Biography

A refugee of the Vietnam war, Derek Nguyen is a screenwriter, director, producer, and playwright. His directorial feature debut The Housemaid (Cô Hâu Gái) was released in North America by IFC Films in 2018 and in Vietnam by CJ Entertainment and HKFilms. The film sold to 22 different territories around the world. He was a Sundance Screenwriters Lab fellow for his screenplay, Monster based on his award-winning play. He is the co-founder of the production company The Population with Mynette Louie, which produced Carlo Mirabella-Davis' Swallow (IFC Films), Heidi Ewing's I Carry You With Me (Sony Pictures Classics), Josef Kubota Wladyka's Catch the Fair One (IFC Films, executive produced by Darren Aronofsky), and upcoming Olivia West Lloyd's Somewhere Quiet. Derek was also on the producing teams for Jennifer Fox's The Tale, So Yong Kim's Lovesong, Sarah Adina Smith's Buster's Mal Heart, Jamie Babbit's Addicted to Fresno, and Hannah Fidell's The Long Dumb Road, among others. Derek wrote and directed two short films that have screened at festivals worldwide: The Potential Wives of Norman Mao which was narrated by George Takei and The Resemblance which premiered at 2022 Tribeca Festival.

Derek has worked at numerous companies and organizations including Gamechanger Films, Tribeca Film Institute, the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (The International Emmy Awards), and IFP/New York.

Awards: 1998-99 Van Lier Emerging Artists of Color Playwriting Fellowship at New York Theatre Workshop; 1999 Y2K New Voices Play Competition Winner at East West Players; 2003 Edgar Award Nomination for Best Full-Length Play (Monster); 2004 New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship; 2004 Sundance Institute's Screenwriters Lab; 2006 Urban Artist Initiative Screenwriting Grant; 2009 New York Innovative Theatre Awards Winner. Best Production of a Play, Best Director, and Best Featured Actress for Lee/gendary (Writer); 2013 Center for Asian American Media (CAAM) Fellowship; 2020 Starfish Accelerator Fellowship; 2022 Future Gold Film Fellowship, presented by Tribeca Studios, Netflix, and Gold House

- IMDb mini biography by: Wikipedia