Van Phan is a facilitator at the intersection of storytelling, design, emerging technology, psychology, and animation. His passion and purpose in education are deeply informed by his experiences as a refugee with a learning disability who was raised in a financially disadvantaged environment. Growing up in a low-income area of Los Angeles, Van's early years were marked by feelings of shame and helplessness, stemming from a lack of agency to change his life due to his beliefs. A transformative moment occurred when Ms. Sun, his math teacher, recognized his potential and instilled in him a belief in his own capabilities. This agency in himself sparked a profound curiosity for learning and resilience to overcome challenges, ultimately transforming weaknesses into academic strengths and leading to acceptance at UCLA.

A distinguished UCLA alumnus, Van graduated in the top 20 percent of his class with honors, earning a BA in psychology and business economics. He then worked as an accountant at Ernst and Young. While crunching numbers, Van yearned to doodle instead. Fortunately, a chance screening of the SIGGRAPH Electronic Theater changed his life. After seeing a fantastic short film created by just one individual, Van was inspired to pursue a creative dream of telling stories with computer animation. After passing the CPA exam, he got a full scholarship to attend USC for his first year, earning an MFA in Film, Video, and Animation. He fully embraced this opportunity at USC, creating two award-winning films that earned numerous accolades, getting into over sixty film festivals, including two student Emmys, and premiering at SIGGRAPH Electronic Theatre.

After graduating from USC, Van has acquired extensive experience in various roles, including director, game developer, consultant, animator, technical director, educator, and curriculum designer.  He has worked at  DreamWorks, Sony Imageworks, Paramount, Digital Domain, Activision, 2K, Naughty Dog, ILM, Fortnite, The Mill, and Blue Sky Studios. His notable credits include work on high-profile projects such as Harry Potter, Fortnite, Shrek, Madagascar, Ice Age, Uncharted, How to Train Your Dragon, Captain America, NBA2K, Aquaman, Skylander, Sonic, and Thor.

As an educator, Van has been privileged to teach or deliver talks at over twenty institutions, including Stanford, AAU, Cal Arts, LSU, SCU, UCLA, UC Berkeley, California community colleges, USC, and Duke.  Along with teaching, he provides consultancy to universities and studios on implementing workflows, creating systems, and adapting curricula. During his tenure there, he has also helped develop training programs at DreamWorks Animation and Sony Imageworks. Van's has also been featured in numerous publications, including Wired, Forbes, and Animation Magazine.

As a director, his projects have premiered at renowned festivals such as Tribeca, SXSW, and SIGGRAPH, winning numerous accolades, including Best of Show at SIGGRAPH, which qualified for the Academy Award. Recently, Van has explored AI, VR, and the use of game engines. He has partnered with Meta's "VR for Good" program and the Diana Award NGO to create "Upstander," an award-winning VR social impact.  He is excited that Upstander is currently used in behavioral therapy research studies. Van also has been a technical director/instructor for the inaugural Unreal Animation Fellowship 2023 and has consulted with the Art Directors Guild to develop their game engine curriculum.  

Van's diverse and nonlinear career path has endowed him with both breadth and depth of knowledge, enabling him to perceive various dots and connections across multiple fields and delve deeply into each. This ability to connect many dots different dots in innovative and meaningful ways fosters creativity and problem-solving.  He remains enthusiastic about continuing to create and helping others realize their own "aha" moments and "wow" experiences.