After graduating in Spring 2015, Nathaniel Nguyen-Le will be attending UCLAs School of Theater, Film, and Television as one of six Cinematography MFA candidates. During his time at UC Berkeley, Nathaniel minored in Public Policy and Creative Writing and was active in a variety of organizations. Beginning his sophomore year, he conducted undergraduate research for Professor Ananya Roy. Their team pioneered innovative educational media on the changing perspectives of global poverty. The #GlobalPOV project has garnered over half a million views. Additionally, Nathaniel was an active film committee member in Berkeley Careers in Entertainment Club (BCEC). He created marketing campaigns for upcoming movies, developed viral ads for businesses and organizations, as well as spearheaded speaker panels with industry professionals, ranging from Pixar to Netflix.
Outside of school, Nathaniel interned for both political organizations and tech startups. These included Trilogy Interactive, a political consulting company, the 12th Congressional Office of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and LookSharp, the leading internship provider for students. Nathaniel states, Because I had such a wide variety of interests, from technology, government, business, to film, I felt that ISF provided the greatest opportunity to satisfy my eclectic sensibility.
When asked why he didnt major in Film Studies, Nathaniel replied, More than anything, I wanted to learn what to make films about. ISF introduced me to great works of scholarship I would have never encountered myself. Many of the classes radically altered how I perceived the world. Although certain texts were dense and borderline incomprehensible, I will forever look back on my ISF studies with great fervor and appreciation.
Nathaniel completed his ISF studies with a creative thesis film depicting the decay of social intimacy as a direct result of modern technology and virtual communities.
