Quyen Tran

Quyen Tran /ˈkwiːɛn ˈtræn/^[1] is a Vietnamese-American cinematographer based in Los Angeles.^[2][3] She has worked on multiple Sundance films such as The Little Hours and Deidra & Laney Rob a Train.^[4]

Quyen Tran
Nationality	American
Alma mater	UCLA
Occupation	Cinematographer
Spouse	Sam Riegel
Children	2
Website	www.qtranfilms.com

Education

After witnessing the 9/11 attacks in New York City, Tran applied to film school and was accepted to UCLA.^[3][5] Roger Deakins was a cinematographer-in-residence at the time of her attendance and became one of her mentors.^[5]

Photography

Tran began her artistic career as a still photographer.^[3][6] Her photos have appeared in the New York Times,^[7][8] LA Times,^[9] USA Today, New York Post, New York Daily News, Dateline NBC, HBO’s In Memoriam, BBC, CNN International News, PBS, Sacramento Bee, The Age (Australia), Scientific American, Variety, TV Guide, and more. She was nominated for the World Press Photo Award.

Film and television

Tran has worked as a cinematographer on short films, television, and full length films.^[10] In 2021, Tran became a member of the American Society of Cinematographers.^[11]

Awards and honors

• Best Cinematography UCLA Spotlight: 2008, 2007, 2006
• Best Feature Cinematography – Wild Rose Film Festival
• Federico de Laurentiis Memorial Scholarship
• National Theater Goers Alliance Scholarship^[12]

Personal life

Tran's parents were refugees from South Vietnam. She is bilingual,^[13] fluent in English and Vietnamese.^[12] Tran is Catholic.^[14] She is married to voice actor Sam Riegel and they have two children.

Filmography[12]

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2008	Vietnam Overtures	Stephane Gauger		[15]
2009	16 to Life	Becky Smith
	The People I've Slept With	Quentin Lee		[16]
2010	Troublemaker	Geeta Malik
	Girlfriend	Justin Lerner		[17][18][19]
2011	A Bag of Hammers	Brian Crano
	Mulberry Child	Susan Morgan Cooper
2013	Free Ride	Shana Sosin
	American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs	Grace Lee	2014 Peabody Award[20]	[3][21]
2015	Off the Menu: Asian America	Grace Lee
	Pali Road	Jonathan Lim
	The Automatic Hate	Justin Lerner		[22]
2016	The Night Stalker	Megan Griffiths
	To The Moon & Back	Susan Morgan Cooper
2017	Deidra & Laney Rob A Train	Sydney Freeland
	The Little Hours	Jeff Baena		[23]
2018	Dark Was the Night (formerly Behold My Heart)	Joshua Leonard
2020	Life in a Year	Mitja Okorn
	Palm Springs	Max Barbakow		[24]
2024	Brothers	Max Barbakow
	Kingship	Julien Favre

TV series and TV mini series

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2008	Imaginary Bitches	13	Season 1, Episodes 1-13	Emmy Nomination[25] [26]
2009	Atom TV	1	Episode 2.1	[27]
2012	Dark Wall	2	"Whispers" "Home: A Ghost Story"	[28]
2015	Dr. Mona Vand: The Modern Pharmacist	1	"Is There a Difference Between Physical Dependence and Addiction?"	[29]
2018	Camping	8	[All 8 episodes]	[30]
	Here and Now	5	"It's Coming" "If a Deer Sh*ts in the Woods" "Fight, Death" "Wake" "Dream Logic"	[2][6][31]
2019	Unbelievable	3	Episodes 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3	[32][33][34]
2020	A Teacher	10	[All 10 episodes]	[35]
2021	Maid	4 as Cinematographer 1 as Director	As Cinematographer "Dollar Store" "Ponies" "Sky Blue" "Snaps" As Director "Bear Hunt"[36]	[37][36]
2022	Roar	2 as Cinematographer 1 as Director	As Cinematographer "The Woman Who Found Bite Marks on Her Skin" "The Woman Who Solved Her Own Murder" As Director "The Woman Who Returned Her Husband"	[38]
2023	Ahsoka	2	Part Two: Toil And Trouble Part Three: Time To Fly

Shorts

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2005	Echostop	Justin Lerner		[39]
2006	Chinese Dumplings	Michelle Hung		[40]
	Hurricane Party	AP Gonzalez		[41]
	Maggie's Not Here	Justin Lerner		[42]
2007	A Watermelon Seed (Gua zi)	Miqi Huang		[43][44]
	Beast	Geeta Malik		[45]
	Joburg	Thabo Wolfaardt		[46][47]
2009	The Fence	Matt Silas		[48]
	Waiting Room	Katharine O'Brien		[49]
	The Empty Space in Between	Maria Tornberg		[50]
2013	Noel	Joe Holt		[51]
2014	The Learning Curve	Phil McCarty		[52]
2015	SMILF	Frankie Shaw	Winner, Jury Award for Sundance Shorts[53][54]	[55][53]
2019	Stucco	Janina Gavankar Russo Schelling		[56]
	Keystone	Brandon Fayette
	Monkey	Yoshie Suzuki
	Swallow	Emily Taylor-Mortorff

Appearance in documentaries

Year	Title	Role	Crew role, notes	Ref.
2011	"Sam Riegel and Quyen Tran on 9/11"[57]	Herself	Documentary footage on 9/11 attack, used in 102 Minutes That Changed America and other documentaries

Article mentions and interviews

Between the Sheets: Quyen Tran, Critical Role interview with Brian W. Foster^[58]

#belowthelinesowhite? Hollywood’s Rank & File Leaders Tackle Diversity^[59]

Four Asian-American Women Share Their Experiences Working in Hollywood, by Peter Caranicas^[60]

How 'The Little Hours' DP Used 'Crazy Rigs' to Recreate Film School on an Unpredictable Set, by Hawkins DuBois^[23]

“How to Sell the Outrageous Premise of the Film”: DP Quyen Tran on Deidra & Laney Rob a Train, by Filmmaker Staff^[61]

International Women’s Day: 17 female cinematographers to celebrate, by Nikki Baughman^[62]

Interview: Cinematographer Quyen Tran on the Minute Details of Filming “The Little Hours," by Stephen Saito^[63]

Motion picture academy invites largest class ever in continued push for diversity, by Josh Rottenberg^[64]

Sundance 2017 Q+A — Cinematographer Quyen Tran, by David Alexander Willis^[65]

Quyen Tran on Shooting Frankie Shaw’s Sundance-Winning SMILF, by Scott Macaulay^[53]

References

1. As pronounced by Tran in "Between the Sheets: Quyen Tran".
2. Lindsay, Benjamin (3 June 2021) [13 March 2018]. "Take It From a DP (and Holly Hunter): Follow Your Instincts on Set". Backstage. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
3. Forfeit, Kate (8 July 2019). "Cinematographer on the Rise Finds Connection in Urban Oasis". Variety. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2019.
4. Erbland, Kate; O'Falt, Chris (23 January 2017). "Girl Talk Live: Female Cinematographers on How They Made Their Sundance Films — Watch". IndieWire. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
5. "Rising Stars of Cinematography 2017". American Society of Cinematographers. 10 February 2017. Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 26 March 2019.
6. Giardina, Carolyn (20 June 2018). "From 'Handmaid's Tale' to 'Altered Carbon': 4 Cinematographers on Shooting 'Epic and Intimate' Scenes". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
7. Dowd, Maureen (28 February 2015). "Dirty Words From Pretty Mouths". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
8. Hale, Mike (14 July 2011). "A Kindhearted Man in a Small Town [Movie Review: 'Girlfriend']". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
9. Rechtshaffen, Michael (11 March 2016). "Review: In 'Automatic Hate,' the ties that bind are bitter and spiteful". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
10. "Quyen Tran". IMDb. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
11. Dillard, Samantha (18 June 2021). "ASC Welcomes New Member Quyen Tran". American Society of Cinematographers. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
12. "Quyen Tran, DP". www.quyenfilm.com. Retrieved 2019-03-18.
13. Tangcay, Jazz (25 April 2019). "Newport Beach Film Festival Celebrates 20 Years Of Art, Food and Film". Awards Daily. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
14. "All Work No Play: Fire Spinning". YouTube. Critical Role. 4 November 2018. At 8 minutes 15 seconds. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 24 December 2020. Sam Riegel: I had to convert to Catholicism to get married to my wife.
15. "Vietnam Overtures (2008 TV Movie) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
16. Catsoulis, Jeannette (12 August 2010). "Tales of a Trashy Bachelorette Movie Review: 'The People I've Slept With'". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
17. Harvey, Dennis (5 November 2015). "Film Review: 'The Automatic Hate'". Variety. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
18. Anderson, John (28 September 2010). "Girlfriend". Variety. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
19. "Girlfriend (2010) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
20. "POV: American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs". The Peabody Awards. 2014. Archived from the original on 25 June 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
21. "American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs (2013) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
22. Harvey, Dennis (5 November 2015). "Film Review: 'The Automatic Hate'". Variety. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
23. DuBois, Hawkins (30 June 2017). "How 'The Little Hours' DP Used 'Crazy Rigs' to Recreate Film School on an Unpredictable Set". No Film School. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
24. Marchant, Beth (4 March 2021). "The Cinematographers; That Big Shot; Those behind the camera of 'Palm Springs,' 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom' and 'The Father' tell how they filmed their movies' biggest truth-telling moments". Los Angeles Times. pp. S.10.
25. "The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Announces the 36th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Award Nominations - New Approaches - Daytime Entertainment" (PDF). Emmy Awards. National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. 14 March 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 May 2014.
26. "Imaginary Bitches (2008–2009) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
27. "Atom TV (2008–2010) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
28. "Dark Wall (2012– ) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
29. "Dr. Mona Vand: The Modern Pharmacist (2014– ) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
30. "Camping (2018) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
31. "Here and Now (2018) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
32. Kieling, Max (2 October 2019). "Netflix limited series explores effects of society failing to believe women". Daily Bruin. Archived from the original on 14 August 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
33. "Unbelievable (2019) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
34. Rochlin, Margy (19 November 2019). "'Unbelievable' keeps its rape investigation real, including treatment of the victims". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
35. "A Teacher (2020) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
36. Friedman, Illya (19 January 2022). "Quyen Tran, ASC, on directing and shooting episodes of the Netflix limited series Maid". Cam Noir. Archived from the original on 7 December 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
37. "Maid (2021) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
38. "Roar (2022– ) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
39. "Echostop (2005) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 24 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
40. "Chinese Dumplings (2006) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 24 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
41. "Hurricane Party (2006) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 24 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
42. "Maggie's Not Here (2006) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 24 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
43. "Gua zi (2007) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
44. "Credit List". A Watermelon Seed (aka Gua zi). 22 May 2008. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
45. "Beast (2007) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 24 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
46. Boden, Daniel (19 January 2010). "Sundance Film Festival to screen UCLA-affiliated films". Daily Bruin. Archived from the original on 24 February 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
47. "Joburg (2007) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 24 February 2023. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
48. "The Fence (2009) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 24 February 2023. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
49. "Waiting Room (2009) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 24 February 2023. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
50. "The Empty Space in Between (2009) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 24 February 2023. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
51. "Noël (2013) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 24 February 2023. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
52. "The Learning Curve (2014) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 24 February 2023. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
53. Macaulay, Scott (13 February 2015). "Quyen Tran on Shooting Frankie Shaw's Sundance-Winning SMILF". Filmmaker Magazine. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
54. Andreeva, Nellie (17 April 2015). "Frankie Shaw's Sundance Short 'SMILF' To Be Developed As Showtime Comedy". Deadline. Archived from the original on 25 June 2022. Retrieved 24 February 2023.
55. "SMILF (2015) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 24 February 2023. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
56. "Stucco (2019) - Full Cast & Crew". IMDb. Archived from the original on 25 February 2023. Retrieved 25 February 2023.
57. Riegel, Sam; Tran, Quyen (11 September 2001). "Sam Riegel and Quyen Tran on 9/11". History.com (Video captured in Gateway Plaza by Sam Riegel and Quyen Tran on 11 September 2001). Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
58. Foster, Brian W. (6 February 2019). "Between the Sheets: Quyen Tran". YouTube (Video interview with Quyen Tran). Critical Role. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 13 May 2019.
59. Weiner, Rex (24 February 2016). "#belowthelinesowhite? Hollywood's Rank & File Leaders Tackle Diversity". Capital & Main. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
60. Caranicas, Peter (1 November 2016). "Four Asian-American Women Share Their Experiences Working in Hollywood". Variety. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
61. "'How to Sell the Outrageous Premise of the Film': DP Quyen Tran on Deidra & Laney Rob a Train". Filmmaker Magazine. 29 January 2017. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
62. Baughman, Nikki (8 March 2018). "International Women's Day: 17 female cinematographers to celebrate". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 28 January 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
63. Saito, Stephen (30 June 2017). "Interview: Cinematographer Quyen Tran on the Minute Details of Filming 'The Little Hours'". The Moveable Fest. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
64. Rottenberg, Josh (25 June 2018). "Motion picture academy invites largest class ever in continued push for diversity". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
65. Willis, David Alexander (20 January 2017). "Sundance 2017 Q+A — Cinematographer Quyen Tran". HD Video Pro. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)

External links

• Quyen Tran at IMDb