"Nest" - Todd Lien

Hello! I am Todd Lien, a Taiwanese actor/director based in Los Angeles. I am the director/writer of the film "Nest" that won Best Short Film, Best Actor, and Best Actress in July 2022 at Future Of Film Awards. I am also the CEO of the production company, iStage Entertainment that provides production services to Asian American young artists that aspire to be a professional Hollywood actors/actresses. Ever since I founded iStage Entertainment, we have produced several award-winning short films, such as "Nest" that has currently won 23 awards at 12 different film festivals all over the world, and "Always Come In Second", another short film that has won over 20 awards from 13 different festivals. I am also a quarter-finalist for The Nicholl Fellowship founded by The Academy in 2021 for my musical feature film script, "Straight A". 

It means the world to me and my team of cast and crew to have our film be elected as Best Film of the month by the jury members. First of all, it is the biggest project that me and my team have ever created and produced together, and such recognition really makes us so proud of the work we have achieved together. On top of that, our actors in training, Nicole Braeger, Sean Hoover, and Jason Sun, are all passionate artists that aspire to be professional storytellers in the future. They have been training in acting with me under iStage Entertainment and this film is the product of their hard work and passion for acting. Such recognition makes them feel validated for their hard work and encourages them to continue training and filming. All three of them came from the Chineseimmigrant families, and being the first generation Asian American, they believe in working hard to achieve their American dreams that their parents have made possible for them. So thank you so much jury members once again for such recognition.