Derek Nguyen

Unaffiliated

What was your first professionally directed work and when was it?
My first professionally directed music video released December 2022 for Hollywood Records: “Insomnia” by The Moss. It was simultaneously horrifying, enthralling, and reassuring to bring my experiences from collaborating on passion projects to a professional workflow. I realized then that the passion of filmmaking runs through all levels of budgets and productions, not just the shoestring and scrappy. On the commercial side, my first professionally directed film was Fitness First “Make It Count” with Directors Think Tank in Malaysia, released November 2023.

How did you get into directing?
When they first moved to the US, my overworked and exhausted Vietnamese grandparents ingeniously figured out the perfect way to disguise peace and quiet as quality family time: taking my parents and all their siblings to the movies. My parents often joke that they learned English from the cinema! Since then, film has run through my family as my parents similarly took us to the movies to miraculously shut me and my siblings up for once. I didn’t actually get into directing until college though, and becoming a director specifically was mainly by necessity. In my spare time between pre-med classes at UCLA, I wanted to explore my passion of film but couldn’t find any sets to assist on, especially with my limited (non-existent, really) skillset. I realized that the only way I can even get on a filmset was to create my own, but I’d need to find a budget to do so. Luckily, I knew a few musicians on campus, volunteered to direct their music videos (my pay rate was “my education”), and I surrounded myself with talented people who carried me all throughout the way!

What is your most recent project?
My most recent project was MTV’s AAPI Heritage Month Film “Chasing Meaning.” A highly personal project dedicated to my Ba Noi, the film explores the indefinite, hyphenated identity that is Asian-American and the generational divisions within immigrant families.

It was truly such a unique project as MTV had reached out to me after I had already committed to being in Southeast Asia for the next few months with Directors Think Tank. What seemed like a scheduling conflict turned out to empower us to make this distinctly Asian-American film in Asia. Embracing crew from all variations of Asian diasporic identities, Directors Think Tank guided us and MTV through Malaysia’s culture every step of the way – infusing our film with genuine authenticity. Just like how the hero in “Chasing Meaning” learns about his culture through his grandmother’s memory, us diasporic Asians learned about Malaysia through our Malaysian teammates. This combination of Asian and American perspectives was vital to make the distinctly Asian and American film that is “Chasing Meaning” and culminated in my most personal work yet.

What is the best part of being a director?
The best part about being a director is empowering the amazing, talented collaborators around me to make art. In the end, we’re in an industry fueled by passion, and it’s so inspiring to be able to see that love for film course through all different aspects of filmmaking. While I come into every production with my own vision, it’s exhilarating to see what ideas my teammates come up with. Often times, they’ll stretch my ideas of what I thought possible, and the next thing we know, we’re racing through pre-production figuring out how to make it all happen, smiling (through all the triumphs and all-too-inevitable setbacks) all the way.

What is the worst part of being a director?
Because of the passion and love that goes into filmmaking, I find that being a director makes me vulnerable for so much pain that it’s almost debilitating. Whether it’s doubt creeping in to the countless decisions I have to communicate to my team, the frustration from logistical nightmares in production, or the fear of judgement from my audience and peers on this baby my team and I made that we call a film, these feelings are only possible because of how my best directing will make me put all that I have and am into the film. But as one of my mentors Maurice Noone (and copycat Theodore Roosevelt) say, “Nothing worthwhile comes easy”.

What is your current career focus: commercials and branded content, television, movies? Do you plan to specialize in a particular genre–comedy, drama, visual effects, etc.?
Throughout my career so far, I’ve been lucky enough to surround myself with talented people from all different facets of production. They’ve empowered me to learn through osmosis and experiment with new visual techniques, storytelling styles, and aesthetics. From that, I’ve greatly enjoyed being a bit of a “maximalist” director since it’s just a blast to stretch the limits of film with my team! In terms of personal development, my current career focus will be to distill what I’ve learned to best augment human-centric storytelling, whether that be in commercials, music videos, or narratives. As film becomes more accessible and technology becomes more prevalent, storytelling will be the most important part of filmmaking.

My professional focus will be finding teammates to empower and be empowered by, especially domestically as I’ve done much of my work thus far internationally.

Have you a mentor and if so, who is that person (or persons) and what has been the lesson learned from that mentoring which resonates with you?
I became the director I am and continue to grow as a director now thanks to my mentors. One mentor’s stood by me since my early passion-project beginnings: Nicholas Lam has guided me so much through every step of my career and he made the chaotically confusing world of directing much more palatable. Having a mentor to reassure me when I’ve doubted my career decisions and to connect me with passionate people in the film space gave me the confidence to continue directing versus applying to medical school!

The most important thing that I’ve learned from him, and my many mentors internationally (Rajay Singh, Maurice Noone, and Pat Singh from Directors Think Tank to name a few), is just how powerful of an effect mentorship in general can change the life of a creative. Thus, one of my career goals is to provide mentorship to future directors just as mine have done for me.

Who is your favorite director and why?
I can’t say my mentors, can I? Truthfully though, it’s extremely difficult to pick a favorite director even if I break it down to specific sections of filmmaking. Some directors who come to mind…

• Animation: Masaaki Yuasa
• Commercials: Ians Pons Jewell
• Music Videos (and MV like-films): Edgar Wright
• Films: Guillermo del Toro
• All-of-the-Above: Spike Jonze

… And so many more! I think what makes these people come to mind first though is how they take the surreal and stretch the limits of film; all while telling touching stories.

What is your favorite movie? Your favorite television/online program? Your favorite commercial or branded content?
True favorites for me are impossible to pick, but recent favorites I’ve watched in the last few years are:

• Movie: Decision to Leave & The Worst Person in the World
• TV Show: Pachinko and, lately, Dandadan
• Commercial: Nike’s “Lunar New Year: The Great Chase” and Sotetsu Train’s “Train of Memories”

Tell us about your background (i.e., where did you grow up? Past jobs?)
Born in Little Saigon, when I was 4, my family moved to the predominantly white community in OC and I struggled as the token Asian kid. So, when I went to UCLA studying pre-med, I found myself for the first time in a strong AAPI community. Looking back, I definitely had a chip on my shoulder trying to prove to myself that I was indeed Vietnamese-American, writing and directing AAPI cultural productions with every spare moment I had. Befriending fellow AAPI creatives and business people, I found my film education through directing passion project music videos and commercials.

Giving my parents a heart attack, I became a freelance director in LA. (Rather unprofessionally) Forgoing pay almost every film to creatively experiment, I actually paid my rent teaching at a teen rehabilitation center. This experience coupled with directing child actors led to me directing a teenage mental health campaign in Singapore, which led to me becoming a resident director for Directors Think Tank in Southeast Asia. With them guiding me through multiple countries, I enriched my directing as I have since the beginning at UCLA: learning from different cultures. Now back in the US, I’m excited to bring these experiences into my filmmaking domestically.

Have you had occasion to bring your storytelling/directorial talent to bear in the Metaverse, tapping into the potential of AR, VR, AI, NFTs and/or experiential fare? If so, tell us about that work and what lessons you have taken away from the experience?
I have not had the occasion to work with the Metaverse yet. Hoping to do that soon in the future though!

Contact

Website: https://dncinema.com/
Contact Derek via email here