Timothy Linh Bui (b.

Saigon 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 ...

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

, April 13, 1970) is a Vietnamese-born American

filmmaker Filmmaking or film production is the process by which a Film, motion picture is produced. Filmmaking involves a number of complex and discrete stages, beginning with an initial story, idea, or commission. Production then continues through screen ...

, film producer, and

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

. He directed '' Green Dragon'', and co-wrote and produced ''

Three Seasons ''Three Seasons'' ( Vietnamese title: ''Ba Mùa'') is a 1999 film, shot in Vietnam, about the past, present, and future of Ho Chi Minh City in the early days of Doi Moi. It is a poetic film that tries to paint a picture of the urban culture un ...

''.

Early life

Bui was born in Saigon, South Vietnam, and came to the United States with his family as a refugee of the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

in 1975, leaving Vietnam approximately one week before the

Fall of Saigon The fall of Saigon, known in Vietnam as Reunification Day (), was the capture of Saigon, the capital of South Vietnam, by North Vietnam on 30 April 1975. As part of the 1975 spring offensive, this decisive event led to the collapse of the So ...

. He grew up in

Sunnyvale, California Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States. Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real (California), El Camino Real and U.S. Route 101 in California, Highway 1 ...

, in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

. His parents held a

video store A video rental shop/store is a physical retail business that rents home videos such as movies, prerecorded TV shows, video game cartridges/discs and other media content. Typically, a rental shop conducts business with customers under condit ...

where he watched "thousands" of movies and shot amateur action short films in his parents' backyard. Bui initially moved to Los Angeles to study in business school, but quickly dropped out to join a film school. He is a graduate of Los Angeles film school,

Columbia College Hollywood California College of ASU (Arizona State University) is a private college in Los Angeles, California. Until 2023, it was known as Columbia College Hollywood. It is one of only 20 film institutions in the United States that have been awarded fu ...

(CCH). Timothy Linh Bui is the older brother of Tony Bui, who is also a film director and producer. Bui is also the nephew of the Vietnamese actor Đơn Dương.

Career

In 1999, Tim Bui co-wrote the film ''

'' with his brother, the first US-funded production about Vietnam that portrayed the beauty of the country instead of the war horrors of the 1970s. This trip to Vietnam revived his interest for his family's country. In 2001, he released '' Green Dragon'', which took place in the Vietnamese

internment camps Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without charges or intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects". Thus, while it can simp ...

in Pendleton, California in 1975. Patrick Swayze's last film appearance was in Tim Bui's 2009 film '' Powder Blue''. In 2013, Bui, along with his partner Anh Tran, co-founded the movie production company ''Happy Canvas Film'' in the USA. In 2016, he moved Happy Canvas Film to

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 ...

in Vietnam to develop the film industry in the country. The studio worked on the production of a Vietnamese version of the TV show '' The Bachelor''. In 2018, Bui was part of the production team behind the American remake of his 2016 film '' The Housemaid''.

Filmography

Awards

* 2001: Best Advance Screening for ''Green Dragon'' at the

Austin Film Festival Austin Film Festival (AFF), founded in 1994, is an organization in Austin, Texas, that focuses on writers' creative contributions to film. Initially, AFF was called the Austin Heart of Film Screenwriters Conference and functioned to launch the c ...

* 2001: Best Film for ''Green Dragon'' at the

Humanitas Prize The Humanitas Prize is an American award for film and television writing, presented to writers whose work explores the human condition in a nuanced and meaningful manner. It began in 1974 with Father Ellwood "Bud" Kieser—also the founder of ...

* 1999: Grand Jury Prize, Audience Award, Cinematography for ''Three Season'' at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

* 2001: Grand Jury Prize for Best Dramatic Film for ''Green Dragon'' at the

* 2014: Silver Kite Award Best Feature Film for ''How To Fight in Six Inch Heels'' (Am Muu Giay Got Nhon) at the Vietnam Awards * 2016: Highest Grossing Vietnamese Horror Film for ''The Housemaid'' at the Vietnam Awards * 2017: Silver Lotus Award Best Feature Film for ''The Housemaid'' (Co Hau Gai) at the Golden Lotus Film Festival

References

External links