Point Park’s Emphasis on Storytelling Prepares Cinema Production Alumna Milky Tran '20 for Filmmaking Career Alumni Profile
Meet Milky Tran '20
- Job Title & Employer
- Producer/Director, Jubilee Media
- Major/Program
- Cinema Production
- College Activities
- Honors Program, Pioneer Ambassador
- Hometown
- North Huntingdon, Pa.
- High School
- Norwin High School
- Now Living In
- Los Angeles, Calif.
"I loved that you began making and experimenting with film your freshman year ... I’m grateful that Point Park had such a heavy focus on storytelling and allowed me to go through the full process of making a film many, many times."
Why did you choose Point Park’s cinema production program?
It was close to home and I received a great scholarship. I loved that you began making and experimenting with film your freshman year, compared to your junior or senior year like many other film schools. Once I met the faculty for my interview, I knew it was the place for me.
In what ways did your college experience prepare you for your career?
Besides teaching technical skills, it truly made me fall in love with filmmaking, which I think is the key to making this a career. It’s a ton of hard work and rejection, so it’s important that you love the process. The long days and nights you spend brainstorming and rewriting your script, working with your friends on set and on an edit — it was all so exhilarating and fun for me. I’m grateful that Point Park had such a heavy focus on storytelling and allowed me to go through the full process of making a film many, many times.
Tell us about the professional experiences you’ve had related to your major since graduating from Point Park.
Within this past year, I’ve been a film fellow at the DB Frieze Film LA Award with Endeavor Content and Ghetto Film School, a mentee of the Women in Film Organization and Unlock Her Potential mentorship, directed a sponsored custom episode for Google and am currently working as a producer/director at Jubilee Media.
What do you enjoy most about your current job?
I love that I am in a room full of other talented creatives to collaborate with. We brainstorm, test and workshop our shows as a team. I feel so, so lucky that I have a job that allows me to be a full-time director! It’s the benefit of stability while also still having a deeply creative job. Plus, our content has a specific mission of provoking understanding and creating human connection, so the work I’m creating is meaningful and fulfilling as well.
You were recently the keynote speaker at the Carnegie Mellon International Film Festival. Tell us more about that.
Yes, this was one of the highlights of my career! I am very honored to have been invited as a keynote speaker at this screening featuring Asian filmmakers. I gave a presentation about the lessons I have learned as an Asian-American artist — how the film industry interacts with us, finding community and finding your perspective. It was an emotional experience for me because after my speech, dozens of other young Asian people spoke to me. I felt how my words and my art had resonated with them and how they felt seen — it is a feeling I will cherish always.
What’s next for you in your career?
I’ll still be at Jubilee (directing dating content soon), but I’m figuring out what is next. I took a bit of a creative break this past year on personal projects, but have a short film in the pipeline and am hoping to get a film grant and direct a few music videos in the meantime.
Is there anything else you would like to add?
Success is how you define it! Post-grad life is incredibly challenging. You’re figuring out how to make money and how that’ll make you happy, on top of managing your personal life and exploring adulthood. Celebrate the smallest accomplishments and be kind to yourself as you navigate.