Phillip Van has worked as a commercial and branded narrative content director for over a decade. His projects often highlight the surreal in the everyday, combining an uncanny and dryly humorous tone with dynamic visual storytelling. He’s Vietnamese American and the first on his dad’s side to be born in the US. He grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii and Portland, Oregon and he currently lives in Los Angeles.
After attending NYU Graduate Film, Phillip was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film,” and appeared in Shoot Magazine’s New Directors Showcase. His work has since been featured by the New York Times, Rolling Stone, MTV, Pitchfork, AdAge’s “Best Ads,” Short of the Week and Vimeo’s Staff Picks. His commercial work has won D&AD, One Show and Addy awards and his narrative short films have garnered accolades at festivals including Berlin, Sundance and Telluride.
On the literary front, he’s one half of the writing duo Goodwin & Van. He and his writing partner Chris Goodwin penned the screenplay To The Extreme, which was featured on The Hit List, Young & Hungry List and The Black List, the annual rundown of Hollywood’s best unproduced screenplays. It’s currently in development through No Trace Camping (Room) and Ramona Films (The Disaster Artist), with Dave Franco attached to star.