Writer-Director David Anthony Ngo: Behind The Scenes Of Award-Winning Documentary Projects

Art is often a collaborative process, and becomes almost invariably so as projects grow larger and more ambitious. The film industry is a prime example of this; small independent films can get by with a small team, but any kind of blockbuster or even mid-sized movie requires the work of dozens, if not hundreds, of collaborators. From ideation, through early filming and production, to editing, and even—if not especially—during the release window, films succeed on the backs of collaborative teams working toward a shared vision. This is as true for horror movies and action movies as it is for biopics and documentaries. 

It’s that collaborative spirit that makes filming documentary projects so engaging and fulfilling, at least according to the award-winning filmmaker David Anthony Ngo. As both a writer and director of documentary and narrative films, David Anthony Ngo has created films shown around the world, including at festivals like the Sundance Film Festival. He’s the winner of the PBS Human Spirit Award, and has been nominated for both the WeScreenplay Diverse Voices and the Tracking Board Launch Pad competitions. Most recently he helmed Never Get Busted! a Sundance featured film following the infamous Texas lawman who turned on the police. 

The process behind putting together award-winning documentary projects is multifaceted and involves a great many people. Even after release, the process of taking these films to major international festivals has a lot of moving parts; taking a film from concept to the festival circuit is one of the most challenging artistic collaborative efforts that exists today. That’s part of what makes it so engaging and fulfilling, at least for David Anthony Ngo. 

“I have met hundreds, perhaps thousands, of filmmakers throughout the years at film festivals all over the world, and have found a shared passion and struggle for the medium that is inspiring,” Anthony Ngo says. “Making a movie is always a challenge. Making one independently requires an enormous amount of risk, dedication and hard work.” 

Inspired By Stories, Driven By Teams

While he’s now an internationally recognized and award winning writer and director, David Anthony Ngo started the same way every filmmaker does: small. He fell in love with watching murder mysteries—which would later become his genre of choice—and Hitchcock films with his grandmother, and would spend weekends going through piles of video tapes from the local store for new experiences. By the time he was watching The Big Lebowski as a teenager, he’d realized that the art form he loved so much was one he could contribute to. 

“I soon bought a small DV camera and started making short films on weekends,” Anthony Ngo recalls. “They weren’t great, but with each I got a bit better, learned the craft more, and bit by bit started to bridge the taste gap—that enormous divide between your artistic intention and the end result.”

As the years passed and his filmmaking career developed, Anthony Ngo learned that there is nothing more essential to the art than collaboration. In his words, the most unique thing about filmmaking is that it is a collaborative process; editors, producers, writers, directors, actors, cinematographers, and more are all crucial members of the team. Even during his formative career working as an editor, Anthony Ngo believed that it wasn’t about professional titles, but making sure the best idea wins. It’s a mindset he carries to this day. 

“Unfortunately, the industry puts too much focus on directors as a singular creative force,” he explains. “That’s simply not true. It’s always a team effort. Writers often initiate the project and key creatives help interpret it. So when I collaborate, I always try to keep that in mind. If someone else has a better idea, it’s best to drop the ego and take the win.”

From Concept To Festival Debut

Like any artist, David Anthony Ngo has his own unique creative process when it comes to filmmaking. Most of his films are rooted in true stories, often true crime stories, because they often inherently carry with them the ingredients of a good story for film: a great premise, interesting characters, and high stakes. However, whether it’s a documentary or not, it always starts with a story, a flash of inspiration, a driving idea that fascinates him enough to be interested over the years it’ll take to write, direct, and release the film. 

Once the illuminating idea has been discovered and chosen, the real work begins. Research makes up the majority of the early process, which often leads to multiple early rewrites on its own. Anthony Ngo usually starts with a beat sheet that maps out the major characters and plot points, giving necessary structure to the story before he fleshes it out into a longer form outline or script. These early stages can take over a year on their own, before any preparation for shooting begins. Once it’s done, Anthony Ngo will seek out feedback from trusted peers, then send it out to potential production partners and financiers. 

“In ‘Never Get Busted’, the co-creator Erin Williams-Weir and I saw a short video with the lead subject Barry Cooper, and were instantly hooked,” Anthony Ngo says. “Once we’d fleshed out the story, we sent it out to some Executive Producers in the space and were very fortunate it got in the hands of John Battsek (Academy Award Winner ‘Searching For Sugar Man’) and Chris Smith (‘Tiger King’) who saw the potential and jumped on board. It was an enormous undertaking that took 6 years of blood, sweat, and tears to finish.”

From its earliest spark to its final form, David Anthony Ngo was deeply embedded in every layer of the project—shaping the story from the ground up, personally connecting with subjects to build an intimate, observational lens that feels lived-in rather than constructed. What followed wasn’t just a production timeline, but a many years-long personal commitment, as he poured significant parts of his life into bringing the film to completion, taking on the uncertainty and risk that comes with independent storytelling.

Documentary work demands unwavering commitment from start to finish. While others stepped away when the process became too hard, the film was carried forward by those with the strength to never give up—through years of uncertainty, travel, and relentless effort. Alongside Emmy Award nominee Julian Hart (‘Tinder Swindler’) and a small edit team, David Anthony Ngo worked relentlessly combing through hundreds of hours of archival material and interviews to shape a story that resonates emotionally while maintaining a sharp, compelling edge.

Once the movie was complete, taking it into the international film festival circuit was only a logical next step. Festivals like Sundance are one of the few avenues independent filmmakers have to seek exposure, especially as distribution networks and studios have become more risk averse. Festivals are a way for smaller budget films to get attention and prove audience engagement—which can then lead to those networks distributing and screening the film. It’s a hard gauntlet to run, but every success makes it worth it. 

“Tenacity is the number one characteristic of any good filmmaker,” David Anthony Ngo says. “You’ll hear a million ‘no’s,’ be told you can’t do it, tell yourself you can’t do it, have people try to stop you from doing it—and still need to get up every morning and persevere. The world is always hungry for an engrossing story. Technology changes all the time, but if you’re a great storyteller, everything else can be learned.”

Written in partnership with Tom White