Fox Optioned His Script. It Never Got Made.
The Story
While living in Vietnam, Trung co-wrote a comedy screenplay called “The Lose” with Eric Gershoni and Michael Gray. They received guidance from Vietnamese-American screenwriter Vincent Ngo (who wrote Hancock).
Fox International optioned the script. Despite rewrites, it languished in production hell for two years and was never produced. Fox’s option eventually expired.
This failure turned out to be formative. The screenwriting process gave Trung a deep understanding of story structure, setup-punchline mechanics, the “show don’t tell” principle, and the psychology of entertainment. He later said that Twitter and newsletters gave him “permissionless creation,” letting him achieve his comedy and storytelling goals without studio gatekeepers.
Years later, he returned to the material and produced “Early Risers,” a comedy TV series based on the same Vietnam expat experience. He was supposed to play himself but failed his own audition, so a professional actor was cast instead.
Lesson for Creators
Gatekeepers can block one path but not the skills you built on it. Trung spent years trying to get a movie made through traditional Hollywood channels. It failed. But the same storytelling skills made him one of the most-followed business writers on Twitter, where no studio executive gets a vote. If a gatekeeper is blocking your work, find the permissionless platform.
Related
- Permissionless Creation vs. Hollywood Gatekeepers — The broader principle that emerged from this experience: internet platforms let creators bypass traditional gatekeepers entirely
- The Rejected Pull Request — An old method was rejected but the underlying skill found a new and better outlet, mirroring how Trung’s screenplay skills transferred to Twitter
- Failed His Own Audition for His Own TV Show — Years later Trung returned to the same Vietnam material and finally produced it, showing that shelved ideas can resurface when the time is right