A Fresno City College instructor was recently awarded the Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. After three years of refinement, professor Abel Vang and his brother, Burlee were awarded $30,000 from the Academy for their feature length screenplay of “The Tiger’s Child”.
“Nicholl has done wonders (for us). It’s opened up many doors in terms of getting attention,” professor Vang explained. Since receiving the honor three months ago, the Vang brothers have signed with the Brent Rose agency. With their emerging reputation, prominent producers such as Gail Katz of “The Perfect Storm” and Gary Foster of “Sleepless in Seattle” have requested readings of their screenplay.
Abel Vang developed an interest for film after taking an extracurricular digital filmmaking class with Dr. John Moses here at FCC. In 2003, he transferred to Fresno State with an Associate’s Degree in Science. While focusing on undergraduate work in molecular biology, Vang continued to pursue filmmaking.
“By the time I was finishing up my undergrad, I figured that I didn’t want to go to med school. I didn’t want anything to do with science anymore,” Vang explained. Then shortly before his graduation, he had an opportunity to fly free of charge to Thailand to produce his first feature, “Nyab Siab Zoo (The Goodhearted Daughter)”.
“I wanted to get something underneath my fingers before I started film school,” Vang explained. “Without knowing how to make a film and without knowing how to even write a script, I did it because I was given the opportunity.” His feature was later shown at the Sacramento Film Festival as well as the Wisconsin Film Festival and has been used for lectures at the Niagara Seminary College in New York.
With his newfound prestige, Vang decided to research filmmaking schools. He settled on the University of Southern California after discovering their top ranking in a Google search. In 2009, he was accepted into the USC film program. Vang graduated with a Master’s Degree in Film Arts for Cinema and Television Production in late 2011.
During his time at the University of Southern California, he and his brother, Burlee, began to collaborate on what would eventually become “The Tiger’s Child”. “I would travel back to Fresno twice a month so that we could work together to brainstorm and write,” Vang recalled.
In the early 1960’s, the Central Intelligence Agency hired Hmong mercenaries, including children, to sacrifice themselves in a secret war against the North Vietnamese Army. By the end of the Vietnam War, over 100,000 Hmong had perished amidst the conflict. In exchange for their sacrifice, soldiers eventually received refugee status and residency within the United States.
In “The Tiger’s Eye”, the Vang brothers explored this secret war through the eyes of a thirteen-year-old boy. “We never see a war film where the protagonist is a soldier and a child,” Vang explained. “And so I wanted to write a story revolving around this child, seeing the whole secret war through his eyes.”
Prior to the CIA’s intervention in the 1960s, Hmong culture contained no written language. Extraordinarily, two direct descendants of the secret war have produced a culturally accurate, award-winning screenplay that preserves and exemplifies Hmong history.
Abel and Burlee Vang could have just as easily missed this opportunity after nearly having fallen short of the Academy’s submission requirements. As the contest deadline approached, Abel Vang realized that he could not fully account for the $40 entry fee. “I had to call [Burlee] to help,” he explained.
Only shortly before the Academy’s deadline did Burlee manage to account for the cost of entry of “The Tiger’s Child”. Had Burlee paid for his monthly expenses sooner than he did, their lives would have taken a different course. Treading water, the Vang brothers turned a nearly unaccountable $40 investment into a $30,000 story of perseverance.
This achievement reflects a commitment to the expression and preservation of Hmong history and culture. With a foundation of prestige, the Vang brothers have begun development on a television pilot and a second full length feature screenplay. Professor Vang, now 27, teaches Film 1 here at the college and will offer an additional film class beginning February 21st.