James Nguyen (born 1 September 1966) is a Vietnamese

filmmaker Filmmaking (film production) is the process by which a motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, starting with an initial story, idea, or commission. It then continues through screenwriting, castin ...

known for directing the 2010 romantic horror film '' Birdemic: Shock and Terror'', as well as its sequels '' Birdemic 2: The Resurrection'' and '' Birdemic 3: Sea Eagle''.

Life and career

Nguyen was born in

Danang Nang or DanangSee also Danang Dragons ( ; vi, Đà Nẵng, ) is a class-1 municipality and the fifth-largest city in Vietnam by municipal population. It lies on the coast of the East Sea of Vietnam at the mouth of the Hàn River, and is o ...

, South Vietnam. He and his family fled the country shortly before the

Fall of Saigon The Fall of Saigon, also known as the Liberation of Saigon by North Vietnamese or Liberation of the South by the Vietnamese government, and known as Black April by anti-communist overseas Vietnamese was the capture of Ho Chi Minh City, Saigon, t ...

. He never received any formal training in filmmaking, but instead grew up watching the films of director Alfred Hitchcock, including 1958's ''

Vertigo Vertigo is a condition where a person has the sensation of movement or of surrounding objects moving when they are not. Often it feels like a spinning or swaying movement. This may be associated with nausea, vomiting, sweating, or difficulties w ...

'' and 1963's '' The Birds''. Nguyen went on to be a software salesman in

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that serves as a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical areas San Mateo Coun ...

. He first picked up a camera in 1999. In 2003, he directed the low-budget romantic film ''Julie and Jack''. In 2005, he directed the science fiction thriller ''Replica'', inspired by ''Vertigo'', but it was not released until 2017; Nguyen blamed the outcome on the expensive storyboarding process and his casting decisions. Nguyen's popularity as a director rose in 2010 with the release of the film '' Birdemic: Shock and Terror''. He was inspired to write the script for the film while spending time relaxing in

Half Moon Bay Half Moon Bay is a coastal city in San Mateo County, California, United States, approximately south of San Francisco. Its population was 11,795 as of the 2020 census. Immediately at the north of Half Moon Bay is Pillar Point Harbor and the un ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, and much of the filming took place in the area surrounding the community. The film's under $10,000 budget was financed with his own income. Nguyen has cited ''The Birds'' and ''

An Inconvenient Truth ''An Inconvenient Truth'' is a 2006 American documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate people about global warming. The film features a slide show that, by Gore's own e ...

'' (2006) as inspiration for directing ''Birdemic''. During and since its release, ''Birdemic'' has become famously considered one of the worst films of all time. ''Birdemic'' was featured as a movie riffed on by the cast of ''

RiffTrax RiffTrax is an American company that produces scripted humorous commentary tracks which are synced to mostly public domain feature films, education shorts, and television episodes. With the talents of former ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (''M ...

'' both as a standalone product and during one of their live shows, drawing further attention to the film and Nguyen. In February 2012, Nguyen began production on a sequel to the film, entitled '' Birdemic 2: The Resurrection''. The film was released in 2013 to negative reviews. In a 2016

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, or habit generally considered immoral, sinful, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character t ...

interview, Nguyen said that he is hoping to eventually make ''Birdemic 3: Sea Eagle'', which would be his last film in the Birdemic series. Nguyen attempted to crowdfund for the film, first launching a project on Indiegogo which only raised $596 of its $500,000 goal and later on Kickstarter only raising $230 of its $200,000 goal. Despite this, it was announced in March 2021 that production on the third installment had begun with a planned release in late 2022. ''Birdemic 3'' premiered at

Fantastic Fest Fantastic Fest is an annual film festival in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 2005 by Tim League of Alamo Drafthouse, Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News, Paul Alvarado-Dykstra, and Tim McCanlies, writer of ''The Iron Giant'' and ''Secondhand ...

on September 25, 2022, and later released on streaming services on January 24, 2023. Due to the gain in popularity with ''Birdemic''s showing through ''RiffTrax'', Nguyen agreed to allow ''RiffTrax'' to give a similar treatment to his unreleased ''Replica''. The un-riffed version was available through ''RiffTrax'' in January 2017 and the riffed version was released on February 10, 2017.

Filmography

Feature films Documentary short films

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, James 1966 births Living people Horror film directors People from Da Nang Vietnamese emigrants to the United States Vietnamese film directors