HANAKO OHASHI

Founder, CEO
she/her

Hanako was born in Tokyo, raised in Texas and New York, and has been creating for as long as she can remember. Her early passions were drawing, painting, making YouTube videos on iMovie with her friends, and photography. She was also an avid reader and wrote stories with friends, for fun. As the token Asian kid in many situations throughout her childhood, she oftentimes felt othered and insecure, but the arts brought her comfort and joy and allowed her to express herself in ways that felt safe.

Hanako moved back to Japan for high school to attend the American School in Japan, where she fell in love with dance as a form of self-expression. In college she found herself knee-deep in the dance communities of Tokyo and NYC and she began to organize events with up to 400 attendees at a time. Her goals have always been to build stronger communities, connect people, and honor dance culture and history.

She received a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from New York University. In her last semester of college, she took a fiction writing class in order to rekindle an old hobby, and this class deepened her fascination with storytelling and the endless possibilities of the human imagination. She then realized that film brings together everything she loves: visual art, music, movement, writing, and community.

A couple of months later, she packed her bags and was en route to Los Angeles.

Hanako has since been working in the LA film industry as Director, Producer, Cinematographer, and Camera Assistant. She has also been captivated by film photography and is continuously studying its various techniques and methodologies. Because she was raised internationally and also had the opportunity to connect with diverse groups of people through dance, Hanako strives to amplify the voices of people who come from all different backgrounds and cultures. Through MIRRU, she aspires to create and tell stories with accurate representation and social sensitivity, with attention to detail and quality to match.