--- title: Chloé Zhao Is on the TIME100 Next 2021 List description: Find out how Chloé Zhao is shaping the future and defining the next generation of leadership. canonical: https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2021/5937710/chloe-zhao/ article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2021-02-17T00:32:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-02T23:47:56.088Z og:title: 2021 TIME100 Next: Chloé Zhao og:description: Find out why Chloé Zhao is on this year’s TIME100 Next list og:url: https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2021/5937710/chloe-zhao/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7964adf4ae39a363/698a171b4ee262640c318666/time100-next-Chloe-Zhao.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 2021 TIME100 Next: Chloé Zhao og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 2021 TIME100 Next: Chloé Zhao twitter:description: Find out why Chloé Zhao is on this year’s TIME100 Next list twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7964adf4ae39a363/698a171b4ee262640c318666/time100-next-Chloe-Zhao.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Feb 17, 2021 # Chloé Zhao by Frances McDormand  Chloe Zhao Chloe ZhaoPat Martin When navigating the many unknowns of low-budget, improvisational guerrilla filmmaking with a director, one hopes for a steady hand holding the compass. And that’s what you get with Chloé Zhao. A steady hand and a well-marked road map. With our film, _Nomadland,_ and her first two, _Songs My Brothers Taught Me_ and _The Rider,_ she gained the trust of people offering their intimate life stories. She has an uncanny skill for walking the knife’s edge between sentiment and sentimentality—and that enriches her storytelling in very authentic and original ways. It is for all of these reasons that Chloé has the high regard and respect of her peers. At the end of the day, what more could one ask for than that? She is also one of the only people I know who can wear a fleece jacket with puppy faces on it that she bought at an RV swap meet, and make it work like it was a Valentino. _McDormand is an Oscar-winning actor and a producer_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2021/5937710/chloe-zhao/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2021/5937710/chloe-zhao/"},"headline":"Chloé Zhao","datePublished":"2021-02-17T00:32:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-02T23:47:56.088Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2021/5937710/chloe-zhao/","keywords":["list","franchise","TIME 100 Next"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7964adf4ae39a363/698a171b4ee262640c318666/time100-next-Chloe-Zhao.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt7964adf4ae39a363/698a171b4ee262640c318666/time100-next-Chloe-Zhao.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/time100-next-2021/5937710/chloe-zhao/","name":"Chloé Zhao"}}]}] ```