Qui Nguyen is a TV and film writer, playwright, and self-identified geek. His career has gone from co-founder and artistic director of the Obie award winning Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company to Daytime Emmy award winning Hollywood screenwriter. Qui believes in celebrating failure, working hard, and he prefers climbing mountains with a team over a solo journey.
To assist everyone who works in performing arts and entertainment across the country. The Actors Fund is collaborating with the community to help navigate unemployment during the pandemic.
SHOW NOTES
- 00:40: Qui’s IMDB Bio
- Qui’s Website
- Obie Award winning Vampire Cowboys
- She Kills Monsters
- Revenge Song at the The Geffen Playhouse
- Nick Francone, S1 E21
- David Valentine, S1 E2
- AMC’s Dispatches from Elsewhere S1 E4
- The Society on Netflix S1 E7
- SYFY’s Incorporated S1 E8
- PBS Kids’ Peg & Cat 2016 Daytime Emmy Award winner
- Disney Animation Studios
- 3:26: Where are you calling from?
- 5:10: What is your career journey?
- 25:10: Was your lifestyle growing up in your home different from your lifestyle in your home now?
- 27:05: Did your parents have any concerns about your theatre degree?
- 30:20: Did you ever have a backup plan?
- 40:45: What was the biggest risk you’ve taken?
- 42:28: What are some of the rewards you’ve gotten that your younger self could not have imagined?
- 43:43: Do you think you’ve made it?
- 44:46: Was there anyone you saw you wanted to emulate? See it to be it.
- 47:34: Do you bring your background into the writers room?
- 51:15: Did your theatre training prepare you for the writers room?
- 54:03: Do you have advice for students in a global pandemic who might be thinking there’s no place for them?
- 59:12: What are you watching/reading? Recommendations?
KEY QUOTES
- People kept saying you will never get a New York Times review if you name yourself Vampire Cowboys.
- I never worried about taking myself seriously. I just wanted to do what I wanted to do.
- I wanted to do fights. I wanted to do comic books.
- You can be the greatest ally in the world but it’s different having someone in the room who has lived and breathed that experience.
- The main difference is my parents are immigrants and I…am not.
- You can’t be what you can’t see…and there are so many people who don’t get to see themselves as heroes. And I didn’t like that idea.
- My stage needs to look as diverse as the New York subway.
- A part of what makes a career full is making it and stopping to tell your story along the way. It’s not just about my journey.
- I am who I am because of failure. Massive amounts of failure.
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DYBP theme song, “Ditch” © 2020 by Dean Keith