Ash Xu once thought she would become a software engineer like her father. Instead, the 22-year-old just started directing her first TV commercial.
Xu, who grew up in the Bay Area and now lives in New York City, became interested in film during high school thanks to a steady diet of YouTube and Buzzfeed videos, but she always considered it a hobby.
After taking a computer science degree in high school and hating it, she focused her energy on making short films with friends.
Xu started posting her own videos online in 2020 during her summer between graduating high school and attending Northwestern for film, just as the pandemic prompted her and many to shelter in place. Later that year, she landed her first paid gig filming a commercial for an online brand. It paid $400.
That’s when she realized she could make money “doing something I absolutely love,” she tells CNBC Make It. She also began to realize that “my dreams of becoming a commercial director are not as far away as I thought.”
In the years that followed, her stylized videos appeared, which she posted on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube have gone viral several times and eventually caught the attention of Taco Bell.
In September, the fast food chain sent her an email. They wanted to pay her to write a concept for a commercial, and if they liked it enough, they would pay her to film it too. Xu brought in her management team, with whom she has been working since March 2021. Her team negotiated rates for the project and Xu got to work.
Xu declined to share how much she was paid for the commercial, but noted that it was one of the highest-paying gigs she has done to date.
Being selected for the project and filming the commercial “gave me a lot of confidence in my abilities,” says Xu. It was the first time she led a larger team of six people, including a food stylist and marketing managers, for a brand, rather than a group of friends creating a personal project. The commercial debuted in November.
Experience has taught her that you don’t have to be ‘perfect’ to be considered for a job.
“When I was in film school, I thought you had to be a genius or a prodigy to land your first directing gig,” says Xu. “In my eyes, the threshold to create something was just very high, and you had to be perfect, otherwise you wouldn’t be chosen.”
Her TV commercial directorial debut taught her, “I don’t have to be the most knowledgeable or perfect person in the room,” she says. “As long as I trust my own creative process and can convey this to those around me, I am worthy of the projects I have worked on.”
Success is a mix of your experience, creative vision and how you market yourself, she adds, but ultimately “everyone has something to offer.”
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