Lao Dong reporter had a conversation with director Khai Anh about the time after leaving the Television Film Production Center (VFC), under VTV.
In September 2025, he announced his retirement from his old agency, where he has been with the company for more than 20 years. Going away - must be a difficult decision?
- At my old agency, I had a journey to adulthood. Since I was a child, I often followed my father (NSND Khai Hung) there to play and do small chores. My aunt, uncle, and I are in a close organization, as close as family.
When I decided to quit, I felt disappointed. There is anything like loss.
For a very long time, I have become familiar with and attached to that rhythm of life, to that intensity of work, to close brothers.
Now, when I have enough time to go back, I can only remain grateful to everyone.
In the announcement on his personal page, he shared about wanting to change, wanting to start a new journey. If I were to say it first, could you talk about the profound reason why you made such an important decision?
- Of course, there are many reasons for my decision to retire.
But the most important reason, I realized, is that the path of TV series in Vietnam is getting narrower. Audiences hardly turn on TV to watch movies at night anymore - as before. Many families just turn on the TV for fun. Even traditional TVs are now just a decorative piece of furniture. Open the TV to watch, people will also go to YouTube, Netflix...
The audience's viewing habits have changed. When they have free time, they search their phones, watch movies on digital platforms, watch via apps, OTT (Over the Top) - services that provide digital content. The majority of audiences today tend to watch short stories, video excerpts... rather than long-running films.
Obviously, the way of watching and the habit of watching movies of the audience has changed, if they continue to stick to traditional TV, TV series will decline.
When reviewing the film, I also realized that the cast of the golden generation we trained has also matured, cannot act as "male god" or "goddess" in romantic films anymore, the number of directors and screenwriters around is only that many people. The audience getting bored is inevitable.
When he retired, he was serving as deputy director. Leaving that position to start over from zero, there will be people asking questions about income, mechanisms... As a deputy director, are you rich enough to hesitate and wonder when signing a resignation letter?
- I live enough. It is a good location. The decision to retire is not easy for me and for anyone. Especially when I have to start over.
I remember, when I told my father about this decision, he went silent for a few minutes. As parents, who doesn't want their children to be stable? At my old agency, I have stability. But, after I shared, my father respected my decision.
In 2025, both my wife and I quit our jobs. We decided to go on vacation together. When I am with my family, I have more time to think. Think about the future, about what I really want to do, and about the value of life.
Usually at this time in previous years, from September to December, I was extremely busy, the programs took place one after another. I was so busy that I didn't have time to go home, almost eating and sleeping at work. There is still great pressure. At that time, I had no time to think about anything.
During my days off, I think more about the value of life. I realized one thing, happiness does not come from work. Happiness comes from peace of mind.
Happiness does not come from work, but the most brilliant things you have ever had in your career clearly come from TV series?
- Every journey has beautiful memories. I will always remember and be grateful for the journey I have had with TV series. At my old agency, I worked and learned from the best TV seriesmakers in the North.
I am proud to be a director, I have tried my hand, and made many different film genres. In the humorous category, I have Balanha Boarding House, Tao Quan, Gala laughing.
With drama, I have Love More Than the Sky. In the film genre about love and youth, I have "Youth of Youth", "That Day I Was in Love". In criminal terms, I have The Judge, The reward...
I chose different genres to challenge, explore myself, so as not to follow the path of wear.
When I took on the job of manager ( VP), I was proud to be able to build an increasingly better film crew, even though I had to trade it off by not making films anymore.
I take joy from the success of other directors. When the films of the young directors are famous such as: 11 thang 5 ngay, Gia dinh vui bat thuc, Doc dao... I am very proud. I have worked with young directors to build new bricks for the turning point of TV dramas, bringing in the breath of the new, younger generation.
Tao Quan - is another success for you?
- People's Artist Khai Hung was the father of Tao Quan, but the one who transformed Tao Quan to become a brand, achieving great success was director Do Thanh Hai. Mr. Do Thanh Hai is the soul of Tao Quan.
Later, I was named but the person behind it was always director Do Thanh Hai.
With Tao Quan, I have many memories. When I was young, I went to Tao Quan studio just as a "prey" for the audience to film. Later, Mr. Hai assigned him the script for young actors such as Trung Ruoi and Duy Nam.
During my more than 20-year journey with Tao Quan, I witnessed the maturity and maturity in acting of the cast, witnessed the difficulties and hardships of the production crew.
From being a "prey clapper", running behind the scenes... to being the director of many famous TV series such as The Judge, The Palace... what is the greatest value you have received?
- The greatest value is the profession. That is the best training place, no school can compare, so that I can make good products.
It was there that I became the person I am today. What I have from TV series will follow me throughout my journey.
Deciding to take a break to start over, I knew it would be a long, difficult journey. And I could fail. But now, I think it was the right decision.
How have you prepared for your next journey?
- Social trends have changed a lot. As I said above, the way of watching movies, the way of producing movies, the way of releasing movies has changed dramatically.
In China, 15 years ago, no one knew about their short films, but now they are very successful.
In the Vietnamese market, young people are also starting to approach the short film genre. Short films about psychology, the film's flow is told in a very unique way, the audience cannot finish it. I see the future of short films in Vietnam.
This film genre will also need its own cast. I plan to establish an actor training center, in the future, it will be a director training center, developing many film genres, including short films and commercial films.
The future is still very long, I want to start from training and nurturing young talents. From there, a new market is created, for more open development.
I have many plans. The important thing is, I now have the ability to do what I want.
And I cherish the life I have.
