Public film listings identify Xin Yumeng as the director of Niu Lai and Sun Lifang as the screenwriter. Both are also associated with voice roles, while reports describe an unusually concentrated production in which the same people handled multiple creative tasks.
Xin Yumeng
Xin Yumeng is credited as director and is also publicly associated with production and voice work on the film. Reporting on the project emphasizes that he handled several responsibilities that, on a larger commercial animation, would normally be distributed across a much bigger team.
Dalian Jingyuan Culture Film and Television Media Co., Ltd., the first production company named in the National Film Administration’s screening-permit notice, is also publicly linked to Xin in company reporting.
Sun Lifang
Sun Lifang is credited as the film’s screenwriter and is also listed in voice-related roles. Some reports additionally attribute songwriting and performance work to her.
Was Niu Lai literally made by only two people?
Many news reports describe Xin Yumeng and Sun Lifang as the two core creators and emphasize the unusually small scale of the production. At the same time, different reports count credits and supporting production roles differently. Because “made by two people” can mean either “two core creators” or “only two credited humans in every production function,” this guide uses the more precise phrase small core creative team unless discussing a source’s specific wording.
This is an example of the site’s low-maintenance editorial approach: where public sources use different counting methods, we preserve the stable underlying fact—that Xin and Sun carried an unusually large share of the creative work—without overstating a disputed number.
Production company
The National Film Administration’s public notice identifies Dalian Jingyuan Culture Film and Television Media Co., Ltd. as the first production company for the film under screening permit 电审动字〔2024〕第33号.
Sources
Lists Niu Lai (牛来) under screening permit 电审动字〔2024〕第33号 and identifies Dalian Jingyuan Culture Film and Television Media Co., Ltd. as the first production company.
Provides stable film metadata including the August 5, 2026 mainland China release, 86-minute runtime, director Xin Yumeng and writer Sun Lifang.
Documents the early low-box-office period, the rapid rise in online attention, the distributor, the 86-minute runtime and key creator roles.
English-language summary of the early box-office figure, social-media spread and public production information.