29 YEARS OLD WITH FAMOUS ADVERTISING FILMS
Recently, the US media reported on the nomination list for the 76th Emmy Awards. In particular, products related to the HBO TV series Hacks (premiering from May 13, 2021) received 17 Emmy nominations, the most prestigious award in the US television industry.
An image of a short video by Nguyen Sieu promoting the movie Euphoria appeared at HBO's internal CASH Awards 2022 as a nominee in the category of Outstanding Sound Design.
Among them, the short film Hacks: Bit by Bit (a commercial for Hacks ) was nominated for the Outstanding Short Form Nonfiction or Reality Series category. The scriptwriter and editor for Hacks: Bit by Bit is Nguyen Sieu, 29 years old - the only Vietnamese commercial filmmaker currently at HBO, a globally famous American pay television company.
Hacks is a critically acclaimed television series that has won numerous awards, including Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Writing, Outstanding Directing, and Outstanding Actress, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Comedy Series.
During his nearly 3 years working at HBO (formerly Paramount Network, a famous American cable channel), Nguyen Sieu has participated in many major projects. In addition to Hacks , we can mention Euphoria , the 4th most watched TV series in HBO's history, with an average of 16.3 million views/episode. Nguyen Sieu's commercials and behind-the-scenes films have contributed significantly to the success of this blockbuster.
The Enter Euphoria behind-the-scenes series consists of 8 episodes, of which episode 5 produced by Nguyen Sieu won the bronze medal in the category of outstanding behind-the-scenes video at the 2022 Clio Awards, one of the biggest awards in the marketing industry in the US.
Nguyen Sieu's creations were recognized by HBO because he brought a Vietnamese perspective to the product making process.
SUCCESSFUL BY CHOOSING THE VIETNAMESE APPROACH
According to Nguyen Sieu, he was lucky to have joined HBO, a place that is very suitable for the creative strengths of a versatile artist, not limited to just a few individual skills. "I wrote the script, edited the video, mixed and arranged the music, worked with lawyers to ensure the legality of the video, communicated with photographers to collect photos, and directed graphic designers to make the visual part of the video more interesting and smoother," Nguyen Sieu said.
In particular, the working environment at HBO allows Sieu to occasionally express ideas that are a little different from traditional videos. Normally, post-production videos rarely include external elements (such as photos of other people), but only focus on clips from the film and interviews with the producer.
But in the video Enter Euphoria - Season 2 Episode 5 , Sieu included two photos by veteran photographer Nan Goldin to compare two scenes of Euphoria to clearly explain where the inspiration for filming came from. Sieu shared: "When I proposed the idea, the creative director of Euphoria really liked it and said you should do it right away."
According to Nguyen Sieu, the reason his creations are recognized by HBO is because they always emphasize individual and different perspectives. Therefore, he does not have to try to turn his perspective into an American perspective. "I always approach every video as a Vietnamese producer. Vietnamese culture often values emotions. Maybe that's why my products have touched the hearts of audiences not only in the US, but also in many other countries," Nguyen Sieu shared.
Nguyen Sieu and colleagues at HBO
" COLLECTION IS NOT A STEPPING STAGE TO MAKING MONEY"
Looking at the solid position that Nguyen Sieu has established in the American television industry, few people know that 10 years ago his choice made his parents and relatives very worried.
As an excellent former student of Hanoi - Amsterdam High School, Sieu was accepted for scholarships by 7 prestigious universities (mostly in the US). The fact that Sieu chose to study art made everyone surprised, because they thought this profession was "difficult and did not make money"... Nguyen Sieu confided: "Studying filmmaking and art media like me, even if I could get a job in the US after graduation, the starting salary would only be around 30,000 - 40,000 USD/year. Very low, very poor, but I want to live with my true passion".
According to Nguyen Sieu, he noticed a fundamental difference between the educational ideology in Vietnam and in the US. Vietnamese people consider university education as a stepping stone to finding a job, with the ultimate goal of having a career and having money to support their life. Americans are the opposite. They consider going to school as an independent experience. Going to school is simply to broaden their knowledge about the field they love. In American universities, students are guided towards their passions, encouraged to study what they like and want, instead of thinking too much about making money.
Nguyen Sieu's current stable position at HBO is the sweet fruit of his journey of daring to pursue his passion, his spirit of learning and his confidence in his own creativity. Sieu's long-term goal is to be able to write and produce his own TV shows or movies in the future. "Hollywood today highly values stories that are culturally significant and have a strong personal imprint. Therefore, I always use my life experience - a Vietnamese living between two cultures, Vietnamese and American - as material and inspiration for my creations. The creative process is never simple, but I believe that knowing who you are and what your story is is the "secret formula" to achieving success," Nguyen Sieu shared.
Choose classes based on "interesting" rather than "practical" criteria
With the belief that "4 years of university is a journey of discovery and learning", Nguyen Sieu always chooses classes based on the criteria of "interesting" instead of "practical", learning what he doesn't know about the world around him instead of just preparing skills for future employment.
Sieu brought that eager spirit to his internships. Not afraid of "unpaid" jobs, his goal was always "learning". Thanks to that spirit, Sieu always achieved outstanding results, graduating with honors in film and media (GPT 3.9/4.0) from Vassar University, USA.
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nha-lam-phim-la-nguoi-viet-duy-nhat-tai-hbo-chon-nghe-vi-dam-me-185240802233256007.htm
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