Don Le

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Don Pham Le
Born
Don Pham Le

September 20, 1983 (1983-09-20) (age 38)
Houston, Texas
NationalityAmerican
OccupationFilmmaker, photographer

Don Pham Le (born September 20, 1983) is an American filmmaker and photographer of Vietnamese descent. He had a minor role as one of Hilary Swank's students in the 2007 Paramount Pictures film, Freedom Writers.

He is a notable photographer, whose work has been featured on Wired.com[1] and CNN's The Screening Room,[2] amongst other sites and publications. A collection of his work can be seen at his photo site, Don Le Studio and his wedding studio Bliss Imagery.

Film production, 2008–2009[]

In 2008, he co-founded a production company, Northern Five Entertainment, and produced the original pilot episodes for an action web series called "The Resistance" series with director, Adrian Picardi, and producer Eric Ro. Under Northern Five, Le worked as associate producer for the music video "Makeup Smeared Eyes" for the band Automatic Love Letter[3][4] and Sony Music Entertainment / Epic Records. Its lead singer Juliet Simms is the runner up on the second season of the NBC singing show competition, The Voice (U.S.).[5]

Capping off 2009, he produced a music video for a song called "A Soldier Never Dies", a track dedicated to fallen marine Anthony Hector Vargas.[6] The track for rapper Invincible features Jon B.[7] and producer Battlecat. The video was directed by Paolo Ongkeko and starred rising Hispanic actor Sonny Ayon.[8] Currently, Le is focused on a new production company specializing in videography and photography for film, TV, commercials, and music videos. He also recently started a wedding production company called Bliss Imagery that focuses on traditional and photojournalistic videography and photography for engaged/soon-to-be wedded couples.

Le's video work on Neuromarketing was featured on CNN's The Screening Room (the intro was co-directed by Le and nationally televised),[9] Wired.com,[1] and Mental Floss.com.[10] The clips were produced by horror film producer, Peter Katz.

The future, 2010–2012[]

In 2010, under the Teddy Zee Productions banner, Le directed and produced a series of charity PSA videos alongside Teddy Zee (Hitch (film) / Pursuit of Happyness), Adrian Zaw, George Wang, and APEX founder Stephen Liu.[11] He directed the 20+ clips that featured Asian American celebrities like John Cho, Sandra Oh, Kaba Modern Legacy, Justin Chon, David Choi, and 100+ talents in a campaign to win $1 million for the Center for the Pacific Asian Family (CPAF).[12][13] The charity ended up in the top 20 out of 100 charities competing for the top prize, and ended up creating awareness for the widespread but generally unspoken issues of sexual assault and domestic violence.[14] |[15] |[16] |[17] In September 2010, he produced videos for the first-ever AAPI Rock the Vote 2010 campaign with Teddy Zee, George Wang, and Adrian Zaw.[18]

Currently, the new incarnation of “The Resistance”, which Le served as associate producer, is debuted on October 4, 2010, on the SyFy channel as a one-hour television pilot, and was released afterward in its original 8 episodic form on iTunes, Xbox Live, Amazon, Hulu and the PlayStation Network.[19] What originally began its origin as a low budget web series with 4 short online teasers featured on YouTube became an actual fully realized webseries with a budget in the low to mid six-figure range.[20][21] The series features actors Adrian Zaw as Syrus Primoris and Katrina Law as Lana.[22][23] Before filming the actual web show, the series was picked up by Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures and Starz Media, after executives at Starz and Ghost House viewed "The Resistance" teasers online. "The Resistance" is directed by Adrian Picardi, executive produced by Ben Ketai, Scott Bayless, Scott Rogers, with producers Aaron Lam, Eric Ro, and associate producer Don Le.[24][25][26] The pilot will reportedly make history, as it's the first time a series created originally for the web will first premiere on television.[27][28]

Le also recently wrapped production on a music video with superhot viral video director Ross Ching[29] (of Kina Grannis' "Valentine" music video fame)[30] and YouTube musician Clara Chung to create an inspiring video set in a world filled with bubbles.[31][32][33][34] As of October 2010, Le completed an action-oriented project with director Ross Ching and fellow producer George Wang, starring Harry Shum, Jr., Stephen "tWitch" Boss (Resident DJ on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and winner of Fox's So You Think You Can Dance (season 4), and Katrina Law (Spartacus: Blood and Sand, The Resistance). The project released January 10, 2011. "3 Minutes" received nationwide coverage from the official Star Wars site,[35] Entertainment Weekly,[36] Wired.com,[37] and Gizmodo,[38] as well as the New York Post,[39] and Seventeen Magazine.[40] It also won the coveted slot of Vimeo's Staff Pick of the Day on its debut day, netting well over 60,000 views on the site within the first 24 hours.[41] Currently, the short film has been viewed by well over 1,000,000 on both YouTube and Vimeo cumulatively.

In mid 2011, Le produced a series of 3 short comedic sketches with the world-renowned Wong Fu Productions[42] starring Harry Shum Jr., Tyler Shields, famed photographer, co-starred as a Mugger in one of the spots.[43][44] Le produced Clara Chung's 3rd music video, "The Camel Song" with director Ross Ching. The video featured YouTube's highest subscribed personality, Nigahiga, as her love interest.[45][46] Afterwards, he also completed another Ching-directed music video for the tearjerker ballad, "Without You", with popular YouTube artist AJ Rafael. The video has so far amassed well over 1 million views.[47] Le is wrapping up a busy 2011 with 3 more music videos to come with director Ross Ching, including producing duties with viral musicians Kina Grannis, Jason Chen and "Missing Piece"[48] with artist David Choi. The latter video starred Ellen Wong (Knives Chau from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.[49] He also produced a short film with George Wang for the LXD which featured prominently on Fox's Glee 2011 concert tour. The short was showcased in front of the concert itself before every show and was sponsored by Chevy.[50]

Kicking off 2012, Le, alongside Peter Katz, produced "Already Gone", a short film directed by Ching and starring Shawn Ashmore (X-Men trilogy) and Harry Shum Jr.. The short made its world debut on Wired.com[51] and featured on the front page of Mashable.[52] The objective is to eventually turn the project into a feature film. The short was one of the top finalists at the first-ever Shot on RED Film Festival in 2012.[53]

Le also made his directing debut with a fashion film encompassing the world of swimming and beauty, centrally focused on 2008 and 2012 Olympian Chloe Sutton, and her career highlights.[54] He also directed his first ever concert video for global music superstar Dev (the singles Far East Movement's "Like a G6", "Naked", "In The Dark", and "Bass Down Low") of the label IndiePop (The Cataracs, Yuna). He produced the concert video alongside Tonaci Tran of RED, who also served as director of photography on the project.[55] Capping off the year, Le produced a conspiracy thriller-comedic short directed by Ching,[56] starring YouTube giants KevJumba and David So.

Career, 2013-2016[]

In January 2013, Le produced a music video for rising music superstar Tiffany Alvord entitled "So Alive", which received coverage from Ryan Seacrest's official site.[57] He also served as associate producer on a viral video that was executive produced by Ashton Kutcher, with director Ross Ching called "Top 10 Ways to Break a Heart" for Kutcher's Thrash Lab.[58]

Towards the tail end of 2013, Le produced a music video titled "GTFO" for one of the most famous YouTube personalities, Ryan Higa. He also commenced producing duties for segment "A" for the feature film anthology series, "The ABCs of Death 2", for director E.L. Katz of Netflix's and Cheap Thrills (film)fame.[59] The sequel to "ABC's" will be released theatrically in Halloween 2014 by the fastest rising theater chain in the US, Alamo Drafthouse. Le also served as production manager for Carrie Underwood's music video "Something in the Water", the debut single off her newest 2014 album.

Le was hired to produce content for the web/TV division for the largest Asian American media corporation in the world, CJ Entertainment.

Currently, Le has a slate of productions in development, including feature films, TV shows, ad campaigns, viral clips, and various other properties. He also owns a photo studio, Don P Le Studio (photographing celebrities such as Olympians Kaitlin Sandeno, Chloe Sutton, and the UFC's Fabrício Werdum.

Present day, 2018-2020[]

Le serves as executive producer for the Vietnam version of the world's most successful reality dating TV show, "The Bachelor" for Warner Bros Television. "The Bachelor: Vietnam" [60] premiered in late summer 2018 on HTV7 in Vietnam.[61] In 2019, he produced the documentary "Touching The Moon: the Ngô Thanh Vân Story [1] for Vietnam's premier actress Ngo Thanh Van, and it was subsequently released online. [2]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b Silver, Curtis (September 23, 2009). "Neurocinema Aims to Change the Way Movies are Made". Wired. Retrieved September 23, 2009.
  2. ^ "Brain scans gauge horror flick fear factor". CNN. September 29, 2009. Retrieved September 29, 2009.
  3. ^ Automatic Love Letter – "Makeup Smeared Eyes" music video
  4. ^ "ALL – "Makeup Smeared Eyes" article on Froggertv". Indiestar.tv. August 29, 2009. Archived from the original on October 7, 2011. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  5. ^ http://www.wetpaint.com/the-voice/articles/the-voice-season-2-runner-up-juliet-simms-is-working-on-a-new-album-video
  6. ^ "Rap memorializes Marine, cousin". The Press Enterprise. October 24, 2009. Archived from the original on August 4, 2010. Retrieved October 24, 2009.
  7. ^ "A Soldier Never Dies". . October 26, 2009. Retrieved October 26, 2009.
  8. ^ "Rapper INVINCEABLE, R&B Crooner JON B. and Producer Battlecat Collaborate On "A Soldier Never Dies"". . October 26, 2009. Retrieved October 26, 2009.
  9. ^ "The Science of Scary". . October 28, 2009. Retrieved October 28, 2009.
  10. ^ "This is Your Brain on Horror Movies". Mental Floss. September 16, 2009. Archived from the original on September 22, 2009. Retrieved September 16, 2009.
  11. ^ "Asian American: Stephen C Liu". Goldsea.com. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  12. ^ "The Leading Six Three Six Site on the Net". sixthreesix.org. Retrieved October 18, 2011.[permanent dead link]
  13. ^ Previous post Next post (January 19, 2010). "Interview: Justin Chon Talks Charity and Twilight | Underwire". Wired. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  14. ^ "Youtube All Stars United Against Violence". . January 18, 2010. Retrieved January 18, 2010.
  15. ^ "CPAF Press Kit". Teddy Zee. January 18, 2010. Archived from the original on January 15, 2010. Retrieved January 18, 2010.
  16. ^ "Asian Celebrities Are United Against Violence". . January 19, 2010. Retrieved January 19, 2010.
  17. ^ "LAST DAY – Vote for CPAF NOW – make a difference!". . January 21, 2010. Retrieved January 21, 2010.
  18. ^ "Kai Ma". iamkoream. Archived from the original on October 9, 2011. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  19. ^ "Ain't It Cool News: The best in movie, TV, DVD, and comic book news". Aintitcool.com. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  20. ^ "Starz Wants You To Join The Resistance". CinemaBlend.com. September 20, 2010. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  21. ^ "Chicago TV News: TV reviews, TV previews, TV interviews, TV schedule, celebrity interviews". Chicagonow.com. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  22. ^ http://www.channelapa.com/2010/09/the-resistance-series-on-syfy.html
  23. ^ "SyFy's THE RESISTANCE Product of New TV Paradigm". Newsarama.com. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  24. ^ Szalai, Georg (October 14, 2010). "The Resistance". Hollywood Reporter Article. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  25. ^ Szalai, Georg (September 18, 2010). "'Resistance' Web series from Starz Media tests TV waters". The Washington Post.
  26. ^ Yahoo News Article – "The Resistance" Archived September 26, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  27. ^ ""The Resistance" makes history". News.tubefilter.tv. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  28. ^ http://pubsub.com/%E2%80%98The-Resistance%E2%80%99-Debuts-on-Syfy-First-Internet-Second_Tech-Articles-Featured-bi6vIa50Zgc,lHWBlzUCg8mE Archived April 30, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  29. ^ http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2010/06/driven-by-the-desire-to-create-the-next-viral-video.html
  30. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on September 8, 2012. Retrieved November 29, 2010.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  31. ^ http://www.allkpop.com/2010/09/clara-chungs-offbeat-mv-released
  32. ^ http://asiapacificarts.usc.edu/w_apa/showarticle.aspx?articleID=15764&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1
  33. ^ http://mochimag.com/blog/2010/09/clara-chung-releases-her-first-music-video-for-offbeat/
  34. ^ http://a-tunes.net/2010/09/28/clara-chung-releases-debut-album-music-video/
  35. ^ http://starwarsblog.starwars.com/index.php/2011/01/11/glee-goes-geek-in-3-minutes/
  36. ^ "Clip du jour: Harry Shum Jr., tWitch, and...lightsabers?". EW.com. Retrieved January 9, 2020.
  37. ^ Previous post Next post (January 14, 2011). "Intense Lightsaber Combat in "3 Minutes" | GeekDad". Wired. Retrieved October 18, 2011.
  38. ^ https://gizmodo.com/5729991/if-you-got-three-minutes-watch-3-minutes
  39. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on January 12, 2011. Retrieved February 14, 2011.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  40. ^ Magazine, Seventeen (January 6, 2011). "Harry Shum, Jr. From Stars In Action-Packed YouTube Film!". Seventeen. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  41. ^ "Vimeo Staff Picks". vimeo.com. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
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  47. ^ "Jackfroot". jackfroot.com. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  48. ^ http://www.allkpop.com/2012/02/david-choi-releases-music-video-for-missing-piece
  49. ^ http://www.channelapa.com/2012/02/missing-piece-music-video-by-david-choi.html
  50. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XK5gv29_OU
  51. ^ https://www.wired.com/underwire/2012/04/exclusive-already-gone/
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  53. ^ http://www.red.com/shot-on-red-film-festival-2012
  54. ^ http://swimswam.com/chloe-sutton-olympic-video-glam/
  55. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vnFTAhA6AxQ
  56. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on January 24, 2013. Retrieved December 24, 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  57. ^ http://ryanseacrest.com/2013/02/05/youtube-sensation-tiffany-alvord-releases-so-alive-music-video/
  58. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 10, 2013. Retrieved February 8, 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  59. ^ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2926810/?ref_=nm_flmg_prd_1
  60. ^ "The Bachelor – Anh chàng độc thân đã đến Việt Nam". Retrieved March 19, 2018.
  61. ^ "The Bachelor: Đường đến Việt Nam của 'Anh chàng độc thân'. - Vietcetera". Vietcetera (in Vietnamese). March 19, 2018. Retrieved March 19, 2018.
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