HBO® APA Visionaries is a short film competition showcasing emerging Asian and Pacific Islander American filmmakers. To honor Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and our filmmakers, HBO is celebrating Asian and Pacific Islander communities and its stories by streaming winning films from previous years. Come gather in strength as we watch #HBOVisionaries shorts throughout the month.
These films are available for viewing from Friday, May 15th at 12pm PT to Sunday, May 17th at 11:59pm PT.
On Friday, May 29th at 2pm PT, join us for the HBO APA Visionaries Roundtable Conversation, where we discuss the HBO APA Visionaries program and have a heartfelt conversation on the multiple and evolving layers of the APA filmmaker experience of today. E! host and correspondent Erin Lim, hosts Visionary finalists from across three classes, Dinh Thai (MONDAY), Maritte Go (REMITTANCE), Nirav Bhakta (HALWA), and Gayatri Bajpai (HALWA), joined by actress and filmmaker Sujata Day, for a conversation on what it means to be a storyteller and a leader. Click here to learn more.
Kwan is everyone’s one-stop-shop for anything stolen or illicit, but his reasons for hustling are not as clear-cut as they seem. While maneuvering between disparate cliques and facing racism, he’ll be forced to question the immorality of his occupation.
This film was a finalist for the 2017 HBO APA Visionaries Short Film Competition, and premiered at the 2017 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.
Dinh Thai
Dinh Thai is a Los Angeles based writer/director by way of commercial directing. He brings a youthful, multi-cultural viewpoint to his creative and energetic productions. His commercial clients include Adidas, T-Mobile, Toyota, and the US Navy. Dinh’s narrative work has aired on HBO and Cinemax. Specifically, MONDAY, a short film he wrote and directed has garnished over 50 festival awards and nominations, including first place in the inaugural HBO APA Visionaries competition. Dinh has participated in the Disney|ABC Director Program, shadowed on AMERICAN HORROR STORY (Ryan Murphy's Half-Initiative), MAYANS M.C. (Fox 21 TV), and directed an episode of NEW AMSTERDAM through NBC’s Emerging Director Program. He is actively pursuing film and TV directing assignments as well as developing a show based on his short film and other multicultural ideas.
- Year2017
- Runtime19 minutes
- LanguageEnglish
- CountryUnited States
- DirectorDinh Thai
- ScreenwriterDinh Thai
- ProducerBrian Burget
- Executive ProducerBrian Burget, Joshua Falcon, Dinh Thai
- CastKevin David Lin, L.A. Williams, Diamonique Noriega, Steve Castillo, Joe Cadiff, Alexis Clayton, Sarah Johanna Jewell, Lawrence Johnson, Intae Kim, Jefferson Cox, Grace Shen
- CinematographerAdriaan Kirchner
- EditorMatt Detisch
- ComposerJoshua Falcon, Greg Johnson
HBO® APA Visionaries is a short film competition showcasing emerging Asian and Pacific Islander American filmmakers. To honor Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and our filmmakers, HBO is celebrating Asian and Pacific Islander communities and its stories by streaming winning films from previous years. Come gather in strength as we watch #HBOVisionaries shorts throughout the month.
These films are available for viewing from Friday, May 15th at 12pm PT to Sunday, May 17th at 11:59pm PT.
On Friday, May 29th at 2pm PT, join us for the HBO APA Visionaries Roundtable Conversation, where we discuss the HBO APA Visionaries program and have a heartfelt conversation on the multiple and evolving layers of the APA filmmaker experience of today. E! host and correspondent Erin Lim, hosts Visionary finalists from across three classes, Dinh Thai (MONDAY), Maritte Go (REMITTANCE), Nirav Bhakta (HALWA), and Gayatri Bajpai (HALWA), joined by actress and filmmaker Sujata Day, for a conversation on what it means to be a storyteller and a leader. Click here to learn more.
Kwan is everyone’s one-stop-shop for anything stolen or illicit, but his reasons for hustling are not as clear-cut as they seem. While maneuvering between disparate cliques and facing racism, he’ll be forced to question the immorality of his occupation.
This film was a finalist for the 2017 HBO APA Visionaries Short Film Competition, and premiered at the 2017 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.
Dinh Thai
Dinh Thai is a Los Angeles based writer/director by way of commercial directing. He brings a youthful, multi-cultural viewpoint to his creative and energetic productions. His commercial clients include Adidas, T-Mobile, Toyota, and the US Navy. Dinh’s narrative work has aired on HBO and Cinemax. Specifically, MONDAY, a short film he wrote and directed has garnished over 50 festival awards and nominations, including first place in the inaugural HBO APA Visionaries competition. Dinh has participated in the Disney|ABC Director Program, shadowed on AMERICAN HORROR STORY (Ryan Murphy's Half-Initiative), MAYANS M.C. (Fox 21 TV), and directed an episode of NEW AMSTERDAM through NBC’s Emerging Director Program. He is actively pursuing film and TV directing assignments as well as developing a show based on his short film and other multicultural ideas.
- Year2017
- Runtime19 minutes
- LanguageEnglish
- CountryUnited States
- DirectorDinh Thai
- ScreenwriterDinh Thai
- ProducerBrian Burget
- Executive ProducerBrian Burget, Joshua Falcon, Dinh Thai
- CastKevin David Lin, L.A. Williams, Diamonique Noriega, Steve Castillo, Joe Cadiff, Alexis Clayton, Sarah Johanna Jewell, Lawrence Johnson, Intae Kim, Jefferson Cox, Grace Shen
- CinematographerAdriaan Kirchner
- EditorMatt Detisch
- ComposerJoshua Falcon, Greg Johnson