Kao also appeared in a number of short films and independent films, as the female protagonist Mai in Kevin Lau's Made in Chinatown, which won Best Short, Best Writing and Best Actor (Tim Chiou) at the 2013 8th Annual NBC Short Cuts Film Festival, with Kao also winning a Best Actress award for her starring role in that film at the 2013 Asians on Film Festival as well. Susie Choi in Christine Yoo's Wedding Palace, as Marianne Quon/Lai Yee ("The Technicolor Movie Queen" of Chinese Cinema) in Timothy Tau's short film bio-pic Keye Luke, as Delia in Cynthia Liu's "Red Thread," as Linda Ahn in Philip Chung's "A Ribbon of Dreams" and as the Mother in James Huang's "Chapter 21."
