Nadine Truong is a director, writer and photographer. She received her MFA in directing from the

American Film Institute Conservatory The AFI Conservatory is a private not-for-profit graduate film school in the Hollywood Hills district of Los Angeles. Students (called "Fellows") learn from the masters in a collaborative, hands-on production environment with an emphasis on st ...

Short films

Her directorial credits include ''Chopsticks'' (which was premiered at the 2007 Vietnamese International Film Festival), ''The Muse'' (a dramatic short produced under the Visual Communications' "Armed with a Camera" Fellowship for Emerging Media Artists) which was also screened at the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival and which was nominated for the VC Golden Reel Award for Best Narrative Short Film, ''One Never Knows'', ''Mine'', ''Sushi'', ''Eggbaby'' (2009), ''Shadow Man'' (2009) and ''Initiation'' (2009), which stars

David Lee McInnis David Lee McInnis (born December 12, 1973) is an American actor based in Seoul. He has worked in South Korea since 1999. Early life McInnis is the only child of an American father of German and Irish descent and Korean mother who is a native of ...

, Christopher Dinh, Tim Chiou, Kathy Uyen and Jerry Ying. Truong is the recipient of The George C. Lin Emerging Filmmaker Award from the San Diego Asian Film Festival in 2010, for her short films ''Shadow Man'' and ''Eggbaby'', and a recipient of a Visual Communications "Armed With A Camera" Fellowship for Emerging Media Artists in 2007, which she used to create the short film ''The Muse''. Truong also received a Mary Pickford Scholarship for Excellence in Directing from The American Film Institute.

Feature films

''Someone I Used to Know''

Truong directed her first feature film in 2012 previously titled ''nightdreamblues'' but was re-titled ''Someone I Used to Know'', written by West Liang, and starring Brian Yang, Eddie Mui, Emily Chang, West Liang, Tzi Ma and

Diana Lee Inosanto Diana Lee Inosanto is an American actress, director, stuntwoman, and martial artist. She also wrote and directed the film ''The Sensei'' (2008), as well as having written a children's book titled ''The Curious Mind of Sebastian'' in 2020. Life ...

. The film was premiered at the 2013 CAAMFest, formerly known as the

San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival CAAMFest, known prior to 2013 as the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (SFIAAFF), is presented every March in the San Francisco Bay Area in the United States as the nation’s largest showcase for new Asian American and Asia ...

, and was described as "a bittersweet drama" that is "a new-millennium remix of such classic eighties' ensemble dramas as ''

The Breakfast Club ''The Breakfast Club'' is a 1985 American teen coming-of-age comedy-drama film written, produced, and directed by John Hughes. It stars Emilio Estevez, Paul Gleason, Anthony Michael Hall, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, and Ally Sheedy. The film t ...

'' and '' St. Elmo's Fire''." It was also screened at the 2013 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival and the 2013

Asian American International Film Festival The Asian American International Film Festival (AAIFF) is the first and longest-running film festival to showcase the works of emerging and experienced Asian and Asian American filmmakers and media artists in the US. The programming includes a di ...

in New York City, drawing further comparisons to the films '' Less than Zero'', '' The Anniversary Party'' and '' Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?''.

''Senior Project''

In 2013, Truong directed a feature film entitled ''

Senior Project A culminating project (also known as a senior project, grad project or exit project), is a project that challenges high school seniors to demonstrate their academic knowledge in an experiential way (in most cases). According to the United States ...

'', written by a 16-year-old Hong Kong high school student named Jeremy Lin (not the basketball player). Fabienne Wen and her daughter Ellie Wen (who wrote and produced Quentin Lee's ''

White Frog ''White Frog'' is a 2012 American comedy-drama film directed by Quentin Lee and written by Fabienne Wen. The film's plot follows neglected 16-year-old Nick Young, played by Booboo Stewart, a teenager with autism spectrum disorder whose life is chan ...

'') produced the film through their banner Itsy Bitsy Productions, along with

Stephane Gauger Stephane Gauger (August 30, 1970 – January 11, 2018) was a Vietnamese-born American film director, screenwriter and cinematographer. Biography Born in Saigon, South Vietnam to an American civilian contractor and his Vietnamese wife, Gauger was ...

('' Saigon Electric'') and Yaron Kaplan. The film stars

Ryan Potter Ryan Potter (born September 12, 1995) is an American actor and voice actor. He made his acting debut as the lead of the Nickelodeon action comedy series ''Supah Ninjas'' (2011–2013). As a voice actor, he voiced Hiro Hamada in the animated sup ...

(who plays the main character, Mike Fukanaga on Nickelodeon's '' Supah Ninjas'') as the primary protagonist, "Peter", Vanessa Marano (

ABC Family The American cable television, cable and satellite television network that is now known as Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through several different owners (and s ...

's '' Switched at Birth'') as "Sam", Meaghan Martin (the main character, Jo, in '' Mean Girls 2'', ABC's ''

10 Things I Hate About You ''10 Things I Hate About You'' is a 1999 American teen romantic comedy film directed by Gil Junger and starring Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Larisa Oleynik. The screenplay, written by Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten ...

'') as "Natalia",

Sterling Beaumon Sterling Martin Beaumon (born June 2, 1995) is an American actor. He is known for his roles as Max Doyle in the 2008 film, ''Mostly Ghostly'', and as young Benjamin Linus in the ABC television series, ''Lost''. Beaumon has had guest roles in ''L ...

(''

Lost Lost may refer to getting lost, or to: Geography *Lost, Aberdeenshire, a hamlet in Scotland * Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, or LOST, a hiking and cycling trail in Florida, US History *Abbreviation of lost work, any work which is known to have bee ...

'', '' Red Widow'') as "Spencer", Kyle Massey ('' That's So Raven'', '' Cory in the House'') as "Andy", the ''YouTube'' star Lana McKissack as "Jill" and the stand-up comedian and actor Margaret Cho as "Ms. Ghetty".

''I Can I Will I Did''

In 2017, Truong wrote and directed the feature film ''I Can I Will I Did'' about a depressed foster youth named Ben (Mike Faist) who is bullied and, as a result, eventually is in a car accident. His recovery process is slow, until he meets Adrienne, a fellow patient at the hospital who breathes hope into his life and introduces him to her grandfather, taekwondo master Kang (Ik Jo Kang). Kang not only teaches him how to walk and has him back on his feet, but also how to take charge of his own life. Ik Jo Kang is also a taekwondo master in real-life. The film won an Audience Award at the 2017

and also Best Feature and Best Supporting Actress ( Selenis Leyva) at the 2017 Sunscreen Film Festival.

Background

Truong was born in Germany and now lives in Los Angeles. She received a B.A. degree in anthropology from UCLA and a MFA in directing at the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

.''Id.'' Truong is married to the actor and producer Brian Yang.

References

External links

*
Someone I Used to Know Official PageNadine Truong's Official SiteNadine Truong's BlogNadine Truong on VimeoNadine Truong on Alive Not DeadNadine Truong on Asians on Film: Delving Deep, Creating Moments and Guiding the Process
{{DEFAULTSORT:Truong, Nadine Living people German emigrants to the United States Film directors from California Year of birth missing (living people)