Vietnamese-American animator takes Hollywood by storm

Lately, he was “Head Of Story” for the “DC League of Super-Pets”, an animated film directed by Jared Stern and Sam J. Levine, which aired in the U.S. at the end of July.

The film, which revolves around Superman and super-pets, is Vi Dieu’s debut for Warner Animation.

Prior to that, Dieu, 39, held a variety of positions at major animation studios including Sony Pictures Animation, Cartoon Network and DreamWorks Animation.

He was born in Fountain Valley, California, to an artistic Vietnamese family. His father is a poet.

When he was a kid, Dieu’s parents rented out DVDs for him to watch every weekend. “The Little Mermaid” in 1989 was the first ever animated feature he watched. He was six years old then and is interest in animation was piqued.

Soon, he would go straight home after school and start drawing. His inspiration came from illustrations in children’s books, which he studied in detail and tried to imitate. His childhood ambition was to work at the Disney animation studio.

Seeing his strong passion for animation, his family encouraged him to pursue a career in movies and painting, but he had to make sure he did not neglect other subjects at school.

Vi Dieu’s talent began to be acknowledged when he became a high school student.

In 2001, he enrolled in the animation course at California State Summer School for the Arts at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). That year, he won first place in an art competition for high school students and received a Congressional Award. His art was on exhibit at the Capitol for a year.

In 2002, he began a four-year program in character animation at CalArts. He and his friends worked on various animation projects during their academic years. His films “The Belittled” and “A Pair of Short Shorts” were presented at CalArts’s Character Animation Open Show.

After graduation, he applied without hesitation to many of Hollywood’s best animation firms, but he had a foot in the door a year earlier, interning in the content department of Pixar Animation Studios, where he received extensive training in how to make an animated film.

“I wasn’t up against any huge challenges. I was simply looking for ways to distinguish myself from others and impress potential employers,” he recalled.

During his internship, he witnessed the production of numerous projects, including “Ratatouille” (2007), “WALL-E” (2008), “Up” (2009) and others. He also had the chance to learn more about storytelling and cinematography from animators Mark Andrews and Peter Sohn, directors of “Brave” and “The Good Dinosaur” released in 2012 and 2015.

In 2008, he worked on his first Hollywood production, “Horton Hears a Who!” starring Jim Carrey as the beloved elephant Horton. At that time, he was helping out the storyboard artists at Blue Sky Studios as an assistant story artist. Over its extended two-month theatrical run, the picture earned over US$209 million.

Later, he spent nearly four years (2011-2015) with DreamWorks Animations.

As he worked with notable figures in the animation industry, he was able to hone his craft. One of his mentors at DreamWorks was Louie del Carmen, an animation creator with over 20 years of experience. Among his many films that have achieved great popularity are “Kung Fu Panda” (2008), “The Croods” (2013), and “Frozen 2” (2019).

Big time on the big screen

After joining Sony Pictures Animation in 2016, Dieu collaborated with Carmen on “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse” (2018), which won the 2019 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Prior to the film being shown to the public, the studio held a screening for critics and experts to get comments.

Dieu’s storyboard impressed Sam Levine, co-director of “DC League of Super-Pets”.

Dieu said during an interview with Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE), a non-profit that advocates for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the entertainment industry, that Sony had approached him about returning for “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse 2.”

When he was considering the offer, a member of Warner Animation Group’s “DC League of Super-Pets” approached him and said they wanted him to be their head of story. A chance to collaborate with Levine swayed his decision and he said yes.

DreamWorks Animations is the animation studio with which he spent the most time, at nearly four years (2011-2015).

As he worked with notable figures in the animation industry, he was able to hone his craft. One of his mentors at DreamWorks is Louie del Carmen, an animation creator with over 20 years of experience. Among his many popular films are “Kung Fu Panda” (2008), “The Croods” (2013), and “Frozen 2” (2019).

After joining Sony Pictures Animation in 2016, he collaborated with Carmen on “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse” (2018), which won the 2019 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Prior to the film being shown to the public, the studio held a screening for critics and experts to gain comments.

Dieu’s storyboard impressed Sam Levine, co-director of “DC League of Super-Pets”.

He said during an interview with Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE), a non-profit that advocates for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the entertainment industry, that Sony approached him about returning for “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse 2.”

When he was debating whether to sign the contract, a member of Warner Animation Group’s “DC League of Super-Pets” approached him and said they wanted him to be their head of story, a promotion he gladly accepted.

Vi Dieu’s paintings of Ace the dog and the superhero Batman in the movie “DC League of Super-Pets”. Photo courtesy of Dieu

After that project, he joined Netflix as head of story in February 2021.

“Not just me, everyone in my field will eventually have to look elsewhere for work. You have to change and evolve to survive in this industry,” Dieu said, commenting on the various roles he has played in the animation industry.

He is currently working on a Netflix animated feature called “Prince of Port-Au-Prince,” a story loosely based on the life of Wyclef Jean, a member of American hip-hop group the Fugees. The story takes place in Haiti and is inspired by Wyclef Jean’s upbringing as a rapper.

“The hardest parts of my job are trying to stand out from the crowd and make a good impression on directors and movie producers since my work history and past projects will be a big part of their final decisions.

“My goal is to always have a positive attitude and be a hard worker.”

With all the experience he has under his belt, Dieu said his ultimate career goal was to become a film director.