. Bad became okay. Okay can become good.” Nathan started drafting ideas for his LMU thesis. Soon after, his award-winning short, Adam’s Song, which is distributed by NextShark, Wong Fu Productions, and FilmShortage, became widely popular. He wrote, directed, and starred in the film. Nathan said, “I wanted to make a film that could explain a part of myself. I wanted to showcase a self-destructive character who didn’t understand that his father’s love may have been unspoken but was always there. He just had to realize it. There’s this miscommunication of culture, whether it was with my family, with other Asian kids, or with my own identity.” When it comes to acting, Nathan mentioned that started out acting out of necessity.
He spoke of the casting struggles in Los Angeles, as there weren’t many actors who were specifically Chinese-American and fit the roles he was writing for. Therefore, he had to take up the mantle with Adam’s Song, channeling pieces of his real life into his character. The film kicked off his career. It led him to be signed with his current talent agency. The film’s festival run made it across the United States in cities like Los Angeles, Nashville, Seattle, New York, and more. Even to this day, it serves as an example of what he can do for other various projects. In terms of distribution, he has had a long-standing relationship with the founders of WongFu Productions, Philip Wang, Wesley Chan, and Ted Fu. He said, “They were mentors when I first moved to LA. They read the script early on. I grew up watching WongFu, they inspired me to pick up a camera.” The short can be found on the WongFu channel, which hosts 3.19 million subscribers.
Early in Nathan’s directing career, he made films such as Goodnight America, Oh, Mighty Ocean!, and Chasing Sundance. All of which have had record-breaking viewer stats. Oh, Mighty Ocean! starred Jack Griffo (The Thundermans), Peyton List (School Spirits), and Jacob Bertrand (Cobra Kai). He said, “Jack, Peyton, and Jacob put a lot of effort into preparing for this film as if it were one of their booked roles. This short film was very autobiographical, and it explored my relationship with mental health. We talked extensively about our own experiences and backgrounds.”
Diving into Nathan’s music, he’s gearing up for his upcoming EP release this summer. We discussed creating without boundaries and taking a leap of faith. He remembered sitting in his room during the pandemic, desperate for a sense of hope and inspiration. He began releasing music to overcome his fear of putting himself out there. His current discography is fluid. He began releasing music to overcome his fear of putting himself out there. His current discography is fluid. He said, “My sound is constantly changing. I did more rock stuff early on, it became indie-rock, and now it’s folk-alternative territory. As an artist, it’s natural to shift. Your responsibility is evolution.” When he’s writing music, he unapologetically writes songs that are deeply personal to him without regard for the audience hearing them. Music is a comfort space for him, and believes that bringing his most authentic self will represent his style the best. He applies the same philosophy to his acting and filmmaking.
My favorite song of Nathan’s, In Between, immediately drew me in as he combined his love of filmmaking, his family, and his music. The music video features his trip to China and rapidly intercuts nostalgic summer memories with his family members. He said, “I haven’t been back to China since I was ten. This trip came about because my grandma has Alzheimer’s. She’s starting to forget more and more. My dad wanted to bring her back to China to jog her memory and give her a great experience. That felt sad to me. I turned to my dad and said, ‘What if I went with you?”. After returning from China, Nathan showed the completed music video to his family. It was an emotional, cathartic moment for the group. Nathan said, “I felt this pride in my culture that was a burden for so many years. The Chinese people have gone through so much and have lost hope throughout the years. The video was a fresh perspective, a romanticized lens of our home. I thought to myself, ‘This was the stuff I was missing when I was in America’”.
We discussed the phenomenon of Asian American youth rediscovering their own respective cultures. In many ways, there’s a seesaw that Asian Americans teeter on in the United States. Many grew up with feelings of shame or embarrassment. With the globalization of Asian media and Asian trends in recent years, Asian culture has become much more popular among the majority. A stark contrast to the past.
He said, “Asian Americans felt like the outliers when they got here. You’re trained in your brain to shy away from your culture when people attach their own ideas of what it means to be Asian to you. It’s the media, too. The fact that Asians are portrayed as nerdy or uncool. Not just Asian people even, I think every kid wants to feel like they have agency over their own life. That they are the main character in their own story.”
With this recurring theme, Nathan wrote and directed a short film titled Flavor of the Month, which will soon be released. He wanted to create a piece that would tackle the idea of representation politics in the filmmaking industry. He acts as the main character, Harrison Huang, a rising Asian-American actor who loses his ground during an audition to another Asian-American actor. By definition, the scarcity mindset refers to the belief that resources (like time, money, opportunities, or success) are limited, leading to a constant fear of not having enough. Especially in a competitive industry like filmmaking within the center of Hollywood, all creatives are taught to prioritize survival. While Nathan has always been a strong advocate for AAPI representation, he also wanted to examine the competitive nature within the AAPI community itself. He said, “When you walk into the audition, you see all the people you’re competing against. The need to win is even stronger, especially when you see someone who looks exactly like you. The way to overcome this is by building a community. We can’t be tearing each other down and fighting for the scraps and crumbs.” Nathan emphasized the importance of unity and rejection of scarce mentality.
One of his most recent shorts, Ayo Check Up! is a film about two men's internalized struggles that manifest in an incredibly toxic 1v1 basketball game. The film premiered at Lebron James’s Uninterrupted Film Festival, powered by Tribeca.style. The film balances the drama of trauma, quick moving basketball scenes, and witty banter. The film will be released with NextShark and Omeleto this coming May.
When Nathan is not working, his favorite pastimes are skateboarding, watching and playing soccer and basketball. He also enjoys watching movies in theaters and attending concerts. He also likes to hang out with family, friends, and his girlfriend.
Finally, I asked if there was anyone that he would like to thank for supporting him in his career. He emphasized his family, specifically his mom and dad. He said, “My parents moved here from another country and worked to lay the foundation for my brother and me. I told them I wanted to do a career that was unconventional to our culture, and they still supported me. It’s a privilege to chase my dream. It’s the greatest gift a parent could give their child. Even when I feel like a failure and I’m not doing enough, they’re the first ones to tell me I’m doing just fine. I feel like I can do anything with their unconditional love and support.”