Born in 1958, Chen worked as a film critic before debuting as a director in 1989 with
School Girl. In the 1990s, he continued to explore the female perspective with
Treasure Island,
The Peony Pavilion (inspired by
traditional drama of the same name) and anti-romantic comedy
The Personals. The latter, in which a single woman searches for Mr. Right on a series of blind dates, screened in Cannes' Un Certain Regard sidebar and was distributed in Asia, Europe and North America. In 2000, Chen became the head of the production unit of the Asian branch of
Columbia Pictures. Here he accumulated experience in international film making and connections to young Chinese directors such as
Feng Xiaogang. Later, he would join
Huayi Brothers Media Corporation and continue his work in China. In 2001, Chen began to concentrate on feature film production beginning with Su Chao-Bin's youth comedy
Better Than Sex through his company Nan Fang Film Productions. The following year, he directed and produced the supernatural thriller
Double Vision. The film was distributed internationally by co-producer Columbia Pictures. In 2009, Chen served as an executive producer of China's then highest grossing domestic film of all time, Feng Xiaogang's romantic drama
If You Are the One. He became the first Chinese director to earn more than 1 billion yuan in the box office. ==Filmography==