James Nguyen | |
|---|---|
 Nguyen speaking at a screening of Birdemic: Shock and Terror in 2010 | |
| Born | James Nguyen September 1, 1966 |
| Nationality | Vietnamese[ citation needed ] |
| Occupation | Film director |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Children | Jennimai Nguyen |
James Nguyen (born 1 September 1966) [1] is a Vietnamese filmmaker known for directing the 2010 romantic horror film Birdemic: Shock and Terror , as well as its sequels Birdemic 2: The Resurrection and Birdemic 3: Sea Eagle .
Nguyen was born in Danang, South Vietnam. [2] He and his family fled the country shortly before the Fall of Saigon. [3] He never received any formal training in filmmaking, but instead grew up watching the films of director Alfred Hitchcock, including 1958's Vertigo and 1963's The Birds . [4] Nguyen went on to be a software salesman in Silicon Valley. He first picked up a camera in 1999. [5]
In 2003, he directed the low-budget romantic film Julie and Jack. In 2005, he directed the science fiction thriller Replica, inspired by Vertigo, but it was not released until 2017; [6] Nguyen blamed the outcome on the expensive storyboarding process and his casting decisions. [5] Nguyen's popularity as a director rose in 2010 with the release of the film Birdemic: Shock and Terror . He was inspired to write the script for the film while spending time relaxing in Half Moon Bay, California, and much of the filming took place in the area surrounding the community. [7] The film's under $10,000 budget was financed with his own income. [8] Nguyen has cited The Birds and An Inconvenient Truth (2006) as inspiration for directing Birdemic. [9]
During and since its release, Birdemic has become famously considered one of the worst films of all time. [10] [11] Birdemic was featured as a movie riffed on by the cast of RiffTrax both as a standalone product and during one of their live shows, drawing further attention to the film and Nguyen. In February 2012, Nguyen began production on a sequel to the film, entitled Birdemic 2: The Resurrection . [12] The film was released in 2013 to negative reviews. [9]
In a 2016 Vice interview, Nguyen said that he is hoping to eventually make Birdemic 3: Sea Eagle, which would be his last film in the Birdemic series. [13] Nguyen attempted to crowdfund for the film, first launching a project on Indiegogo which only raised $596 of its $500,000 goal [14] and later on Kickstarter only raising $230 of its $200,000 goal. [15] Despite this, it was announced in March 2021 that production on the third installment had begun with a planned release in late 2022. Birdemic 3 premiered at Fantastic Fest on September 25, 2022, and later released on streaming services on January 24, 2023. [16] [17]
Due to the gain in popularity with Birdemic's showing through RiffTrax, Nguyen agreed to allow RiffTrax to give a similar treatment to his unreleased Replica. The un-riffed version was available through RiffTrax in January 2017 and the riffed version was released on February 10, 2017. [6]
Feature films
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Julie and Jack | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also Director of Photography/Camera Operator/Lighting/Art Director/Costume Designer/Production Designer/Set Decorator/Songwriter - "Spiritual Love"/"Professor Tran" [18] |
| 2010 | Birdemic: Shock and Terror | Yes | Yes | Executive | Also uncredited cameo as "Patron looking at menu" [18] |
| 2013 | Birdemic 2: The Resurrection | Yes | Yes | No | Also cameo role as "Auteur Walking out of Vietnamese Restaurant" [18] |
| 2017 | Replica | Yes | Yes | Yes [19] | Shot in 2005 |
| 2022 | Birdemic 3: Sea Eagle | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Documentary short films
| Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Actor | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | The Man with the Wooden Face | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | [20] |
| 2019 | Cosmic Beauty | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Also editor "Cosmic Beauty". letterboxd.com. |
| 2023 | Climate Fix | Yes | No | No | Yes | Also narrator |
Manos: The Hands of Fate is a 1966 American independent no-budget supernatural folk horror film written, directed, and produced by Harold P. Warren. It stars Tom Neyman, John Reynolds, Diane Mahree, and Warren. The film follows a family getting lost during their vacation road trip through the Texas desert and becoming stranded at the lodge of a polygynous pagan cult led by the Master who decides their fate.
House on Haunted Hill is a 1959 American supernatural horror film produced and directed by William Castle, written by Robb White and starring Vincent Price, Carol Ohmart, Richard Long, Alan Marshal, Carolyn Craig and Elisha Cook Jr. Price plays an eccentric millionaire, Frederick Loren, who, along with his wife Annabelle, has invited five people to the house for a "haunted house" party. Whoever stays in the house for one night will earn $10,000. As the night progresses, the guests are trapped within the house with an assortment of terrors. This film is perhaps best known for its promotional gimmick Emergo.
Janet Varney is an American actress, comedian, writer and producer. She is known for voicing the character of Korra in the Nickelodeon animated television series The Legend of Korra, co-starring as Sheriff Evie Barret in the television series Stan Against Evil, and a recurring role as Becca Barbara in You're the Worst.
The Birds II: Land's End is a 1994 American made-for-television horror film directed by Rick Rosenthal, credited to Alan Smithee. The film is a standalone sequel to the 1963 film The Birds, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and stars Brad Johnson, Chelsea Field, and James Naughton. Tippi Hedren, who starred in The Birds, appears in a minor role different from the one she played in the original film. The original music score was composed by Ron Ramin.
The Room is a 2003 American independent romantic drama film written, directed, and produced by Tommy Wiseau, who also stars in the film alongside Juliette Danielle and Greg Sestero. Set in San Francisco, the film is centred around a melodramatic love triangle between amiable banker Johnny (Wiseau), his deceptive fiancée Lisa (Danielle) and his conflicted best friend Mark (Sestero). The work was reportedly intended to be semi-autobiographical in nature; according to Wiseau, the title alludes to the potential of a room to be the site of both good and bad events. The stage play from which the film is derived was called so due to its events taking place entirely in a single room.
RiffTrax is an American company that produces scripted humorous commentary tracks which are synced to feature films, education shorts, and television episodes. With the talents of former Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) cast members and writers, RiffTrax also produces several live shows each year which are broadcast to movie theaters. The style of commentating originated from MST3K, their earlier television series, in which they would similarly mock films aloud while watching them. As of September 2023, RiffTrax has riffed 522 feature films, 462 short films, and 16 TV episodes.
The Rocky Horror Show is a British musical comedy franchise that began with the 1973 stage performance The Rocky Horror Show. The stage performance mimics many horror B movie and science fiction elements. The stage show was adapted in 1975 as the film The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which quickly gained a cult following. After being successfully adapted to film, an "equal" was released in 1981 under the title Shock Treatment. While not an outright sequel, the film features many characters from the first film returning, as well as some cast members in different roles.
Barry Mahon, born Jackson Barrett Mahon was an American film director, cinematographer and producer.
Frankenstein Island is a 1981 science fiction horror film produced, written, composed, edited and directed by Jerry Warren and starring John Carradine and Cameron Mitchell. The plot concerns a group of balloonists stranded on an island where they are captured by Dr. Frankenstein's female descendant, Sheila Frankenstein, who has been kidnapping shipwrecked sailors for years and turning them into zombies.
Severin Films is an American film production and distribution company known for restoring and releasing cult films on DVD and Blu-ray. It is considered a boutique Blu-ray and DVD label.
Birdemic: Shock and Terror is a 2010 American independent romantic thriller-horror film written, directed, and executive produced by James Nguyen, and starring Alan Bagh and Whitney Moore. Inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, Birdemic tells the story of a romance between the two main characters as their small town is attacked by birds. It also was inspired by the environmental documentary An Inconvenient Truth, which led to the film having an environmental message.
Truth or Dare? is a 1986 slasher film written by Tim Ritter, and based on his short "Truth or Dare?" from the 1985 anthology film Twisted Illusions.
Ghost Shark 2: Urban Jaws is a 2015 New Zealand supernatural horror film directed by Andrew Todd and Johnny Hall. It was shot in Auckland, New Zealand, with additional shooting taking place in Christchurch and Los Angeles.
Birdemic 2: The Resurrection is a 2013 American satirical romantic thriller-horror film directed and story & screenplay by James Nguyen and produced by Jeff Gross. The sequel to Nguyen's 2010 film Birdemic: Shock and Terror, which has been considered one of the worst films of all time, Birdemic 2 features self-referential humor about the reception of the previous film. Taking place four years after the first Birdemic, the film follows another mass bird attack caused by global warming, this time in Hollywood.
Blumhouse Productions is an American film and television production company founded in 2000 by Jason Blum.
Samurai Cop is a 1991 American direct-to-video action film written, coproduced and directed by Amir Shervan and starring Robert Z'Dar, Matt Hannon and Mark Frazer. It has attained a cult following.
The Angry Birds Movie 2 is a 2019 computer-animated comedy film based on Rovio Entertainment's Angry Birds video game series, produced by Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, and Rovio Animation, and distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing. The sequel to The Angry Birds Movie (2016), the film was directed by Thurop Van Orman and co-directed by John Rice from a screenplay by Peter Ackerman, Eyal Podell and Jonathon E. Stewart. It is an international co-production between the Finland and the United States. Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Tony Hale, Anthony Padilla, Bill Hader, and Peter Dinklage reprise their voice roles from the first film, with newcomers Leslie Jones, Rachel Bloom, Awkwafina, Sterling K. Brown, Pete Davidson, Zach Woods, Dove Cameron, Lil Rel Howery, Eugenio Derbez, Tiffany Haddish, JoJo Siwa, and Brooklynn Prince joining the ensemble voice cast. In the film, birds Red (Sudeikis), Chuck (Gad), Bomb (McBride), and Silver (Bloom), are forced to team up with pigs Leonard (Hader), Courtney (Awkwafina), and Garry (Brown) to foil plans by Zeta (Jones) and the rest of the eagles on Eagle Island when an ice ball from Zeta's advanced super-weapon threatens both of their Islands.
Things is a 1989 Canadian independent direct-to-video horror film, directed by Andrew Jordan and written by Jordan and Barry J. Gillis. The film was shot in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, Ontario, with a cast consisting of co-writer Barry J. Gillis and pornographic film star Amber Lynn. Its plot follows two friends who, while visiting a relative's house, encounter a horde of hostile creatures that are the results of experiments by a demented doctor.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
