We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Nhung Nguyen a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Nhung, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
My resilience comes from a childhood in which we did not always have enough for me and my younger sister. Or, once our family’s economic situation improved, my military father put on an exciting but stringent reward system where almost everything had to be earned and proved rather than assumed that they were there to grab.
Indeed, one does not have to be bound by their own childhood. I eventually found my identity as a creative and pursued the path of being a multimedia content producer. While I am grateful that some areas in life have become more stable, giving me the freedom of time and mental space to pursue a career in non-script media marketing, obstacles and challenges of making independent projects immediately present themselves. In my career, resilience comes from the firm belief that I have something important to say and many more stories from the underserved and misrepresented communities I am honored to tell. Those obstacles, even though they come across as massive when I stand to them too close when I take a step back and process them in a bigger picture, I realize that sometimes, when we pursue a path that is bigger than who we are and what we are afraid of, those challenges are sacrifices that we are willing to pay.
My resilience also comes from the honor of my work as an on-set sound creator for documentary films, and I got to know so many great stories from real people from different walks of life. Not only are they so brave and generous to bring us into their stories of struggles, hopes, and growth, but also, those stories always stay on the back of my mind so that whenever I encounter a challenge myself, I always know that somewhere, somehow, or even in the same time and space, some people endure so much more, and they still get through it.
After a few years of facing back-to-back challenges that sometimes pushed me to the lowest point in life, I realize a big part of my resilience comes from a great network of mentors, filmmakers, and friends. Even though we don’t have the luxury of being in the same space as much as we want to, they are always there for me. Sometimes, a phone call away. Sometimes, a visit away. Whenever I need advice to navigate through the thick and thin of the entertainment industry, especially in 2023, when things got so drastically unpredictable and forced us all to transform, I know that there will always be someone who believes in me, cheers me on and give me a chance to succeed.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I’m a Vietnamese American advertising-focused multimedia content producer with a well-rounded experience in international branded content, journalism, and media production. My cultural insights into the Asian market, dedicated work ethic, excellent eye for detail, and flexibility in working with different personalities have given me significant chances to collaborate with creatives from other disciplines.
In 2019, I got the Fulbright scholarship to take my Master of Fine Arts degree in Documentary producing and directing at UCLA. Even though the pandemic transformed half of our program, I made two personal documentaries that won awards and recognition at festivals in the U.S. and internationally. The first short film, “Love, Laugh, Doom, Tears,” is a 25-minute documentary about my dating experience in the first years of coming to the U.S. The journey was filled with excitement but took a drastic turn due to the sexual assault I experienced from one of the guys I dated. The second film, “Let’s Talk about Love. Again,” was a feature about a painful breakup I experienced that forced me to look deeper into my complicated relationship with my dad.
I am currently in the development stage of my next feature documentary about the three Vietnamese restaurants across America and the story of their resilience and survival, especially post-pandemic, and how the regular visits and enjoyment of the food transformed my relationship with cooking in my journey into womanhood.
I also enjoy serving other filmmakers’ stories by working as an on-set sound mixer that helps capture audio for different project types, from Documentary and branded content to narrative. One of which is a short film, “So to Speak,” directed by Celine Parrenas Shimizu, with the premise of “Within sex acts, desires, pleasures and relations, the female protagonist forges different futures so her sexuality is no longer surrendered and fragmented, for the sake of herself and the next generations of Asian American. The film presents sexuality as self-sovereignty and attunement to self and others, whatever her desires may look like, feel like, emerge like and express like.”
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
In retrospect, my journey’s three most impactful qualities would be Perseverance, Collaboration, and Flexibility.
Perseverance can wear two different forms. It can be internal; as creatives, we need to prove to ourselves that the thing we do is something we genuinely love, and the idea will only go away once we realize it in the form that we have the talent to do. Perseverance also means external, the drive that helps us overcome challenges beyond our control. I remember back in the day when I was still young and illusionally ambitious in the advertising world, I always aimed for the most original ideas that I could come up with. Time passed by and taught me to come to terms with the fact that there is no original idea anymore, but what makes me a fulfilled creative is the fact that after days of emptiness and nights of toss and turns, I am fortunate enough to come up with the idea that refuses to leave me alone. And that bugs me until I have to make it into reality.
Collaboration is a beautiful gift, and Los Angeles is a perfect city to find our collaborator. It is precious to realize you have met someone who shares your work ethic and passion for the themes, topic, or issues and can trust and make things happen. To drive collaboration work, I learned that I should keep an open mind and establish clear boundaries for relationships, especially in the entertainment industry, which ideally requires discipline and artistry.
Finally, Flexibility. The ability to be open to changes. Of course, as a human being, I am as emotional and vulnerable when I have to handle rejection, last-minute changes, or when things do not work out how I want. But when I think back on every single one of them, either in my professional life or in the personal events that inspired my filmography, I realize that a lot of the times, that relationship has clearly not worked out, and I just pushed it over; or, in a lot of cases, something much better is waiting for me after that pivotal turn of events. Learning to be flexible also teaches me about self-advocating and, in turn, respecting other’s boundaries.
If I could advise my younger self or other up-and-coming creatives like me, I would do what your heart calls for, but remember; life will always amaze you with its plans. There have been so many times and events that I thought, “This is it.” I have the perfect reputation, the personal brand that I am proud of, or an achievement that would make me so happy that I will do this for the rest of my life. But then, when I put all the noises aside, honestly sit down, and be with myself, I realize I have not been honest with myself often. I took that journey out of fear, insecurity, or the need to prove to someone that I could do something. I am the happiest when I am honest with myself, say Yes to things that make me happy, and depart from things that do not serve me anymore. At the same time, I realized that in my wild dreams, vision board, and plans, so many things turned out to be the opposite, but there were also so many rewards that I earned through genuine perseverance. Even though they come in a different, unexpected form, it has arrived after enough effort.
Okay, so before we go, is there anyone you’d like to shoutout for the role they’ve played in helping you develop the essential skills or overcome challenges along the way?
I have always been the kind of person that values relationships above everything else. I need help to overcome challenges or develop the essential skills, qualities, and knowledge for success with my friends and mentors. The first person who’s always been there for me is Kristy, who used to be my professor at UCLA. She’s a great example of a female documentary filmmaker and a loving mother who has always guided me in my art. She is the one I always come to whenever I have ideas, then she will show me the references and allow me to explore and find my style, which goes with the story I want to tell.
Another person who has become my best friend and mentor is the cinematographer Jerry. As an award-winning and working professional, he always has many industry insights I can learn from. Whenever I need to make a career decision, he’s the one I will reach out to. Our friendship is not only bound for professional reasons, but we both share a love of Asian cuisine and Vietnamese food. Our favorite activity is that after I worked with him as a location sound mixer, we drove all the way from where we were to Orange County to enjoy some delicious Vietnamese food at a restaurant open until 3:00 AM.
Finally, there is a family I call my second family that I am grateful to have. It is Tom and Sally, whom I got to know when I worked as a production coordinator. After the job ended, I still have them as my parent figures, and I would love to visit them as much as possible. Tom is the one who gives me the perspective of a business owner himself and helps me to see the big picture, the long future of my career, and how the industry may be going in the next few years.
Because I came here on my own, I am always grateful for the connections and genuine friendships I get here.
Image Credits
Images (of me) by Aaron Lemle Fujifilm Instax Square Images by Nhung Nguyen
