By Kai Curry
NORTHWEST ASIAN WEEKLY
Siêu Nguyễn
Siêu Nguyễn is becoming a force in the entertainment industry. With over 160 video-marketing creatives in his so far seven-year career, this Vietnamese writer and producer is probably one of the main reasons you recently watched a show like “The Sympathizer” or “Selena + Chef.”
Nguyễn currently works for HBO and Max as part of their marketing audiovisual team, where he ideates, writes, edits, and produces trailers, episodics, recaps, behind-the-scenes videos, cast and crew interviews, and social content to promote each season’s offerings. He moved to the United States as a young man with the specific dream of breaking into the industry—and so he has. On paper, it started in 2013, when Nguyễn attended Vassar College in New York, where he still lives, and obtained a degree in Film and Media Studies. But really, his interest in the entertainment industry began much earlier, back home in Hanoi, Vietnam.
“I loved watching Constance M. Burge’s ‘Charmed,’ which aired on Vietnamese television every evening,” Nguyễn told the Asian Weekly. “For a Vietnamese kid whose everyday life spanned only a couple of blocks between his home and school, a show like that was a portal to a different world…The show made me curious about what I had not seen, countries I had never been to, and people I had yet to meet. My love for television and my interest in visual storytelling started there.”
When he was 15 years old, Nguyễn started making videos with a small Sony camera gifted to him by his parents.
“I was the default videographer whenever we had a class event.” He also edited the videos. “My inspirations at the time came from various Vietnamese films, such as ‘The Scent of Green Papaya’ by Tran Anh Hung and ‘Lost in Paradise’ by Vu Ngoc Dang.”
He began to have fans among his friends and teachers.
“It felt magical recording life through this little device and making visual products that touched people.”
Nguyễn knew that in order to grow in what was turning into his chosen field and his passion, he would need to go to America. Understandably, his parents were “dubious,” but knowing how hard he was working, they ultimately supported him. There lies one of Nguyễn’s pieces of advice to newcomers—“go the extra mile when you can. Hard work does pay off.” And say “yes” to what is offered to you, as you can.
“The more projects I did, the more lessons I gained. Doing more also means learning more, and learning-by-doing is instrumental to growth in any creative field.”
In an impressive break into the biz, Paramount hired Nguyễn for his first job. There, he worked on campaigns for the critically acclaimed “Yellowstone,” among others. Nguyễn credits the growth opportunities he accepted while at Vassar for his ability to land such a position.
“I knew that breaking into the entertainment industry was no small feat, so…I earned as much industry experience as possible by dividing time between school and professional internship.” Pulling all-nighters, commuting between class and work, Nguyễn interned at DCTV, Disney, and MTV, the latter which he especially believes helped him get a job at Paramount.
“I did research for the MTV Movie & TV Awards and prepared props for promo shoots. I also spent a summer in Los Angeles interning at Blumhouse, writing script coverage and working front-of-house duties at the LA Film Fest. All these experiences gave me an early head-start in my career.”
Professionally, everything was going pretty smoothly. Yet, this doesn’t mean that Nguyễn hasn’t experienced some of the same racist unpleasantness as many Asians in the United States. “I wish I could say it differently, but I have experienced anti-Asian racism in the United States,” he told the Asian Weekly. While in college, and “strolling with a Vietnamese friend,” two people came up to them and shouted, “Get back to your country!” He also recalled instances of people calling him “very cliché stuff like ‘Ching chong’” while in Chinatown in New York.
Photo provided by Siêu Nguyễn
“These incidents were not physically harmful, but still reflect the rampant Asian hate existing across the country.” Nguyễn is grateful to live and work in the U.S., but at the same time urges everyone to recognize the challenges “Asians and other people of color face in their everyday life here…We still have a long way to go until we thrive in a society filled with equality and kindness.”
In 2021, Nguyễn made the move to HBO, where he gained more responsibility and “more creative control” over his videos.
“For every promo, I come up with the idea, comb through footage, research behind-the-scenes information, design sound, and finesse the edit.” For Nguyễn, the pleasure and the reward comes in knowing that he has provided to others that same magical feeling he felt watching TV as a kid. “I always want to do ‘more’ than just a standard creative,” he said. “It is always a rewarding process producing videos that not only promote a show, but also feel educational, entertaining, and empowering.” Knowing that his work reaches people, and entertains them, is “truly a dream” and “has always been my goal in this industry.”
One of Nguyễn’s most memorable experiences in the industry so far has been working on “The Sympathizer,” HBO’s recent release, that tells the story of a Vietnamese double agent during the Vietnamese War. “As someone who grew up in Vietnam, seeing a TV series whose dialogues carry my mother tongue felt special to me,” Nguyễn said. In his campaign videos, he “explored the casting of Vietnamese actors, the use of Vietnamese language, and the accuracy of production and costume designs. The producing process was a lot of work, but so rewarding.” He was careful to be culturally correct.
“To demonstrate the accuracy of the Vietnamese language used in the show, I created text graphics of Vietnamese sayings from the script. I sourced and featured stock images from the time period to show the amount of research done in creating sets and costumes.” All in all, Nguyễn is “incredibly proud” of his work for “The Sympathizer.” “No matter where I go, I always remember I am from Vietnam and want to celebrate my culture.”
Nguyễn understands that, for Asian, Asian American, and Pacific Islander (AAPI) creatives, “your stories are as important as ever, since they could offer the culture at large a new perspective people haven’t seen.” To him, the available movies and shows out there don’t yet “represent the full spectrum of AAPI lives and experiences…There are quite a lot of AAPI professionals in my industry,” but “we always need more.” If you have an interest, Nguyễn emphasized, “you need to sell yourself with creative products…few things beat a captivating portfolio…You don’t need film school or prior professional experience to build one. If you have an idea, develop it into a script. If you want to make that script into a short film, grab a phone or borrow a camera to start filming.”
In Nguyễn’s view, the entertainment industry is one that “values differences and diversity, so I think we are treated equally, our ideas respected, and our works recognized…It will just further enrich the cultural sphere if we have more AAPI people telling their stories, since there are many untold ones.”
Kai can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.