OCEAN’S ARRIVAL (2022)
From the Depths to Forever.
On the winter solstice, four friends reunite at their family's beachside cabin after years apart. From the ocean, a mysterious stranger arrives seeking refuge, eventually pitting the friends against one another. Fantasy, fear, and reality blend together as the days unfold - culminating in a 60 minute psychological drama.
Ocean’s Arrival is a new student-feature film written and directed by Giao Nguyen. On May 5th 2022, the film had a local premiere at the SIFF Uptown Cinema. This film also serves as the senior thesis project for Giao Nguyen at Seattle Pacific University.
From the conception to the delivery, Ocean’s Arrival was the culminating project for writer/director Giao Nguyen, graduating from Seattle Pacific University with a degree in Theatre Performance, and a minor in digital media. Combining skills from directing, casting, editing, photography, design, social media marketing and more, this new feature length film has been a year in the making. This film consisted of an all-star team of mostly young professionals, collaborating to create all of their first narrative feature film. Witness a poetic tale of old friends, the waves, and everything in between with Ocean’s Arrival. To stay updated on the project, visit @oceansarrival on Instagram.
In August, Ocean’s Arrival was awarded Best Picture at the West Sound Film Festival and shown at the historic Roxy Theatre in Bremerton, WA. Our film was also an official selection in the Seattle Wine and Film Festival.
Ocean’s Arrival is now available to watch on-demand on Amazon Prime Video.
ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SCORE
Written, Composed, Arranged by Ariel Loud
Ocean’s Arrival: Original Motion Picture Score by Ariel is now available to stream everywhere you listen to music.
Visit the link below to listen to the sound of the film!
TEASER
TRAILER
FESTIVALS & AWARDS
West Sound Film Festival | Best Feature Film
Seattle Wine and Film Festival - OFFICIAL SELECTION
BEHIND THE SCENES
Our Team:
Written and Directed by Giao Nguyen
Production Company Cauldron Pictures
Produced by Marc Horsfield, Giao Nguyen
Director of Photography Suzanne McAuley
Gaffer Barb Hoffman
Camera Op/Key Grip/Editor Quang Nguyen
Drone/Grip/Electric Jackson Scallen
Costume Designer Sanskruti Tomar
Boom Op Matt Greisen
Slate Atlas Peek
Editor Giao Nguyen, Quang Nguyen
Colorist Rohan Merrill
Score Ariel Loud
Post-Production Audio Jake Escobar
Sound Design/Editing Tobias Provan
Graphic Design Sabrina Seang
Production Assistant Raviv Cohen
Featuring
Vanessa Miller
DIRECTOR’S NOTE / GIAO NGUYEN
When I began this project, it was an assignment for me. Something that was meant to represent all that I’ve done here in my time at university. And this came at the right time, the right time to challenge myself, to bring on a super star team, and create something I thought was impossible a year ago. To me, it wasn’t about finding the perfect team or the perfect conditions, rather people who I felt wanted to be there and create magic. I believe there’s something so beautiful about that feeling, being able to create art in a space with people that believed in the vision, acting upon that. I can’t thank my team enough for believing in me, trusting me and following me into the fire. This piece became a testament to how even young professionals - young professionals of all diversity, could do it too. To be able to bring ourselves to the table and build. And so we’ve built, we merry few. I’ve left many of my college memories buried within the waves of this film, and I hope the joy in those waves continues on into the lives of others.
© 2025 Giao Nguyen. All rights reserved.