Intro: FIRST MEETING

We to Me is a documentary film brought to you by executive producers The Bridge Co.

Based on subject profiles in Nancy Napier and Dau Thuy Ha’s book “THE BRIDGE GENERATION OF VIETNAM : SPANNING WARTIME TO ECONOMIC BOOMTIME”, the film brings to life the stories of Vietnamese people born in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.

Pre-Production: PLANNING

Pre-production began in July 2019 with subject selection and logistical planning. Meetings were conducted regularly between The Bridge Co. and their production partner, 18Ninety Creative, based in Boise, ID. Many WhatsApp messages, Facetime calls and emails were needed over the course of the 3-month long pre-planning period in order to begin filming in October 2019. The 13 hour time difference between Hanoi and Boise was also a challenge, as both parties had to either stay up late or wake up early throughout the planning phase.

Production: Headed to HanoI

The three member team of 18Ninety Creative traveled to Hanoi on October 9, 2019, to begin filming. They joined Nancy, who is a professor at Boise State University, while she was already in country leading the Boise State Executive MBA cohort as they worked on their international business projects. Ha calls Hanoi home and she was an invaluable resource as she helped arrange interviews, troubleshoot last minute scheduling changes (a regular occurrence during filming) and served as the primary translator. Principle filming was conducted over an 11 day period from October 11-21.

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18Ninety filmed in 4k, nearly continuously, while conducting multiple interviews with the three subjects and filming day-in-the life activities. Aerial videography proved to be a difficult task, due to smog and weather, but 18Ninety was able to capture many great scenes. Hanoi is a busy city and filming would have been impossible without the support and efforts of Nancy and Ha. Early mornings were made possible with the strong Vietnamese coffee found at Cong Café, Xoan Café, and other local coffee spots. Many long nights of off-loading terabytes of 4K footage were made possible, and tolerable, with Bia Han Noi (Hanoi’s own local brew). The team was fueled by the local cuisine, especially Pho Thin, and other amazing street food options.

POST-PRODUCTION: Editing

Upon returning from Hanoi, 18Ninety offloaded approximately 10 TB of data they captured. The team then began to create a cohesive story meant to entertain, inform and inspire the audience. Multiple meetings, including feedback and focus grouping sessions, assisted the team in finalizing the documentary. Editing was completed on June 30, 2020, and the film has been entered into over 40 international film festivals, where it has been racking up wins, finalist designations, and official selections.

FILM RELEASE: NOVEMBER 7th!

All of you have been waiting patiently and the time has finally come to watch the documentary in its entirety! We to Me will be screened online via YouTube as part of The Chi-Town Multicultural Film Festival. The screening is free to the public, so we encourage you to register.