Uplifting Rising Filmmakers

Milla Nguyen, M.F.A. ’26 is on a mission to open doors for others in the film industry.

A graduate student in the LMU School of Film & Television screenwriting program, Nguyen is passionate about representing the Asian Pacific Islander (API) and Vietnamese American communities through her screenwriting and directorial projects, as well as spotlighting up-and-coming filmmakers through the new digital publication she co-founded, Allusion Magazine.

Nguyen, her faculty advisor, mentor, and LMU’s Graduate Director of the M.F.A. Screenwriting Program, Weiko Lin, and a team of LMU faculty and student writers and creatives, launched the first issue of the magazine in November 2024. The issue features both established entertainment leaders including Tony Bui, Keshia Hannam, Shruti Parekh, Gabriela Dematteis, and Karen Joseph Adcock, and emerging filmmakers, many of whom are LMU students or young alumni.

“Allusion Magazine is a platform that I built that uplifts established filmmakers, but most of all, rising young filmmakers,” she said. “If the magazine could help even just a little bit of the people at LMU, that’s all I want. It doesn’t need to be famous, but if it serves a meaningful purpose that can help more people like me get their foot in the door, that will make me happy.”

Nguyen credits her mentorship with Lin and her LMU experience, specifically the university’s Jesuit values, supportive environment, and inclusive atmosphere, for being instrumental in her academic and professional development.

“LMU really does invite everyone to have a seat at the table,” she said. “I feel like here, with the magazine, specifically, I’m able to not just make space for myself, but make space for others… It really makes me feel like I’m a part of something rather than just a number in the crowd.”