Updates
Archives, awards, and a feature film in the making — what’s moving in Grace’s world.
2025 · Lead Story
In 2025, the NYPL Library for the Performing Arts formally received the Chang family’s archival materials — photographs, recordings, and documents from four generations of one of China’s great performing dynasties.
The acquisition places the legacy of Baoting Chang and his family in one of the world’s foremost performing arts collections, preserved alongside the artists who shaped the global stage — and accessible to scholars and audiences for generations to come.
Explore the HeritageMore Stories
Grace is directing her feature debut: a docudrama tracing her father’s life across six political regimes, shot with a full cinema crew on location. She directs, writes — and steps in front of the camera.
The Film Work
Her short film took the Golden Angel Award at the 15th Chinese American Film Festival — the festival’s recognition for excellence in Chinese-American cinema, and the moment Grace’s directing career arrived.
About the Film
Grace’s children’s series sits in the permanent collection of the New York Public Library, and on bookstore shelves — where she brings it to life in costumed readings for young audiences.
The Books
On stage in New York, Grace talked through a seven-day Chinatown shoot, the discipline of directing while acting, and why a moving camera is worth the trouble. The full conversation is on the Film page.
Watch the Q&AWriting about Grace? Press photos, bios, and interview time are an email away.
Press InquiriesThree recent headlines: the Chang family xiangsheng archive was received by the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center; a feature docudrama about xiangsheng grand master Chang Baoting (常宝霆) is now shooting; and her short film A Missing Piece won the Golden Angel Award at the Chinese American Film Festival.
The archive of the Chang xiangsheng dynasty (常氏相声世家) — scripts, recordings, stage photography, and performance objects — is held by the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, the 2025 gift of Grace Chang.
Grace Chang is directing a feature docudrama about her father, the xiangsheng grand master Chang Baoting — built on the family’s NYPL archive and years of research. It is her feature directing debut, now shooting.