Kevin Ung is a film director and writer based in Los Angeles and Hong Kong
Kevin is a graduate of USC’s MFA in Film & Television Production. He is a Television Academy fellow and also the first fellow for Star Trek’s Command Training Program. His work has screened on broadcast, streaming and is also featured on Omeleto.
His most recent film, Work Life won Best Comedy, Best Screenplay and Runner-Up for Best Production design at USC x UTA’s First Look 2023, Best Student Film at Desertscape International Film Festival, and so far, has screened at 3 Oscar and BAFTA-qualifying festivals. The film is still doing its festival run.
His film, Refrigerate After Opening won Best Student Film at the Oscar-qualifying Cleveland International Film Festival, Audience Choice at the Pittsburgh Shorts Film Festival, Best Student Film at the Key West Film Festival and Audience Choice at the USC Asian Pacific Alumni Film Festival.
He previously received a HK$40,000 grant from the Hong Kong Arts Development Council to make the short film, Chubby Can Kill, which was nominated for several awards, including the Golden Reel, and the Linda Mabalot New Directors Award from the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. His films have screened and been distributed worldwide.
Kevin is the son of Cambodian genocide refugees, and while his filmmaking subjects are varied, they are often influenced by his family’s refugee experience in Cambodia and America as well as his time in Hong Kong.
Press
Phnom Penh Post - Khmer Influence Growing in Hollywood
Phnom Penh Post - Cambodian-American filmmaker wins festival award for short film
Phnom Penh Post - Cambodian-American Gets Star Trek Treatment
Daily Bruin - UCLA alum Kevin Ung finds film success overseas through “˜Chubby Can Kill’