Today we’d like to introduce you to Debbie Vu
Hi Debbie, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My story as an award-winning creative storyteller started with a love for reading. Going to school was a welcoming refuge where I could play in a safe space and be encouraged to share my perspective despite a chaotic and traumatic childhood. Then the reading led to writing; I wrote two unpublished books in high school and journaled all the time. I even won first place at a creative writing contest where we had to weave in the work of the Federal Reserve. Strange prompt, huh?
In high school, I took theatre arts classes and became an actor at age 14. My first year there, my parents finally got to see me perform as an artist despite all the missed chorus performances when I was a child. They came to see me perform in a murder mystery play where I was the grieving widow. I came up with the idea of having someone behind the couch pop up their hand with a tissue box to help “me” cope with the tears. My mom loved that acting choice and enjoyed my performance which meant so much to me.
My third year, I was asked to become a student director where I eventually directed 2 one-act plays. The first one, I broke down into tears when one of the students chewed me out in front of everyone. While I was crying, I was told that my friend/student defended me. To have that kind of support kept me going. My senior year, I led an ensemble piece where everyone had the same number of lines; it was fair for everyone who wanted to be seen. The audience burst out laughing all throughout the performance. When I wasn’t a student director, my class and I participated in high school theatre competitions where I won best costume design!
Then, I got a full ride to the first public university in the country, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where I studied journalism and media studies and production, hoping to become a news anchor. After a 10-week internship at a news station the summer after my junior year in college, I swore off the traditional format of news because of the toxic model of “if it bleeds, it leads.” My last year at UNC, I leaned into videography and documentaries. In the midst of my college career, I took my one and only screenwriting class, which I used all that I learned to continue writing scripts to later produce on my own. I also performed in plays, once a year, including the Vagina Monologues which was a ton of fun.
After seeing a sign that literally described my dream experience, “international documentary internship”, I got in! Originally assigned to be the assistant filmmaker, it was through a mishap that I was later promoted to lead filmmaker. I had two choices after graduating, travel to Africa for this particular experience or try my hardest to stand out in LA. I – of course! – picked the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go to Africa to document the P&G’s Children Safe Drinking Water program. Lying on a stone table in a safari camp where you could hear the elephants and hippos roam around – with no hot water or electricity! – I looked up at the sky which was littered with countless stars. It was then that I realized that though I was a small part of the universe around us, I have so much to offer. Through that experience, I knew I was there at the right time at the right place where I was affirmed of my life’s passion as a documentarian.
Afterward, I moved to Oakland, CA for a year where I sold my soul a bit and became an assistant manager at Hollister. At a networking event that I was filming as a volunteer, I interviewed a man who told me that he was producing a script he wrote. I told him that I wanted to get on a film set and he welcomed me to join the team! That moment, I decided to quit my day job to work on films. The first step I took on my first film set sealed my fate as a narrative filmmaker. I worked on two features before leaving and headed out to Brooklyn, NY where I worked on another two features before I was dumped on my 24th birthday. It was quite the wake-up call so I made the decision to move back to North Carolina. Before I returned, I produced my first short film and a series of short documentaries on body-builders which won an award. It was then that I could finally say I am an award-winning filmmaker though imposter syndrome often brought me down.
After returning to NC, I was hospitalized in a mental heath ward for the first time. It was through that experience I discovered that I am bipolar which I embraced at times but resisted many other times. I struggled creatively for 2 years until I got into a volunteer program where we were placed with local nonprofits for a year. The focuses of the program were living in intentional community, working at a nonprofit, tapping into our spirituality, and diving into vocational discernment. I got paired with StepUp Durham where we held weeklong workshops for job seekers. I got to hone my public speaking skills, guiding these participants to learn more about effective communication, conflict management, time management, workplace dress codes, job applications, and resumes. StepUp Durham moved their office space to ReCity Network which is a co-working space for nonprofits and small businesses. Because of those connections, I founded my production company, IronWorx Media where we produce documentaries and narrative films. I am working on my 7th year!
Since the beginning, I created an internship program where newcomers could learn exactly what they wanted to learn. I even helped them produce their very first short film. Often, I would collaborate with my network of professional filmmakers and ensured that everyone was paid for their work. We produced over 20 short documentaries in our first 2 years of operation. We won over 20 awards for two short films that I wrote, directed and produced at film festivals including best narrative short film, best NC filmmaker, best female director, best cinematography, best original music, best editing, best child actress, best actress, trailblazing storytelling, and 2023 Filmmaker of the Year, among many others.
What’s next for me is producing my own work including 2 micro-short films and 2 TV pilots.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
When I was 11 years old, I wrote a letter to my 18-year-old self. In it, I wrote that “Life is a bumpy road”. There are often speed bumps, speed limit signs, and potholes that can damage our vehicles if we don’t slow down. I am realizing to slow down and take my time instead of rushing because how much time are you really saving when you are speeding to your next destination? Sometimes, people are in my car with me or I am on my own. I love having a co-pilot though!
It’s been a wild ride and sometimes, it feels like I’m on a roller coaster.
A huge obstacle that’s holding me back is I don’t have enough money to keep producing my content but because of this limitation, I have learned how to produce content that have no budget or a small one.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
IronWorx Media is a documentary and narrative production company based in Durham, NC, built around the idea that
IRON SHARPENS IRON
IronWorx had its beginning as a one-woman band. Realizing the valuable filmmaking opportunities made available through collaboration, award-winning filmmaker and founder of IronWorx Media Debbie Vu built a quickly-expanding and growing network of local professional filmmakers and video production interns to significantly boost the production quality of IronWorx content and provide real-world on-set experience for those involved.
WE ALL HAVE A STORY TO TELL
At IronWorx Media, we want to help you share it with the world.
Diversity is our number one value so we strive to ELEVATE the stories of creatives from marginalized populations including creatives of color, femme-identifying and non-binary creatives, and LGBTQIA+ creatives. We educate our creatives in the process of self-producing their own narratives so that they too can become award-winning filmmakers.
Now more than ever, these stories are highly sought out and must be shared to the wider audience to build empathy and compassion as well as bring social justice issues to the forefront.
We are meant to EMPOWER, EMBOLDEN, and EQUIP storytellers with the skills to be heard in the wider societal narrative.
OUR MISSION IS TWO-FOLD
First, we specialize in producing high quality content, both DOCUMENTARY and NARRATIVE. Based out of Durham, NC, we want to create work that positively impacts the community. We create promotional documentary-style content for mission-driven small businesses and non-profit organizations. These clients want to share their stories in order to inspire and influence others in a positive way.
It’s their passion that makes our job easy!
We write, direct, and produce narrative short films and submit them to film festivals, having garnered over 20 awards including best cinematography, best female director, best narrative short film, best actor, best child actress, best original music, best editing, best NC Filmmaker, and 2023 Filmmaker of the Year, among many others.
Second, IronWorx Media is made up of a team of professionals and interns who have already honed their skill sets in creating media but also have interests in other facets of production. We create an individualized educational experience in order to get our professionals and interns the experience and content that they need in order to grow. We focus on the entire video production process from writing, producing, interviewing, directing, filming, and editing.
Like a flock of birds, we get to our destination faster by flying together rather than on our own.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
My sister, parents, and I went to Vietnam where my parents are from. We got to travel a bunch and it was incredible to experience a whole new world.
Pricing:
- $6000 for short documentary
- $175/hr for photography
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ironworxmedia.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ironworxmedianc/
- Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/ironworxmedia
- Other: https://vimeo.com/435942792
Image Credits
Craig Worthington
