Simone Ling
About
Simone R. Ling is a creative producer and story consultant working within both the Hollywood studio system and indie film arena. Clients have included Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures and the Sundance Institute's Labs for Screenwriters, Directors and Episodic Story. Additionally she spearheads outreach for the Institute’s Asian American Fellowship. Having started her producing career within NHK’s documentary division, Simone served as an executive producer on Aurora Guerrero’s coming-of-age directorial debut MOSQUITA Y MARI, a 2013 Film Independent Spirit Award nominee, and feature producing credits include Anahita Ghazvinizadeh’s THEY, an official selection of the Cannes Film Festival in 2017 that continues to enjoy a 40 plus film festival run. She is a TAP (Trans Atlantic Partners) 2018 producing fellow and a Film Independent 2018 Fast Track fellow with the project BELONGING. A member of MPEG/IATSE, the Producers Guild of America, and BAFTA, she sits on BAFTA/LA’s Student Shorts jury and New Talent Committee. Adjunct Faculty at the American Film Institute, she holds a Master's degree in Modern History from the University of Oxford, and, as a Fulbright Scholar, earned a Master's in Media Studies/Journalism from Stanford University.
Belonging
Two marginalized, complicated women--one old, the other young--befriend each other through the cultural stigma of smoking and, seeking a sense of home, embark on a journey from the suburbs of Seattle to the heart of Seoul.
They
Through the prism of J, a gender expansive teenager going through puberty suppression, notions of in-between-ness, be that gender, national/cultural identity, or indeed the very puzzling idea(s) of “home”, are explored.