LA based by way of Hawaii and Hong Kong, Nicholas is one of the most acclaimed Asian American advertising and music video directors working today. His keen sense of beauty in the imperfect, and prioritizing real locations over builds, has resulted in international campaigns for brands like Google, Samsung, Vivo, P&G, Nestlé, Timberland, Disney, Viacom and Dewars. Known for his refined yet gritty visual grammar and a style that combines emotional rawness with studied technique, this impactful balance of contradictions has attracted global agencies as BBDO, Ogilvy, Dentsu, Publicis, VMLY&R and Iris Worldwide, creating campaigns recognized and awarded by the Cannes Lions, CLIOs, Promax, 1.4, Citra Pariwara, MMA SMARTIES APAC, Shots Showcase and more. His work has been profiled in The LA Times, Rolling Stone, Billboard, Variety, The Telegraph, Entertainment Weekly, Vogue, Complex, Maxim and Forbes among others.
In the music world, Nicholas has directed videos for Nick Jonas, Blink-182, Sara Bareilles, Bastille, Divine, Salvatore Ganacci, Elton John, Jess Glynne and Monsta X, for which he remains the first and only non-South Korean director to ever receive an MTV VMA nomination for Best K-Pop Video.
Leveraging his background across continents with his passion to push culture forward, he also serves on the Board of Directors for the Chinese Chamber of Commerce LA, advising their entertainment division, and was selected as the 2023 Next Generation Leader by the Committee 100, an elite non-partisan organization comprised of the most prominent Chinese Americans in the arts, business, government and academia.
When not on set, Nicholas can be found carving the canyons in his race car or motorcycle, traveling the world hunting crazy street food, or talking sneakers and anime with fellow ‘heads.
AWARDS
CLIO Awards 2022 - MTV "Drinking Alone With the Moon" TV Promo Shortlist
Promax Awards 2022 - Disney/Marvel "Spidey and His Amazing Friends" WINNER Silver for Global Excellence Best Short Subject
Cannes Lions Young Directors Award (YDA) 2021 - Snakehips & Jess Glynne "Lie For You" Nominated for Best Animation
1.4 Awards 2021 - Snakehips & Jess Glynne "Lie For You" WINNER Silver for Best Animation
MTV VMA 2020 - Monsta X "Someone's Someone" Nominated for Best K-Pop Video
MMA Smarties Indonesia 2020 - Nestlé "Anti Manifesto" WINNER Gold for Direct Response / Conversion Category
MMA Smarties APAC 2020 - Nestlé "Anti Manifesto" WINNER Silver for Cross Media Category
MMA Smarties Indonesia 2020 - Nestlé "Anti Manifesto" WINNER Bronze for Cross Media Category
Citra Pariwara Awards 2019 - Nestlé "Anti Manifesto" WINNER Silver for Best Digital Campaign
Panavision New Filmmaker Award - "Real Fiction" WINNER for Dramatic Narrative Short
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