Behind the Curtain with Louisa Phung - Spring/Summer '22 Edition!Louisa's show "Vietgone" opens Friday, June 1st at the Jericho Arts Centre. Public reading of "Embers of the Past," June 14th at the Roundhouse!
Welcome to Spring/Summer '22 Edition of Behind the Curtain.
Thank you for wanting to keep up with all the going on's that has been my career and for continuing to support me.
There are some really great things to share in this edition!
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Chris Lam as Quang (left), Jeremy Troung as Nhan (right)
Photo by Nancy Caldwell
Meet Qui. He describes two Vietnamese refugees who fall in love in a camp in Arkansas. A story of what it means to lose everything in a war – family, language, country – and yet find the strength to build a new life in a foreign land. Prejudice, immigration, ninjas and hip hop can’t stand in the way of the playwright’s parents getting together.
In spring of 2021, I was chosen to be one of three playwrights for Vancouver Asian Canadian Theatre's (vAct) MSG Lab. With their support, I wrote the first half of my play "Embers of the Past" and a public reading was held in late January over zoom with over 50 attendees.
Comments from viewers:
"(What I loved about the play is) the way it presented different aspects and types of motherhood and genuine relationships between women."
"it made me think a lot about how little we know people we think we know. Thanks for making me pause and look at life a little differently."
Soon after, my play was chosen to continue with MSG Lab2 for continued development support, and an in-person public reading will be held at the
"...gave me pause to reevaluate the narrative I have around my mom. Very powerful."
Justice Equity Diversity Inclusion News
Ableism is discrimination and social prejudice against people with disabilities (visible/invisible) and/or people who are perceived to be disabled. Ableism characterizes people as defined by their disabilities and inferior to
the non-disabled.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ableism
The (nominal) cost of creating an accessible workplace for persons with disabilities on tv and film sets
"Research determined that, on average, accommodating a single disabled writer on a project increased the writers room budget by only 0.43 percent for a mid-budget series with an operating budget of $2.9 million. And providing accommodations to a disabled crewmember increased the production budget on a fully union, 10-episode television series with a $47 million production budget by just 0.033 percent."
In May, I was invited to be an Assistant Director representative the DGC BC at Creative Industries Week in Victoria, BC, meeting with MLA's and members of government to share our stories, and experiences, and really put a face to our entire industry that encompasses film, tv, animation, visual effects, music, and video games.
Hadn't been to Victoria in over 15 years!
MLA's and Hon. Melanie Mark, Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sport of British Columbia at BC Creative Industries Week with extra special guest, Star War's BB8
It was the first time I got to fly in a helicopter!
but the real highlight for me was meeting BB8!
Entirely too excited nerd (Me) and adorable droid, BB8
Film Festival News
"Hope and Grace" is still going incredibly strong and has recently been honoured with multiple awards including the Outstanding Screenplay and Outstanding BC Film at the Pacific Rim Short Circuit Film Festival in Victoria, BC
as well as Best Ensemble Cast and
the grand prize of Best Cinematography at the World Wide Women's Film Festival in Phoenix, AZ which included a $60,000 package from Panavision!
Shout outs!
Congratulations to my Auntie Maureen
on her well-deserved retirement!
Happy Retirement!
Maureen graduated from the University of British Columbia in 1980 with a Bachelor of Science in Rehabilitation Medicine and a Masters of Rehabilitation Science in 2010. She started her clinical career at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) and since then has held various positions as a clinician, Physical Therapy Practice Coordinator and Program Manager. Maureen is also a Clinical Associate Professor in the UBC Department of Physical Therapy and is the Board Chair of the College of Physical Therapists of BC. Generous of heart, I couldn't have asked for a more wonderful person to be my Aunt.
Ko-Fi Anyone?
What's Ko-Fi (coffee)? It's an online platform that allows friends, family, and even strangers to buy a cup of "coffee" for artists like me and support them in their work. There are a few ways you can do that; you can made a one time donation or you can become a monthly donor with three tiers to choose from. Each tier comes with it's own perks, access to exclusive content and discounts to merchandise, including the items I sell atChristmas Craft Fairs. Click HERE to go to my ko-fi page.
Funding and Support
In other news, I received my first grant (ever!) from the Canada Council for the Arts for the Research and Development of my next stage play
"Embers of the Past."
Stay tuned for updates!
SPECIAL THANKS!
The incredible cast and crew of "Vietgone" for putting a tremendous amount of work, skills and time into creating this beast of a show.
My partner in directing, Keltie Forsyth.
My stage management team: Anita, Kwan, Carter and Shasta.
Designers: Rae Clark, Jon "QPid" Johnson, Nico DiCecco, Kai Wong, Jacob Wan, Sylvie LaRiviere and the team at Principal Intimacy Professions, Phay Moores, Megan Wong, and the other Megan. :)
The crew at United Players for all the work that
they put in mounting such an ambitious show.
And to my amazingly dedicated and wonderful cast:
Chris Lam, Alison Chang, Jeremy Truong, Ryan Anthony Kwok, Abigail Padilla, Aurora Chan, David Johnston, and double shout out to Jon "QPid."
Keep an eye out for these people because you're going to see more of them!
Last but never least:
Lesley Dehaan, Roderick Matte, Cathy Wilmot, Olivia Etey, and Andy Sandberg.
The land in which I live and work is on the stolen lands of the Coast Salish Peoples, including the territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations now known as Vancouver, BC.
If you are interested in finding out about the land you are living on, please check out www.native-land.ca
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