Patrick Shen is a filmmaker and the founder of Transcendental Media. Patrick’s cinematic works include the award-winning films Flight from Death: The Quest for Immortality, The Philosopher Kings, La Source, and the SXSW 2016 film, In Pursuit of Silence. His films have received 24 awards and 12 nominations, and have been featured on the TED blog, CNN, Huffington Post, NY Times, LA Times, Boston Globe, and the Washington Post. Over the years he has presented work at hundreds of film festivals, cinemas, museums, and major academic institutions all over the globe including SXSW, CPH:DOX, Sheffield Doc/Fest, Full Frame Film Festival, USC School of Cinematic Arts, The Smithsonian, The Hammer Museum, The Music Center, Princeton, and Harvard University.
Patrick’s first experience with non-fiction work came in 1999 when he served as second unit director and art director on the Emmy-nominated We Served With Pride; his work on the film earned him a visit to the Oval Office to meet with President Clinton.
In 2009, Patrick was the recipient of the Emerging Cinematic Vision Award from Camden International Film Festival and since 2012, Patrick has been lecturing and teaching filmmaking workshops all over the globe as a film envoy for the U.S. State Department and the USC School of Cinematic Arts for their American Film Showcase. He’s also served as mentor and Creative Advisor for Film Independent Global Media Makers. In 2023 he began a new role as adjunct professor at USC School of Cinematic Arts where he teaches directing in the graduate documentary production course.
From 2020-2021, Patrick released the crowd-sourced covid-19 lockdown-inspired film The Dawn Chorus(which premiered at DC Environmental Film Festival and The Walker Art Center), the award-winning film Day of a Stranger, and the L.A. Times short doc The Picture Taking Experiment. He is currently at work on two new films: As Slow As Possible and In Praise of Shadows.