Thu Tran is a writer and producer, known for her shows ''Food Party'' and ''Late Night Munchies''. Much of her work is themed around food and cooking, but with a surreal spin.

Work

Tran attended the

Cleveland Institute of Art The Cleveland Institute of Art, previously Cleveland School of Art, is a private college focused on art and design and located in Cleveland, Ohio. History The college was founded in 1882 as the Western Reserve School of Design for Women, at f ...

, where she studied

glasswork Glassblowing is a glassforming technique that involves inflating molten glass into a bubble (or parison) with the aid of a blowpipe (or blow tube). A person who blows glass is called a ''glassblower'', ''glassmith'', or ''gaffer''. A '' lampworke ...

. While a student, she began making installation art, often themed around food. In 2007, Tran began creating ''Food Party'', an experimental cooking-themed series which used homemade puppets. The project began as a web series, but in 2009 it was picked up as a show for the

Independent Film Channel IFC is an American basic cable channel owned by AMC Networks. Launched in 1994 as the Independent Film Channel, a spin-off of former sister channel Bravo, IFC originally operated as a commercial-free service, devoted to showing independent fi ...

. Critics noted the show's surreal tone, unique props, and "lo-fi aesthetic". In 2013, Tran began working on the web series ''Late Night Munchies'' for MTV Other. In the web series, guests would cook with Tran, creating unusual dishes together. Guests on the show included Girl Talk,

Tiombe Lockhart Tiombe Lockhart is an American singer-songwriter from Atlanta, Georgia. She is a former member of Cubic Zirconia. Early life Lockhart was born in Atlanta, Georgia. At the age of 12 she moved to Los Angeles and completed the Los Angeles County Hi ...

, and

Sharon Needles Sharon Needles (born November 28, 1981) is the stage name of Aaron Robert Coady, an American drag performer and recording artist. Needles rose to international attention on the RuPaul's Drag Race (season 4), fourth season of the Logo (TV channel) ...

. Tran would later collaborate with Lockhart on a music video, and would join Girl Talk on one of their tours. Outside of ''Food Party'' and ''Late Night Munchies'', Tran has continued to work as an installation artist, and has collaborated with other artists on music videos, short films, and video games.

Personal life

Tran is of

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

ese descent and was raised in Cleveland, Ohio; the success of ''Food Party'' brought her to Brooklyn. She crafts many of the puppets used in her projects herself. Tran cooks extensively outside of her artistic work, and she learned to cook from her parents, who she credits both with teaching her to cook and influencing her style of humor.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tran, Thu American television actresses American television writers American writers of Vietnamese descent Living people Malaysian emigrants to the United States Actresses of Vietnamese descent Year of birth missing (living people) American women television writers 21st-century American women