Mona Mengnan Chu is a Chinese-born writer, director, and producer based in New York. Previously, she worked as a political journalist and editor for China Central Television when she was 18 years old. Then, she worked for the columnist of Financial Times, Xu Danei (Asian SOPAwards Winner, Newrank CEO), as the political news critic editor. After that, Mona decided to turn to the entertainment industry.
She was a creative executive, writer, and director for five years in China’s most influential TV studio, Hunan TV. She planned and developed 13 reality TV shows and wrote and directed 97 episodes for Mango TV, IQIYI, and Tencent. Her shows have been viewed over 22 billion times. Her production team also won the 2018 Chinese Television Media Best Television Production Team, which was issued by the China National Radio and Television Administration. Mona created the first automobile gala in China with Kim Gavin (Creative Director of the London Olympic Closing Ceremony 2012, Adele Munich 2024) and Heather Shaw (Set Designer of the COACHELLA QUASAR 2024, MTV Video Music Awards 2022). She was also the head creative producer/director of the HUNAN TV New Year Eve Concert 2019 with the Eurovision Song Contest Creative Team Black Skull Creative and multi-award-winning lighting designer Tom Sutherland (BRIT AWARDS 2025-2023, MTV Video Music Awards 2024-2022). Mona was the creative director/producer for the music shows of Jackson Wang, JJ Lin, Hebe Tien and other top Asian artists.
Then, Mona went to New York and started to explore the independent film industry. Mona has worked for The Population in New York, co-founded by Oscar winner Mollye Asher, Mynette Louie, & Derek Nguyen, as well as Film Constellation in France. Mona holds an MA in International Journalism and Communication from the Communication University of China and an MFA in Film from Columbia University. She also attended the Film Production workshop at La Fémis in Paris.
Mona likes stories that tell subtle feelings and struggles of underrepresented people, as she believes that film can make the world a better place. Recently, the film she produced, "A Bright Sunny Day," was selected for the 76th Cannes Film Festival and the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival.