Kevin Ung

BIOGRAPHIE

Kevin Ung is a Cambodian American filmmaker based in Los Angeles and Hong Kong. He is a Television Academy fellow and was also the first fellow for Star Trek’s Command Training Program. He previously received a grant from the Hong Kong Arts Development Council to make the short film, ‘Chubby Can Kill’, which was nominated for several awards, including the Golden Reel, and the Linda Mabalot New Directors Award from the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. He directed this film in Cantonese, a language he didn’t speak at the time. His films have screened and been distributed worldwide. Kevin’s previous USC film, ‘Refrigerate After Opening’, won best student film at the Oscar-qualifying Cleveland International Film Festival and Audience Choice at the Pittsburgh Shorts Film Festival. It will be submitted for Oscar consideration and is currently screening at festivals around the world and has secured distribution. Kevin was one of three (out of nearly 100) selected to direct a USC 546 thesis film, which turned into ‘Work Life’. Previous directors of this class include Ryan Coogler, and Steven Caple Jr. (Jon Chu directed in the undergraduate version of this class) Kevin is the son of Cambodian refugees, and while his filmmaking subjects are varied, they are often influenced by his family’s refugee experience in Cambodia and America as well as his time in Hong Kong. It is especially important to him, being a minority of a minority to represent his community in Hollywood. His list of academic awards include: The USC Annenberg Fellowship (USC’s top fellowship), The Hong Kong Scholarship for Excellence (Hong Kong’s top scholarship), the USC Asian Pacific Alumni Association Scholarship, the Against the Grain Artistic Scholarship, the Edward Small Writing Award, the Gene Autry Endowed Award, the Mary Pickford Foundation Award, and the Patricia John Mitchell Award.

FILMOGRAPHIE