This is Jiayang Liu’s bi-weekly newsletter on building a creative and fulfilling life. A place where lessons, resources, roadmaps, and exclusive behind the scenes are shared.
Quick favor: My emails have been landing in spam or Promotions due to a bug. If you want to keep seeing these, please drag this email into your Primary inbox.
If you haven’t already, come join all the others who subscribed to this newsletter, Jump In!
Hey, it’s Jiayang!
Welcome to the first ever Jump In newsletter. I’m not entirely sure where this new venture will lead, but I’m incredibly excited and grateful that you’re here. I’m constantly learning lessons about life and creativity, and I wanted to create a space to share those reflections with people on similar creative journeys.
Lessons from the Week
What I learned recently to help you become more creative and wise.
Find things to love about others.
One of the easiest ways I’ve found to genuinely connect with someone new is by finding three things I could love about them. In day to day life, you tend to find more of what you’re actively looking for, and when you’re constantly looking for love, you’ll often find yourself surrounded by it.
Set your own deadlines.
Some projects don’t come with built-in deadlines, but I’ve found it incredibly helpful to create my own. It feels as if your creativity goes to overdrive as the clock ticks to its final moments.
Just start.
Starting something new, like a newsletter, isn’t easy. But I knew if I kept planning without doing, it might never happen. Acting without too much hesitation has been my philosophy for a long time, and it’s exactly why I named this newsletter Jump In.
Latest Endeavors
What I have been working on the last couple weeks.
TEENHOOD screened at USC last Sunday at the Asian Pacific Film Fest.
Building the team for my upcoming drama short THEY CALL HIM SQUARE. Can’t wait to share more about this very soon!
Developing the script for the feature film I’m producing this summer, EZZIE AND NIX.
Released the pilot episode of my new sitcom web series ROOMIES with my 8 roommates.
Made a fun pickleball film with some friends last summer, and I finally got to editing it.
Finally finished my latest short experiment documentary OUR LAST TIME. Off to festivals it goes!
Helpful Resources
Helpful videos and books I strongly recommend for your creative journey.
An excellent book on story structure and screenwriting, recommended to me by my old boss at PXE.
New First Act Break episode on life after USC film school with filmmaker Renee Chen.
A great breakdown on lighting interview setups by Mark Bone.
Our Community
Latest ventures by members of our amazing filmmaking family.
Best of luck to our USC film school friends on starting production on their 480 and 486 senior capstone projects! Please keep me posted on how it goes.
Attended Sundance this year? I’d love to hear your favorite films.
Picks of the Week
Best films and shows I’ve watched recently.
I Love LA (2025 show)
Relatable in so many ways!
Are You Still There? (2022 Short)
A great short film by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Sam Davis.
Eternity (2025 movie)
Beautiful movie on love. I’m always drawn to stories that explore what comes after death, hence why I made Our Last Time.
Actionable Advice
Small steps to move closer to your goals.
Create something stupid, for real.
Go on a coffee chat with someone who has the life you wish you had.
If you have a task that will take less than 2 mins, do it now. It will keep your mind clearer.
Check-In with Me
I’d love to hear from you.
How are you really feeling about the craft of filmmaking?
What are you working on?
Anything you like to promote to our community?
Any support you need from the community?
Thank you for reading! Consider subscribing if you haven’t already, and if you enjoyed this newsletter, feel free to forward it to a friend who might enjoy jumping in with us.