The opportunities available to a talent like Zoe Zai are numerous and diverse. Working in the arena of sound recording and sound editing can be highly diverse, affording a myriad of circumstances that hone and vet one’s abilities. Zai has an impressive resume working with Academy Award Winners (with Mark Larry of The Revenant), Hollywood’s biggest stars (with Orlando Bloom in The Shanghai Job), and massive entities like Walt Disney Studios (in 2017’s The Dreaming Man). While these are among the more highly visible projects to her credits, Zoe embraces a wide array of productions from around the world with which to contribute her skills. From major studio films to televised concert events, the pros like Zai like to keep their hands in the game through diversity.
As composer and score mixer for the film You Are in My Heart, Zoe helped to craft the real life story of Liu Guozhong the secretary of the Kekedun Village in Gule Bagh Township. One of the most beloved figures of Keke Dun Village and people of the region, Liu Guozhong refused to leave his extremely modest fashion of living until the people of his village could have better homes and status of life. You Are in My Heart is a deeply emotional and moving story that depicts one man’s sacrifice and desire to help others. Zoe concedes that she was moved by the story and the example of Guozhong. While not a star studded big budget studio production, this film received every bit of her immense talent which profoundly affected the sentimental tone of the film. Premiering at the one of biggest festivals in all of Asia, The Shanghai International Film Festival, You Are in My Heart received an overwhelming reception as both an entertaining and important cultural film, also participating in the International A-class Film Festival's cultural aid products and the 1st Canada Chinese International Film Festival.
Stretching her talent in a completely different direction, Zoe also had the opportunity to score original orchestra pieces and collaborate with the world-renowned sitar performer Ayczech Chardas in China, creating a film score for people in Xin Jiang, China. She scored eighteen minutes with separate sections and variations and using modulation and development of the second theme, third, and more. Serving as both composer and remixer on this project, after composing Zoe mixed stage to re-remix and collaborated with another re-remixer work on dialogue and sound effects. Ayczech Chardas’s notoriety as the premier Sitar player in the world led to this televised event being the most watched concert events of the year.
Zoe Zai has come a long way from her experience as a young girl who saw the Academy Award nominated film August Rush and was so intrigued by the film that she would embark on a path that would lead to composing and sound design. As an acclaimed professional these days, she continues to seek out new manners of testing and honing her skills. Currently at work as a Sound effects editor for the forthcoming comedy titled 72 Rentals, and just finished the co-composer for a war film An Yang Jie (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8538974/?ref_=nv_sr_1) will be released on September 18,2018 and currently composing for a horror short MOTO, and also mixing for a drama short Childhood. Zoe is constantly proving that she can take on any project and magnify its greatness.
