Lang Van (Vietnamese: Làng Văn) is a Vietnamese production company based in
Westminster, CA and
Ho Chi Minh City
Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025.
The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...
, Vietnam.
History
Làng Văn (translated as ‘Village of Poetry’ in English) was founded in 1982. It was one of the first Vietnamese production companies to be established in the United States after Thanh Lan Productions, and the very first to open in
Westminster, CA. It is one of the oldest music companies in
Little Saigon, Orange County.
As a production company, it has released and owns the rights to more than 1,000 original titles in audio and video formats such as ''Thế Giới Nghệ Thuật (The World of Arts)'' and Lunar New Year
Tết
Tết (, ), short for (; ), is the most important celebration in Vietnamese culture. Tết celebrates the arrival of spring based on the Vietnamese calendar and usually falls on January or February in the Gregorian calendar.
is not to be co ...
Festival programs in both the United States and Vietnam. They have signed exclusive contracts to produce and publish recordings with iconic Vietnamese artists such as
Chế Linh,
Tuấn Vũ,
Elvis Phương,
Duy Khánh, and
Hương Lan.
Furthermore, the company also operates and produces in Vietnam. It has produced the live show/concert series ''Duyên Dáng Việt Nam (Charming Vietnam)'' for five consecutive years (15, 16, 17, 18 and 19) as well as various works of
cải lương
''Tuồng cải lương'' (, Hán-Nôm: 從改良) often referred to as ''Cải lương'' (Chữ Hán: 改良), roughly "reformed theater") is a form of modern folk opera in Vietnam. It blends southern Vietnamese folk songs, classical music, ''h ...
(known as Vietnamese Opera), comedy, karaoke, and educational and children's programming in Vietnam. A popular children's program it produces is
Bé Xuân Mai.
Controversy
According to
Tech in Asia, Lang Van filed the biggest lawsuit against a Vietnamese tech company in the US, as of 2014, for copyright infringements by VNG, as well as its venture capitalist firm IDG Ventures Vietnam.
Operations
From 2000 to 2005, it expanded their operations into acquisitions and distribution and acquired multiple Vietnamese music companies such as ''New Castle'', ''Nguoi Dep Binh Duong'', ''Truong Son Duy Khanh'', ''Thuy Anh'', ''Doremi'' and others. During this time period to the present, Làng Văn affiliated with various Vietnam-based productions to distribute their titles internationally.
Làng Văn has 6 retail stores domestically and abroad including, Paris, France, the historic
Asian Garden Mall (Phước Lộc Thọ) now closed in Westminster, California and
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Lang Van is the only US-based Vietnamese production company to operate both in the United States and Vietnam.
It has retail stores in Westminster (
Little Saigon
Little Saigon () is a name given to ethnic enclaves of overseas Vietnamese, expatriate Vietnamese mainly in English-speaking countries. (). Saigon is the former name of the capital of the former South Vietnam (now Ho Chi Minh City), where a lar ...
) and San Jose, CA, Paris, France, Washington D.C., Houston, TX, and Atlanta, GA.
Notable artists
Many of the artists that Làng Văn has signed exclusive contracts with also appear regularly in the popular ''
Paris By Night'' series.
*
Chế Linh
* Tuấn Vũ
*
Elvis Phương
*
Duy Khánh
*
Hương Lan
*
Lynda Trang Đài
*
Phi Nhung
*
Thanh Lan
*
Khánh Hà
*
Ngọc Lan
It has also produced the recordings of famed Vietnamese artist
Khánh Ly and has re-licensed many songs by legendary Vietnamese songwriters
Phạm Duy
Phạm Duy (5 October 1921 – 27 January 2013) was one of Vietnam's most prolific songwriters with a musical career that spanned more than seven decades through some of the most turbulent periods of Vietnamese history and with more than one ...
and
Trịnh Công Sơn. Its music was also featured in the 1993 Vietnamese-language film ''
The Scent of Green Papaya'', which was shortlisted for
Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...
.
Phong Le
In 2009, Làng Văn distributed
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
artist
Phong Le's debut album ''Lấy Tiền Cho Gái''.
[L. T 2009, "Phong Lê: Ca nhạc sĩ Rap đầu tiên trong làng nhạc Việt hải ngọai", ''Nguoi Viet''.]
See also
*
Paris By Night
References
External links
asiangardenmall.comlangvan.comvmdb.com
{{Authority control
Music production companies
Vietnamese-American culture in California
Asian-American mass media
Record producers from California
Companies based in Westminster, California
Privately held companies based in California
Music organizations based in Vietnam