Aiping Xu - Founder
Lean In Media draws on Aiping's years of experience as a movie and documentary buyer
in China. She specialises in providing consultancy to international film producers and distributors looking to sell their programmes to the Chinese market. She has acquired more than 600 hours of foreign documentaries and 200 HD films for the Chinese territory. Aiping moved to the U.K. in 2015 and completed an M.A. in New Media from the University of Leeds. Then, working in International Sales in Dogwoof in 2017 developed her expertise in helping distribute Chinese productions in overseas markets.
Contact: aiping@leaninmedia.co.uk
Kara Lee - servicing manager
Kara started as a volunteer translator who has translated and subtitled hundreds of hours of English documentaries and movies, while completing her B.A. in Interpreting and Translating at the University of Bath. After graduating, she moved to work for commercial translation companies as a freelancer. Now she is in charge of a part-time translators team and managing the technical specs of all productions.
Contact: kara@leaninmedia.co.uk
Michelle Deeter - Chinese-English translation supervisor
Michelle has been translating and interpreting since 2007 and she handles everything from pesticide patents to frozen food packaging. She holds a BA in International Relations from Carleton College (USA) and an MA in Translation and Interpreting from Newcastle University (UK). Michelle supervises Chinese-English subtitles for Lean In Media Limited.
serafina Pang - vp sales, International distribution
Serafina Pang is an experienced professional in the documentary and TV industry. After serving as Head of Sales at UK’s leading documentary distribution company TVF International, she recently joined us as VP sales in International Distribution. With over 12 years in the UK, Serafina has honed her expertise, earning a degree in TV Production and a Master's in Documentary Filmmaking. Passionate about storytelling, Serafina continues to champion impactful documentaries, ensuring they find their audience worldwide.
Contact: fina@leaninmedia.co.uk
SIXUE LI - RESEARACHER
Sixue is Lean In Media’s in-house researcher. She holds two Master’s degrees from Birkbeck, University of London and Beijing Film Academy, major in film curating and programming, and film studies. She has working experience in programming for film festivals including Beijing International Film Festival, Filming East London, etc. Sixue is also a veteran film journalist who works for World Screen, Movieview, Beijing Youth Daily, WSJ China, Deep Focus, Douban Movie Pro, etc. Now, she is a Ph.D. candidate for Tsinghua University, researching in journalism and communication.
Contact: sixue.li@leaninmedia.co.uk
Louis Catliff - Executive Producer
Louis is a documentary director and producer with a decade of experience in unscripted TV production. His credits include the BBC, Channel 4 and he recently completed a project for Netflix. He has created two award-winning documentary shorts, one of which enjoyed a 5-screening sell-out run at Riverside Studios. He is passionate about telling unseen and entertaining stories that grip the viewer and make them see the world a little differently.