{{short description|American screenwriter}} {{Infobox person | name = Thuc Doan Nguyen | image = Thuc Nguyen.png | alt = | caption = Nguyen in Downtown Los Angeles 2015 | birth_place = Vietnam | citizenship = Dual EU and US | alma_mater = University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | occupation = Filmmaker, Screenwriter, Film Producer | years_active = 2003 – present | known_for = ''Essay writing'' | notable_works = | website = {{URL|consideratecontent.com}} }}
'''Thuc Doan Nguyen''' (Thục Đoan Nguyễn) is a writer and producer. She founded "The Bitch Pack",<ref>{{cite web|title=The Bitch Pack|url=http://www.thebitchpack.com|website=The Bitch Pack|accessdate=18 January 2015|archive-date=18 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150118122413/http://www.thebitchpack.com/|url-status=live}}</ref> a group dedicated to promoting female-driven screenplays through Twitter and other social media sites. Nguyen is the winner of a 2020 Sundance Institute Inclusion Initiative Fellowship which enabled her to attend the Sundance Film Festival that year, the same year her screenplay "Scent of the Delta" was in Round 2 of the Development Labs (semi-finalist). She is also the founder of the original "#StartWith8Hollywood" which expands opportunities for women creators of color.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-03-24/hollywood-grass-roots-networks-boost-diversity-film-tv|title=How new grass-roots networks are boosting diversity on Hollywood film and TV crews|website=Los Angeles Times|date=24 March 2021|access-date=2021-03-27|archive-date=2021-03-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210327010845/https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2021-03-24/hollywood-grass-roots-networks-boost-diversity-film-tv|url-status=live}}</ref> Nguyen is also the founder of the online portal Spooky Spaces.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.spooky-spaces.com/ |title=Spooky Spaces – Spooky is a lifestyle |access-date=2022-01-10 |archive-date=2021-10-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211021174437/https://spooky-spaces.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref> She is the captain of the first ever Vietnamese American Mardi Gras Krewe since the carnival began. She appears on the original Ringer/Spotify 2023 series "The Big Picture" regarding "Vietnam Vogue" along with Oliver Stone and Brian De Palma.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/7-aint-war-hell-do-we-get-to-win-this-time/id1439252196 | title=The Big Picture on Apple Podcasts | date=30 April 2024 }}</ref> Nguyen is the Associate Producer for ELLA, a short film that is a 2026 NAACP Image Award winner <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.billboard.com/lists/2026-naacp-image-awards-winners-list/film-categories-5/ | title=NAACP Image Awards | date=25 February 2026 }}</ref>, directed by Nikki Taylor Roberts and Executive Produced by Cate Blanchett and Coco Francini. <ref>{{cite web | url=https://pocaccelerator.org/program/2025/films/ella | title=Proof of Concept | date=12 January 2026 }}</ref>
==Early life== Nguyen was born in Vietnam. As a child, she was among the boat people who sought refuge after the Vietnam War.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w172yg22nckn032 | title=BBC World Service - BBC OS, Asian Americans living in the US }}</ref> She grew up in North Carolina and Southern Maryland. She is a double major from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Public Policy Analysis (Environmental Policy) and Communication Studies and also holds a master's degree (MPA) obtained in Southern California.
==Career==
For Nguyen's work in entertainment, she and her Bitch Pack have been featured in ''The Huffington Post'',<ref name="awesome">{{cite web|last1=Brucculieri|first1=Julia|title=10 Awesome Movie Ideas That Pass The Bechdel Test|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/movies-that-arent-remakes_us_56965e92e4b09dbb4bad5a3e|website=Huffington Post|accessdate=31 March 2018|date=14 January 2016|archive-date=30 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180130182230/https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/movies-that-arent-remakes_us_56965e92e4b09dbb4bad5a3e|url-status=live}}</ref> ''Salon'',<ref name="pop">{{cite web|last1=G'sell|first1=Eileen|title=The pop-culture progress myth|url=https://www.salon.com/2016/11/19/the-pop-culture-progress-myth/|website=Salon|accessdate=31 March 2018|date=19 November 2016|archive-date=6 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180406043731/https://www.salon.com/2016/11/19/the-pop-culture-progress-myth/|url-status=live}}</ref> Forbes,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurayoungkin/2019/05/22/final-draft-joins-the-fight-for-inclusion-in-hollywood/?sh=234398e776f4|title=Final Draft Joins the Fight for Inclusion in Hollywood|website=Forbes|access-date=2021-01-14|archive-date=2021-01-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116115602/https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurayoungkin/2019/05/22/final-draft-joins-the-fight-for-inclusion-in-hollywood/?sh=234398e776f4|url-status=live}}</ref> Indiewire,<ref>{{cite web|url = https://www.indiewire.com/2014/05/heroines-of-cinema-how-thuc-nguyens-bitch-pack-is-fighting-for-more-female-driven-stories-26677/|title = Heroines of Cinema: How Thuc Nguyen's 'Bitch Pack' is Fighting for More Female-Driven Stories|date = 15 May 2014|access-date = 14 January 2021|archive-date = 27 January 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210127190704/https://www.indiewire.com/2014/05/heroines-of-cinema-how-thuc-nguyens-bitch-pack-is-fighting-for-more-female-driven-stories-26677/|url-status = live}}</ref> The Hollywood Reporter<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/startwith8hollywood-program-offers-new-hope-for-women-of-color-in-hollywood|title=#StartWith8Hollywood Program Offers New Hope for Women of Color in Hollywood|website=The Hollywood Reporter|date=27 August 2020|access-date=29 August 2020|archive-date=30 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200830003936/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/startwith8hollywood-program-offers-new-hope-for-women-of-color-in-hollywood|url-status=live}}</ref> and other outlets, along with the Sundance Film Festival 2021.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://village.festival.sundance.org/panel-view/5ffce6fd95f2b02383f9be4b|title=2021 Sundance Film Festival|access-date=2021-01-14|archive-date=2021-01-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210114190747/https://village.festival.sundance.org/panel-view/5ffce6fd95f2b02383f9be4b|url-status=live}}</ref> Nguyen is in the book Rise: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now, from Harper Collins, March 2022.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hmhbooks.com/shop/books/rise/9780358508090|title=Rise: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now | HMH Books|access-date=2021-01-15|archive-date=2020-12-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205215423/https://www.hmhbooks.com/shop/books/rise/9780358508090|url-status=live}}</ref> She is part of the team of the Rory Kennedy Academy Award-nominated documentary ''Last Days in Vietnam'', being a translator for the film.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/lastdays/|title='Last Days in Vietnam': Cast & Crew|publisher=PBS|access-date=7 May 2015|archive-date=2 May 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150502042608/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/cast-crew/lastdays-credits/|url-status=live}}</ref>
Nguyen has written award winning screenplays. Her historical drama screenplay about Lucy Parsons and Albert Parsons & The Haymarket Affair is number one in IndieWire's "Not All Stories Are About Straight White Men".<ref name="not">{{cite web|last1=Knegt|first1=Peter|last2=Lee|first2=Helen|last3=Hammett Knott|first3=Matthew|last4=Lytton|first4=Alice|title=Not All Stories Are About Straight White Men|url=https://www.indiewire.com/2014/07/not-all-stories-are-about-straight-white-men-heres-12-films-that-could-make-money-and-bring-diversity-to-the-big-screen-213865/|website=IndieWire|accessdate=31 March 2018|date=17 July 2014|archive-date=30 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180130094303/http://www.indiewire.com/2014/07/not-all-stories-are-about-straight-white-men-heres-12-films-that-could-make-money-and-bring-diversity-to-the-big-screen-213865/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="berlin">{{cite web|title=Thuc Nguyen|url=https://www.berlin-losangeles.com/story/thuc-nguyen|website=www.berlin-losangeles.com|accessdate=31 March 2018|archive-date=22 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200422082355/https://www.berlin-losangeles.com/story/thuc-nguyen|url-status=live}}</ref> Her feature about Vietnamese-American women in New Orleans has garnered attention, making it to the second round of Sundance Institute Labs.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://writers.uclaextension.edu/2019/10/03/success-thuc-nguyen-makes-sundance-second-round/|title=Success: Thuc Nguyen Makes Sundance Second Round | Writers' Program at UCLA Extension|access-date=2020-01-06|archive-date=2020-08-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815200804/https://writers.uclaextension.edu/2019/10/03/success-thuc-nguyen-makes-sundance-second-round/|url-status=live}}</ref>
Nguyen helped launch the first "Cause Related Marketing Department" at Saatchi & Saatchi London for Marjorie Ellis Thompson and Hamish Pringle, aiding them with the book ''Brand Spirit''.<ref>{{cite book|title=Brand Spirit: How Cause Related Marketing Builds Brands|url=https://archive.org/details/brandspirithowca00hami|url-access=registration|first1=Hamish|last1=Pringle|first2=Marjorie|last2=Thompson|pages=xi–xii|publisher=John Wiley & Sons Ltd|year=2011|isbn=978-0-471-98776-5}}</ref>
Nguyen has published academically. She presented at the University of London with her paper "Of Cougars and Kittens in Vampire Visual Rhetoric of the Last 30 Years: Ageism, Sexuality, Conformity and Ethics in Relation to Contemporary Fictional Female Vampires in Film & Television". Paper Proposal Accepted by The London Consortium, by Dr. Simon Bacon.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.h-net.org/announce/show.cgi?ID=177736|title=Announcements | H-Net|access-date=2016-08-02|archive-date=2016-08-15|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160815014841/https://www.h-net.org/announce/show.cgi?ID=177736|url-status=live}}</ref> She wrote a piece for the book ''Race/Gender/Class/Media''.
In New York City, Nguyen has worked with Kevin McLeod<ref name="portrait">{{cite web|title=Portrait of a Transmedia Designer: Interview with Kevin McLeod (Part One)|url=http://henryjenkins.org/2006/10/behind_the_scenes_mstrmnd.html|website=Henry Jenkins|accessdate=31 March 2018|date=15 October 2006|archive-date=1 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180401075416/http://henryjenkins.org/2006/10/behind_the_scenes_mstrmnd.html|url-status=live}}</ref> on a series of interactive projects and online games for Atomic Pictures as an associate producer for the web game "The Beast". Nguyen is the voice of Cybertronics and Eliza in Eliza's Tea Room. They made web sites for groups such as the Service Employees International Union. She also worked for other integrated entertainment companies.
Nguyen produced the documentary ''Goth Parking Lot'' at The Cure's Jones Beach Dream Tour show, as encouraged by the makers of Heavy Metal Parking Lot, Jeff Krulik and John Heyn, fellow Marylanders.
In Los Angeles, Nguyen worked for Jerry Bruckheimer and Warner Brothers Television as a writers' and executive producers' assistant. Nguyen made up dialogue as Fredrik Bond's "Milkmaid": Creative Annual UK – Best Campaign – Bronze for MJZ.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mjz.com/directors/fredrik-bond-us/awards/|title=Awards|access-date=2016-07-26|archive-date=2016-08-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816215406/http://www.mjz.com/directors/fredrik-bond-us/awards/|url-status=live}}</ref>
Nguyen continues her work in film. The Sundance Film Institute, along with The MacArthur Foundation and George Soros' Open Society Foundation, among others, sent Nguyen to The Sundance Film Festival in 2020 for their Inclusion Initiative.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sundance.org/blogs/2020-press-inclusion-initiative--update|title=2020 Inclusion Initiative: Update|access-date=2020-01-06|archive-date=2019-12-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191229212810/https://www.sundance.org/blogs/2020-press-inclusion-initiative--update|url-status=live}}</ref> She is nominated for the Lynn Shelton memorial grant.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://redefinemag.net/2020/lynn-sheltons-of-a-certain-age-grant-nominees-women-non-binary-filmmakers/|title = Lynn Shelton's of a Certain Age Grant Nominees: 25 Women & Non-Binary Filmmakers over 39 to Watch|date = 4 September 2020|access-date = 4 September 2020|archive-date = 27 September 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200927013105/https://redefinemag.net/2020/lynn-sheltons-of-a-certain-age-grant-nominees-women-non-binary-filmmakers/|url-status = live}}</ref> She is also an "Emerging Filmmaker" for the Toronto International Film Festival 2020. Nguyen is a grantee of the Center for Cultural Innovation's California Fund for Artists and Cultural Practitioners Award, 2020, The Critical Minded Writers Grant and The Vancouver Asian Film Festival, 2019.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://vaff.org/aim-2/ |title=Asians In Movies | Vancouver Asian Film Festival |publisher=VAFF |date=2017-08-31 |accessdate=2022-01-10 |archive-date=2021-03-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303171529/https://vaff.org/aim-2/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
Nguyen's work can be found in various publications. The ''Los Angeles Times'' published an essay by Nguyen about modern love.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/home/la-hm-0430-affairs-20160430-story.html |title=I wonder who I'll be kissing when L.A.'s 6th Street Bridge reopens... |newspaper=Los Angeles Times |date=30 April 2016 |access-date=2020-04-16 |archive-date=2020-12-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205221046/https://www.latimes.com/home/la-hm-0430-affairs-20160430-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Nguyen's magazine writing work has included: ''Sweet Action'', ''Useless'', ''Working Class'' (all New York City indie magazines), ''Urb'' and ''BPM'' (international music magazines) about popular culture, filmmakers, internet dating, Ima Robot, and Moving Units. Nguyen's also written for ''Nylon'''s Beauty Diary about Sting's yoga guru, Ganga White. Nguyen wrote about The Cartier Women's Initiative Awards to which she was invited and Lupita Nyong'o's stance on inclusion for The Hollywood Reporter.<ref>{{cite web |author=Thuc Nguyen |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/lupita-nyongo-talks-diversity-hollywood-at-cartier-womens-initiative-awards-1207277 |title=Lupita Nyong'o Talks Diversity in Hollywood at Cartier Women's Initiative Awards – The Hollywood Reporter |publisher=Hollywoodreporter.com |date=2019-05-03 |access-date=2022-01-10 |archive-date=2021-03-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210306030229/https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/lupita-nyongo-talks-diversity-hollywood-at-cartier-womens-initiative-awards-1207277 |url-status=live }}</ref> Nguyen wrote a deep dive about the words "me love you long time" and racial issues that went viral for Esquire Magazine.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Nguyen |first=Thuc |url=https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/a36547764/those-5-words-stop-saying-me-love-you-long-time/ |title=Me Love You Long Time Meaning, History, Explained - Why It's Time to Stop Saying Me Love You Long Time |date=2021-05-26 |magazine=Esquire |access-date=2022-01-10 |archive-date=2021-05-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210528000010/https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/a36547764/those-5-words-stop-saying-me-love-you-long-time/ |url-status=live }}</ref> She also penned an essay about the history of #BlackPowerYellowPeril.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.flaunt.com/content/black-power-yellow-peril|title=#BlackPowerYellowPeril|access-date=2019-09-05|archive-date=2019-09-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190905211937/https://www.flaunt.com/content/black-power-yellow-peril|url-status=live}}</ref> Nguyen is currently an essayist/contributor to The Daily Beast<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/author/thuc-nguyen|title=Daily Beast Contributor Thuc Nguyen|website=The Daily Beast|access-date=2020-08-13|archive-date=2020-06-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200627191618/https://www.thedailybeast.com/author/thuc-nguyen|url-status=live}}</ref> and other major outlets like Vogue Magazine.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vogue.com/contributor/thuc-doan-nguyen|title=Vogue Contributor Thuc Nguyen|access-date=2021-10-15|archive-date=2021-10-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029175258/https://www.vogue.com/contributor/thuc-doan-nguyen|url-status=live}}</ref>
Thanks to women such as Amanda de Cadenet and Sam Taylor-Johnson, Nguyen's photography work has been featured in their Girl Gaze Project. Multiple pieces of Nguyen's photography work were featured in ''Clawmarks Issue One'' which debuted at London Comic Con in 2016.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.behance.net/gallery/44661463/CLAWMARKS-Print-Edition |title=CLAWMARKS Print Edition |date=November 2016 |access-date=2017-01-03 |archive-date=2017-01-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104162440/https://www.behance.net/gallery/44661463/CLAWMARKS-Print-Edition |url-status=live }}</ref>
Nguyen is active in political satire as an organizer for The Satanic Temple<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.laweekly.com/news/satanists-plan-to-celebrate-6-6-16-in-la-6963630 |title=Satanic Temple Celebrates 6/6/16 in Los Angeles | L.A. Weekly |access-date=2016-07-26 |archive-date=2016-07-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160725193948/http://www.laweekly.com/news/satanists-plan-to-celebrate-6-6-16-in-la-6963630 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and as part of the writing team for Tomi Lahren viral parody show ''Toni Lahren''<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.someecards.com/news/politics/tomi-lahren-impersonator-toni-lahren/ |title=Meet Toni Lahren, the perfect Tomi Lahren parody for liberal snowflakes |access-date=2017-01-29 |archive-date=2017-01-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129185427/http://www.someecards.com/news/politics/tomi-lahren-impersonator-toni-lahren/ |url-status=live }}</ref> produced in Los Angeles.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://whohaha.com/toni-lahren-victim-parody/|title = Toni Lahren is Not a Victim|date = 25 January 2017|access-date = 5 January 2021|archive-date = 21 January 2021|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210121142900/https://whohaha.com/toni-lahren-victim-parody/|url-status = live}}</ref> She continues to write about social justice in the form of screenplays.
Nguyen contributed additional literary material to the Paramount Pictures March 2022 feature film release ''The Lost City'' starring Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum and Brad Pitt.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://consideratecontent.com/screenwriting/ |title=Considerate Content |date=28 July 2020 |access-date=2022-01-15}}</ref> She is a 2022 Academy Gold Fellowship Nominee.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.oscars.org/academy-gold/fellowship-for-women | title=Gold Fellowship for Women | date=4 January 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/movies_tv/article_09e39e9a-1ab2-11ed-95c8-b3ea7548fcf3.html | title=Sundance-winning Vietnamese-American writer will film immigrant story in New Orleans | date=28 August 2022 }}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|colwidth=30em}}
==External links== *[http://consideratecontent.com Official website] <!--Some of the following external links are possible candidates for conversion into inline citations for use in the article--> *[https://www.forbes.com/sites/laurayoungkin/2019/05/22/final-draft-joins-the-fight-for-inclusion-in-hollywood/ "Final Draft Joins The Fight For Inclusion In Hollywood"] at Forbes Magazine * [https://www.indiewire.com/article/heroines-of-cinema-how-thuc-nguyens-bitch-pack-is-fighting-the-corner-of-female-driven-stories "Heroines of Cinema: How Thuc Nguyen's 'Bitch Pack' is Fighting for More Female-Driven Stories"] at ''Indiewire'' * [https://www.flaunt.com/content/the-bitch-list Thuc Nguyen is The Alpha. She & Her Bitch Pack are changing Hollywood] at Flaunt Magazine * [http://scriptchat.blogspot.com/2012/10/transcript-euro-open-topic-usa-guest.html Transcript: EURO Open Topic & USA Guest The Bitch Pack October 14, 2012] at ''Scriptchat'' * [http://www.studentfilmmakers.com/news/MFA_in_Screenwriting_Student_Trio_Womens_Dialogue.shtml "MFA in Screenwriting Student Trio with a Mission Beyond the Classroom: Screenplay List Called, 'The Bitch List', Highlights Women's Dialogue"] at ''Studentfilmakers.com'' * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120423085518/http://www.legendarywomen.org/content/passing-bechdel-test-interview-bitch-pack "Passing the Bechdel Test - An Interview with the Bitch Pack"] at ''Legendarywomen.org'' * [http://bust.com/new-project-seeks-to-support-female-friendly-movies-and-were-on-board.html "New Project Seeks To Support Female-Friendly Movies, And We're On Board"] in ''Bust'' * [http://www.scriptmag.com/features/screenwriting-website-week-bitch-pack "Screenwriting Website of the Week: The Bitch Pack"] in ''Script''
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nguyen, Thuc Doan}} Category:American women film directors Category:American women film producers Category:American women screenwriters Category:Film directors from North Carolina Category:Living people Category:Writers from North Carolina Category:Screenwriters from North Carolina Category:Year of birth missing (living people) Category:21st-century American women