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Issue #78 – Student Successes

Weekly Newsletter

by L. Swift and Jeff McQ

 
Student Successes


When RRFC gets you learning on the job, you never know what opportunities will come your way, especially when you’re open to anything! Read below about a Film Connection grad who started the program with an open mind, and soon found himself casting major motion pictures (and even getting acting roles himself)!

Student Successes
 

Film Connection graduate Huan Tran finds his way into a casting career!

    Many students who enroll in the Film Connection already have a good idea what they want to do in film—many want to direct, some want to produce or edit, some are interested in cinematography, etc. Sometimes, when our students get on the set and start experiencing the filmmaking process hands-on, they discover their true passion is different than what they originally thought.   Films in MotionWhen Film Connection graduate Huan Tran first showed up for his apprenticeship with Jason Hewitt of Films in Motion in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, he was a completely open book. He didn’t have a clue what he wanted to do. He just knew he wanted to work in film.   “I jumped around a lot,” he says. “Honestly, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. So Jason basically was like, ‘You know what? Try out everything and see what fits you best.’ And that was the best thing to do.”   That’s exactly what Huan did. “Jason put me [first] into post production—editing and coloring,” says Huan. “Editing is—either you have it or you don’t….It was fun, but it just wasn’t for me. So I went from that to set designing, which is the art department. I had a blast there, but I just didn’t see myself doing this.”   That’s about the time Huan met Jason’s fiancee, Lisa Marie Dupree, who was doing casting for the company. Almost immediately, things clicked into place.   “She was looking for a casting assistant because she was casting Left Behind. Each day, actually four days straight, she was casting 200 people per day,” says Huan. “So basically I helped her pick up the phone and start casting people, by phone and by email. And she was like, ‘Wow, you’re actually pretty good at this.’…I’m a people person. I’m very social, so I mean, it’s a skill that I have that I can read people pretty well.”  
"Huan

Huan Tran working on Proof of The Devil 2,
directed by Jason Hewitt

As is turned out, Huan worked so well with Lisa Marie that she became his mentor as he continued to work through the program. He jumped into casting with both feet, helping to cast not only Left Behind, but also several other major feature films.   And that’s not the only door that opened for Huan: having an acting background himself, he found himself getting cast in some of the movies as well!   “At the same time Lisa became mentor to me,” says Huan, “she had this role for this movie, and she was like, ‘Hey Huan, you’d be perfect for this role.’ And I was like, ‘Okay, fine. I’ll read for it.’ And I read for it, and booked it.”   Since then, thanks to the connections he’s made in casting, Huan has landed roles in several features, including the upcoming Lionsgate films Extraction starring Bruce Willis, and Bus 657 starring Robert De Niro!   “You wouldn’t believe the people I’ve met on set; it’s really ridiculous,” he says. “I wasn’t in a scene with [De Niro], but I was in a scene with Gina Carano (from Haywire and Dead Pool), and also I did I scene with Dave Bautista [from Guardians of the Galaxy]….I became really good friends with Dave Bautista and Gina Carano because I was on set with them for two weeks, so we basically bonded. We still get in touch.”   Huan’s acting career has taken off too! Credited as “Hawn Tran,” his acting name, Huan is in season 1 of the HBO TV series “Quarry.” So far Huan’s career is turning out to be the perfect example of what happens when you’re ready and are in the right place at the right time.   “You’ve got to put yourself where there are opportunities,” he says. “Honestly, thanks to Film Connection, like I wouldn’t have met Jason [without them]. And if I wouldn’t have met Jason, I wouldn’t have met Lisa Marie.”   His long-term goal? Huan says once he’s gained more experience and finds a good script, he’d like to produce films.   “As long as it’s a good script, I’m going to find a way to produce it,” he says. “And now that I’ve got the connections, you know, honestly, right now, I could write a script and pitch it to Lionsgate.”    

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