by David Ngo
photos by Marta Kos

Dinner for Five is one of my favorite shows on television. On this program, Actor/Director Jon Favreau (of Swingers fame) and a revolving guest list of celebrities eat, drink, and share entertainment war stories over a three-course meal. Being a filmmaker myself (The Queen from Virginia), I find this show very insightful because it takes a candid, spontaneous, and unapologetic look at the entertainment industry. I was so inspired by Dinner for Five that I decided to create my own Vietnamese American version—Pho for Four.

Over the last few years, I’ve become friends with three Vietnamese American filmmakers in Los Angeles who don’t know each other. Thus, I felt it was my mission to unite everyone together for a good bowl of pho. I invited Director Tuan Tran (Finding Madison), Director Ringo Le (Saigon Love Story), and Cinematographer Yen Nguyen to have lunch with me at Blossom Restaurant in downtown Los Angeles. In the spirit of Dinner for Five, we proceeded to eat, drink, and talk about making movies, being Vietnamese, and our parents.

“I blacked out several times.”
To make your own movie is like running a marathon with asthma. In other words, it’s not easy. There is a seemingly endless amount of challenges and obstacles to overcome in the world of independent filmmaking. One of the most difficult challenges is fundraising, i.e., “How am I going to pay for all of this?” After placing our pho orders, we began talking about how we found the money to make our films. On my senior pageant documentary The Queen from Virginia, my producer and I hosted a series of fundraisers where we auctioned off everything from donated designer handbags to my own personal cleaning services. For Finding Madison, Tuan was able to link up with long-time producer Charlie Nguyen, who was able to secure investors for their coming-of-age drama.

Like Tuan, Ringo also needed investors for his big budget musical Saigon Love Story. As Ringo remarks, “To get investors, I basically had to whore myself. [Everyone laughs] I did, because I was very shy before, but I had to gain confidence in myself. I wanted to make a film that was big and flashy, so I knew that I had to get a big budget for it.”

Besides finding money, shooting the actual film itself is a tremendous challenge because it usually means a lot of long hours and sleepless nights. The production phase of an independent film can be grueling, but what keeps us going is the determination to realize our vision. As Tuan simply states, “I had to make a movie, and that’s the bottom line.”

When describing his experience filming in Viet Nam, Ringo comments, “Regardless of how much it costs or if it’s going to kill me, I was going to make this film. I blacked out several times during the shoot. It was that difficult.”

Ringo went through a tough production process, and Yen was quick to point out that risking one’s health can put one’s artistic vision in jeopardy. Yen advises, “You have to take care of yourself, otherwise your message is going to get lost. Be careful.”

Additionally, there are often other distinct factors that are very unique to a particular production of a film. For instance, Yen’s artistry as a cinematographer is directly tied to the needs of her various directors. Yen remarks, “I can’t photograph an action film the same way I would a romantic comedy. My job is to create a good visual, whether it is about a man, a car chase, or whatever. It just depends on the project.”