Meet Elizabeth Tran | Filmmaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Elizabeth Tran and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Elizabeth, what role has risk played in your life or career?
RIsk taking has been the story of my life/ career. I moved to Los Angeles two years ago without knowing a single person in the middle of the COVID pandemic with only 2000$ in my bank account and decided it was either now or never to start my creative career. Without that type of mentality, I would not be where I am right now. In order to become a successful filmmaker, there is always a level of risk taking involved, as you have to constantly step outside your comfort zone and be willing to take on new types of projects and situations to learn new things. I’ve found that especially true for myself — whenever I find myself on in a situation where I feel out of my comfort zone, it tends to provide the biggest learning curve. Film sets with complex camera rigs will teach you how to set them up and operate them, or companies that want specific projects by deadlines will teach you how to shoot and edit under pressure.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
Above all, I want to tell a story and change perspectives whenever I create something. My proudest work to date is a short film, “Loop”, that I wrote and directed with my friend Larissa Blanz (@larissa.blanz). So far, it has the honor of being chosen as an official selection for Venice Shorts Festival, LA Independent Women’s Film Awards, and an award finalist for IndieX film festival’s category of Best Women’s Short. It was written as an abstract representation of the idea that whenever we go through any kind of difficulties in life, we always find a new version of ourselves at the end of it — that life is this constant “loop” of rediscovering your identity over and over again. Even if this isn’t necessarily the interpretation that people come out of the film with, I would like to think they come out of it with a new perspective, which is what I aim to do with my work. I am also currently working on a project with Larissa called “Pink Room”. (@lifeinthepinkroom) It is a TV series that we are currently holding a fundraiser for. It centers around two cousins who start an app to deal drugs — kind of a female “Breaking Bad” meets “Euphoria” vibe. Two years ago, if you told me I’d be where I am currently, I would be in disbelief. When I first moved to LA, I was bouncing around from telemarketing job to retail work, with the vague idea that I wanted to be in the film industry and no idea where I could even start to pursue that goal. Upon meeting the people who would push me in the direction I needed to be pushed in and finally creating and uploading content, I started getting closer to where I wanted to be. I began freelance video work full time when I met rapper and DJ Melione, someone that I still consider to be a close friend and confidant today, I created some of my first music videos with her songs, and she got me plugged into the wedding/ event recap videography scene. It was thanks to her that I learned how to turn my art into a business. As of right now, I am currently working on writing and producing more short films and aiding with the creation of “Pink Room”. As I continue down this path of growth and maturity both as an individual and a creator, I only want to continue learning and experiencing new opportunities. The biggest takeaway/ lesson I’ve learned from my whole journey in the creative field is to always keep creating and making opportunities for yourself. Opportunities come about because you go to events, reach out to people, and they like your work. The moment you either stop creating or taking the initiative to create opportunities for yourself, your career and growth as a person stagnates.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If my friend from out of town was visiting LA, I would take them to Sunken City in San Pedro first, and we would stop by the San Pedro fish market afterwards. Throughout the week, we would visit the bonfire pits at Huntington Beach, see the the Signal Hill viewpoint, go to the top of the world hiking trail in Laguna Beach, visit the beach at San Clemente, go to Carbon Beach in Malibu, and visit both the Americana and the Grove. As for places to eat, I’m not a huge foodie, but I would definitely take them to eat at Kang Ho-dong baekjong in Ktown for Korean barbecue, Leo’s tacos, Brodard in Westminster for Vietnamese food, and Roscoe’s Chicken and Waffles.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My shoutout has to go to my friend, Kevin Trinh (@trinh.photography). It is thanks to him that I became the filmmaker I am today. Prior to doing videography, I was doing amateur modeling. He was the very first photographer I ever shot with in California and he introduced me to everyone I initially knew in the creative field. When I told him I was interested in doing more behind the camera stuff, he let me borrow his equipment to practice shooting, introduced me to people who brought me on my first film sets, helped me without complaint on my first shoots, and pushed me to create and publish my creative content when I felt discouraged.

Website: liztran.net

Instagram: lizdoratee

Image Credits
Larissa Blanz, Melione, Miki