Chul Heo is a filmmaker and media scholar. Chul's interests symbiotically complement each other, as a theorist and artist, by combining theory and praxis, academia and industry, and fiction with nonfiction to improve our media culture. As a teacher, his goal is to inspire the next generation of filmmakers and media scholars who can voice their creative visions in the mainstream as well as independent operatives.

Chul has directed three feature films released in theaters nationwide in South Korea. His recent fiction film, The Return (2017), won the Golden Zenith Award at the 41st Montreal World Film Festival. His feature films, Ari Ari the Korean Cinema (2012) and Mira Story (2015), sparked national debates on government and capitalist influences in filmmaking and local communities and have been featured at international festivals. His various short films have gained international recognition and screenings around the world. Chul has also worked on television documentaries and talk shows for PBS and MBC, with broadcasts in the U.S. and Korea. As a film festival director, he founded the Annual San Francisco Korean Film Festival in 2001 and was actively engaged in the film festival movement in the U.S. during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

He chairs the Asia Co-Production Documentary Project, a transnational initiative connecting young Asian filmmakers in Asia. As a member of the Society of Cinema and Media Studies and NCA, he actively presents scholarly work at international conferences. Additionally, as a member of the Directors Guild of Korea, Chul remains active in the South Korean filmmaking scene.

Before joining XJTLU in August 2024, Chul taught at Nanyang Technological University, Korea University, San Francisco State University, and the University of Iowa. He holds a Ph.D. in Media Studies from the University of Iowa and an M.F.A. in Film-Television Production from Brooklyn College, CUNY.

Chul's scholarly interests focus on the study of production culture and aesthetics of film and television with a critical cultural studies approach. In particular, he is interested in the critical and aesthetic implications of the look and sound of film and television, such as production design and sound design. To understand the production culture of film and television, he pays attention to the people who make creative decisions, dealing with production conventions, creative rights, constraints and possibilities in their institutional contexts, and the imagined audience in the production process.

Currently, Chul is researching the influences of virtual production (in-camera VFX, ICVFX) on film production modes, exploring how VP blurs the traditional line between post-production, pre-production, and production. Drawing on Eisenstein's early cinema inquiries, he is experimenting with the aesthetic possibilities of vertical filmmaking and new AI-driven filmmaking methods. Through these experiments, he aims to theorize film production in the digital age and understand the fundamental transformations in the production dimension of popular culture.

• PRODUCTION CULTURE – Creators/Workers; Imagined Audience in Production; Production Conditions. 
• CREATIVE TECHNOLOGY AND PRODUCTION - Virtual Production (ICVFX) and the Mode of Production; Production Aesthetics of Vertical Film; Film Production and A.I. 
• CULTURAL POLITICS OF FILM AESTHETICS AND PRACTICES - Sound Design, Production Design, Lighting, Graphics, and Editing. 

Nanyang Technological University (NTU), School of Art, Design and Media, Singapore - Associate Professor (2018 - 2024).

Korea University, School of Media and Communication, Seoul, Korea  - Associate Prof. (2010-2012); Assistant Prof. (2007-2010)

San Francisco State University, Broadcast and Electronic Communication Arts, San Francisco  - Assistant Prof. (2004-2007); Lecturer (2000- 2004)

The Practical Realm (UG)

• FTA215 Directing Craft and Practice; FTA216 Producing Craft and Practice (XJTLU)
• Film Directing; Advance Film Directing; Film Production1 & 2 (Nanyang Technological University)
• Introduction to Film and Television Production; Scriptwriting (Korea University)
• Directing for Television (San Francisco State University)
• TV production 1; Introduction to Media Production; Documentary TV/Radio; Production Management (University of Iowa)
• Drama Production; Producing Film Portfolios (Kyungsung University)

The Theoretical Realm (UG)

• Media Aesthetics I & II (San Francisco State University, Korea University, Kyungsung University)
• Film & Television Criticism; Introduction to Film an Television Theory; Mass Media and Popular Culture (Korea University)
• History of Asian Cinema (Nanyang Technological University), History of Film Arts (Kyungsung University)
• Critical Studies of Popular Culture; Asian Media (San Francisco State University)
• Ideology & TV Aesthetcis (University of Iowa)

Postgraduate Courses (MA & PhD)

• Proseminar in Art, Design and Media; Research Methods in Graduate Studies; Seminar in Media Production (Nanyang Technological University)
• Documentary Film Theory; Media and the Public Sphere; Sound Theory; Studies in Film & Television Production Culture; Television Studies (Korea University)
• Seminar in Experimental Production (San Francisco State University, Korea University)
• Seminar in Media Aestheics and Production Theory (Korea University, San Francisco State University; Korea National Open University)
• Readings in Broadcasting (Korea University, San Francisco State University)

Selected Film Awards and Honours

2024. Best Director Award, New Normal (2021, Sci-fi, 8 min.) Sole Director, Producer, & Writer. Vertical Vision International Film Festival. Pittsburgh, USA. 

2024. Official Selection (Juried Competition). New Normal (2021, Sci-fi, 8 min.) Sole Director, Producer, & Writer. Villa Del Cine Fesitval, Colombia.

2022. Special Mention Vertical. New Normal (2021, Sci-fi, 8 min.) Sole Director, Producer, & Writer. Courant 3D, Angoulême, France. 

2022. Official selection (juried), New Normal (2021, Sci-fi, 8 min.) Sole Director, Producer, & Writer. Singapore Shorts ’22, Asian Film Archive, Singapore.

2021. Grand Prix Award. New Normal (2021, Sci-fi, 8 min.) Sole Director, Producer, & Writer. Vertical Movie Festival, Italy.

2021. Grand Prix Award. New Normal (2021, Sci-fi, 8 min.) Sole Director, Producer, & Writer. Yatay Festival, Argentina.

2021. Honourable Mention. New Normal (2021, Sci-fi, 8 min.) Sole Director, Producer, & Writer. Vertifilms Prague, Czech Republic.

2021. Official selection (juried competition). New Normal (2021, Sci-fi, 8 min.) Sole Director, Producer, & Writer. St. Louis International Film Festival, USA.

2021. Official selection (juried). Like Me Like You (2021, Sci-fi, 3 min.), Sole Director & Writer, Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan), Korea.

2017. GOLDEN ZENITH AWARD, The Return (writer & director, Drama, 96 min.), 41st Montreal World Film Festival, Montreal, Canada.

2017. NATIONAL RECOGNITION ON ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT, Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism of Republic of Korea.

2017. Official selection (juried). The Secret of Hanji Craft (2014, documentary, 10 min.). Sole Director & Writer, FIFMA programme Empreintes, ATELIERS D’ART DE FRANCE, Paris, France.

2014. Official selection (juried competition). The Secret of Hanji Craft (2014, documentary, 10 min.). Sole Director & Writer, The 9th International Film Festival on Crafts, the Corum congress centre, Montpellier, France.

2014. Official selection (juried competition). Mira Story (2015, hybrid, 84 min.), Sole Director & Writer, 16th Seoul Eco Film Festival, Korea. 

2013. Official selection (juried). Kismet (2013, Documentary, 30 min.), Sole Director & Writer, Istanbul-Gyeongju World Culture Expo 2013, Istanbul, Turkey.

2013. Official selection (juried). Constancy and Change in Korean Craft Arts (2013, Documentary, 60 min.), Sole Director & Writer, Milan Design Week, Triennale Design Museum, Milano, Italy; Hidden Match ― An Exhibition of Korean Craft, National Museum, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Taiwan International Cultural and Creative Industry Expo, Taipei, Taiwan.

2011. Official selection (juried). Ari Ari the Korean Cinema (2012, documentary feature, 83 min.). Sole Director & Writer, Busan International Film Festival, Busan, Korea.

1998. Asian American Video Showcase honoree. Between Two Worlds (1996/1998. Documentary, 30 min.), Sole Director, Producer & Writer, VideoScape, AsianCinevision Video Showcase, New York Public Library, New York City, USA.

1997. Shoestring Award. Between Two Worlds Worlds (1996/1998. Documentary, 30 min.), Sole Director, Producer & Writer, Rochester International Film Festival, Rochester, NY. USA.

1996. Audience Award, Between Two Worlds Worlds (1996/1998. Documentary, 30 min.), Sole Director, Producer & Writer, Sinking Creek Film Festival, Nashville, TN, USA.

Teaching and Research

2018 Start-up Grant, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore

2009 & 2007 Best Teacher Award, Korea University, Seoul, Korea 

2005 Vice President's Assigned Time Award, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, United States.

2004 Presidential Award, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, United States.