Today we’d like to introduce you to Thang Ho.
Thanks for sharing your story with us Thang. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
So, a quick geographical exposition grew up in Vietnam, high school in New Zealand, undergrad in Boston, and grad in Atlanta. I would romantically assign the beginning of my career to the moment when my mom gifted me a Canon 60D when I was sixteen. I used this camera as a way to talk to girls. I was a nerd and high definition photos were my only way of getting attention from girls in high school. This gradually turned into a passion for portrait photography throughout college, where I pursued a degree in Business Management. The two things that lead me to a career in filmmaking:
1. People asked me to make dance videos and music videos.
2. Obsessive watching of Casey Neistat’s vlogs.
I then traveled everywhere in Europe and the United States, made vlogs and tried the whole YouTube thing. Then eventually, I started applying to go to film school. The first school I applied for was Emerson College in Boston. I didn’t get in. That rejection drove me to make my first proper film, called “It’s All Good,” starring Junior Cius and Camaron Engels. This film got me into a different graduate film program, Savannah College of Art & Design.
So, I packed my bags with my best friend, Joe Brottman, and drove down to Atlanta from Boston. Since then, I’ve been working non-stop to build my production company, HOCA Studio, alongside with some great colleagues. Now, we have won a regional Emmy, have films playing at different festivals across the country, and registered officially as a production company in Atlanta, Georgia.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I am way more fortunate than many others. My family supports me, although there’s a definite disconnection in our career choices. Being an international student trying to make it in the film industry in the U.S. definitely carries its weight. We constantly have to battle with the lack of authorization to work and applications for visas. Other than that, I can’t complain too much as I love what I do now.
HOCA Studio – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
HOCA Studio is an EMMY Award® winning independent entertainment company that specializes in film and television production. A one-stop-shop for your original content. We tackle content from an identity-driven standpoint. We create branded content to promote companies that we believe in while developing our own web series and short films.
I’m proud of the members we have in the company. We’re diverse when it comes to our backgrounds, which inherently enhance our range in stories. We have strength all across different crafts of film production. We’re determined to create content that has an identity. And we love subverting genres and norms. And I can only hope those things will help us set us apart from others.
Pricing:
- Editing – $400/day
- Producing – 15% of your budget
- Video Production – $500/day
Contact Info:
- Website: https://hocastudio.com/
- Email: officialthangho@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thangfilms/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hocastudio/
- Other: vimeo.com/hocastudio.com
Image Credit:
Lucas Tam, Jeremy Rock
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