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oan Hong

Documentary from concept to post-production (my personal experiences)

I. The start: Idea to shooting

. Idea - In a nutshell, my story of making Oh, Saigon: Leaving my home and country on thelast helicopter out of the Vietnam War amidst explosions and staying in refugee camps as a child

had an obvious impact on me. I began writing about the experience at the age of at school in

!entucky.

!. "ractice#classes at shooting

"t age #$, I had the luck to go to a school that produced a daily television newscast, where we

learned to use giant old V%& video cameras and I was the morning news anchor everyday. I gotto make a docudrama on the 'rench (evolution. It was all for fun. In high school, I worked hard

at making sure I did well because I knew I couldn)t afford to go to college and very much wanted

to get out of provincial !entucky, where it was very racist. I got a full scholarship offers to a

number of prestiges colleges and universities, including *ale + Wellesley, and chose &mith.

$. %esearch

"t &mith, I got interested in studying the history of the Vietnam War, and found that what I read

about Vietnam and the war was so different than my family)s experiences. I wanted to write a

book about my family and the war. "fter college, I worked as a magaine editor for -ond /astand hoped to write on my off time. 0hat didn)t happen since I wrote freelance articles, too.

D. &pportunity

In #11, an opportunity arose to make a film when I met some Vietnamese2"merican filmmakersfrom L" in #11 who were part of a comedy troupe called -lub of /oodles. I told them that my

family was the last family to get on the last civilian helicopter leaving Vietnam and thoughtperhaps it would make a good film. 0hey were excited about it and signed on to help. I wantedto do an overview of what happened to the Vietnamese during and after the Vietnam War. %am

0ran, who is now a director of award2winning narrative films became my associate producer and

cinematographer.

'. elf-"roducing

3V was a new format at the time. %am got the first mini 3V-am camera: the &ony 43#55. I

worked to pay for the travel.

. 'xecution - hooting inter*ie+s , ! roll

We spent a month traveling across "merica and a month in Vietnam recording stories of myrelatives, which included former -I", chefs, gang members, former prisoners, boat people, etc. I

interviewed and planned, %am dealt with camera, sound and lighting. We shot interviews of

sub6ects and 7 roll, or footage of them in their normal lives and collected photos. I really didn)tknow what the story was going to be, and little did I know that the film would be the story that

was most painful and close to me, why my family was broken, how we were divided in war. I

met my half2sister again, and met two brothers my father had never told me about, one who

fought against him as a communist, the other a soldier who didn)t want to fight.

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II. %aising money , editing in the early days

. 'diting a trailer#rough cut , applying for grants

I applied to pitch to the head people at 47&, the national public television station of the 8&. I had

a good logline, synopsis, and pitch. I wrote well, but I actually didn)t know how to make a roughcut. I took some video production courses and film theory classes but didn)t go to film school. I

was asked to get back in touch with 47& again when I had a rough cut. I was very disappointed

and didn)t realie how lucky I was. "s a first time filmmaker, it took me a few years to processthe film in my head, watching footage, transcribing on my own. I took workshops on story and

editing. I tried to listen to the advice of people in my field that I met. I learned an editing

program, made use of designer friends for titles, sound engineer friends for remastering,

and made a very tight 92minute trailer showing the most compelling and memorable scenes fromshooting and some beauty shots nice scenery; set to evocative music I asked a musician friend if

I could use. (Show video here) I applied for more grants while I continued working in

magaines. I was pretty clueless about film funding and turned down one of my first grants

because I didn)t understand the termsmmy2winning producer, ?ohn 7attsek, who made films for the

77-. ?ohn had attempted to make a film about divided families in Vietnam without the family

access I had. I met him through a friend who worked as his associate producer. In his >nglishway, ?ohn said after watching my trailer, @I could cry right now if I let myself.@ %e signed on to

produce my film and had the idea to send my father home to Vietnam. &urprisingly, my father,

after years of refusal, took ?ohn)s suggestion. I shot the family reunion in Vietnam. (Insert

video). 8nfortunately, my deal with the 77- that ?ohn put together fell through when the 77-had a budget crisis. 0hat was heartbreaking for me, but I soldiered on and kept working on it.

?ohn)s name certainly helped.

$. elf-producing and +inning grants

I raised money on my own from magaine work and personal donations, got involved with a

Vietnam non2profit who worked as a fiscal sponsor, a non2profit that accepted tax2deductibledonations for me. I hired an editor who I met through friends and spent #$ weeks on a rough cut

with one editor, but didn)t really like the result of the film. 0he story wasn)t strong enough. 0he

rough cut did win me ma6or grants from the &undance Institute and I0V&, funded by "merica)s

-orporation for 4ublic 7roadcasting. I even got to receive the grant I originally turned down.

D. %eshooting

I had to re2shoot more on the story of my sister and my mother)s conflict. (Insert video).

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III. "ost-production

. riting and editing

I found an editor, 7ret &igler, who had also been a newspaper 6ournalist. %e helped me by asking

me to write out who the characters were on an outline, the important interview segments and 7roll footage that would define each character, and what the dramatic arc for each character was.

&o I wrote it in the form of a play, which I learned in high school: an introduction, a conflict, a

turning point, a resolution. I then wrote an outline of how I thought the film should go combiningthe arcs of the different characters. "s there were six characters, this was not easy. Ay younger

sister doesn)t appear in the movie at all. (Insert video). It took B2C months to edit.

!. ound music graphics

I also worked with a lot of my friends who helped me before: the font designer I used earlier had

opened a graphic design company in /orway;, did voiceovers much harder than expected; and

sound mastering with sound engineer friend, used a few musician friends as composers, color

correction, and this process took a total of six months for me of very long days, and a lot moremoney than I ever imagined.

I/. "romotion - ilm esti*als Tele*ision ales treaming D/Ds

I then had a premiere at the &an 'rancisco "sian "merican 'ilm 'estival as they loved it somuch. I did film festivals all around the world and university pretty steadily for $ years with this

film. It had D national broadcasts and made it to #D countries. I sell educational rights to schools,

universities, and libraries. 0he film has also been on cable, video on demand, and streaming

rental in the 8& and some parts of >urope.

/. The personal aftermath

/ow four years later, I am still touring with it as I work on my new film about rape and the

women in my family. I)m grateful that my family)s story has spoken to people. I have gotten so

many emails from war veterans, diasporic Vietnamese, those who adopted Vietnamese children,visitors to Vietnam, refugees from "fghanistan, Irish immigrants, people who knew nothing of

the war, very personal stories. =pening my family and our stories to others has opened my life

as others have returned the favor and opened up to me with their own stories. Aost of all, making

the film opened up my family to me. I have a very personal relationship with each member of myfamily that I interviewed, and each of them who saw the film. 0he change in my relationship and

closeness to my father, uncles, sister, and mother have been immeasurable.