Sherwood Hu was born and raised in Shanghai surrounded by a creative and artistic family. Hu relocated to the U.S. to receive his Masters of Arts degree from New York State University and earned a Ph.D. in directing from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He also studied at The Public Theater in New York under Joseph Papp, and began his professional career directing theatre, including productions of Rashomon, Consant Prince and The Chairman's Wife. He created The Legend of Prince Lanling, a lavish stage production which received an Honorable Mention from the Kennedy Arts Center, and which he later adapted into his first feature film, Warrior Lanling, an epic ritual film about ancient China. His second feature, Lani Loa, The Passage was executive produced by Francis Ford Coppola and Wayne Wang, and was one of the first U.S./China co-productions. Between his film and theatre projects, Mr. Hu also finds the time to be a guest professor at the Shanghai Drama Academy where he supervises and mentors graduate students.