PHI'S STORY (Pronounced Like Fee)
ACT I: THE GROUND PLAN
Phi was born on August 7th, 1992 at a refugee camp in Bataan, Philippines to Vietnamese parents. Through the Amerasian Homecoming Act and with the help if World Relief, her father was able receive aid to move to the United State and was placed in Chicago, IL where Phi grew up in the suburbs since she was two months old.
The usual story goes is that she loved movies growing up and every summer during school break her mother would sign up for the Blockbuster 2 for 1 membership. She used it as therapy and Phi took advantage of those times to squeeze in as many movies as she could that ranged from indie European films to 80s action thrillers, including movies she probably shouldn’t have watched…but her parents never catched on.
ACT II: ELEVATIONS
Phi first saw the word “Filmmaker” after watching Requiem for a Dream and googling Darren Aronofsky. She did a deep dive search about a careers in filmmaking which lead to her epiphany at the age of 16 to pursue a career in the Film industry. She relocated to Los Angeles in 2010 when she was 17 and graduated from film school at the age of 19. While attending Film school she discovered her love for Production Design and chose to commit to learn the skillsets and criteria of what it took to run the Art Department. Since 2012, Phi gained experience on Theatre and Film productions working almost every position in the art department that eventually gave her the creative mindset to take on the role of Production Designer.
ACT III: HOT SET
Phi wholeheartedly believes in transparency, collaboration & communication in pre-production. She also believes that being a team player is essential when it comes to solving last minute obstacles when the cameras are finally rolling. Most importantly, Phi has attained the muscle memory to get the ball rolling on productions ranging from small to bigger budget projects and has the versatile experience to create worlds, wether it’s retrofitting on-location sets to creating sets from the ground up.
Phi harbors the importance of visual storytelling and knows that what we do as filmmakers can help influence the way people think and also help people feel recognized through the vulnerabilities of characters and stories. The escapism that entertainment provides can be life changing for many and Phi hopes that the commitment to her work on Film productions can be a catalyst to help people connect and expose them to shared experiences and things unknown.
END CREDITS:
Phi has designed for high profile clients that include Disney, Pixar, Lucas Films, Bad Boy Ent., Def Jam Records, Google, Mattel, Automobile Brands, Popular Spirits and more.
Currently, Phi continues to work on new collaborations that nurtures the innovation and creativity of visual storytelling.