Anh Bui
Anh Bui was born and raised in Haiphong, a small city by the ocean in Vietnam. She grew up spending her days outside playing soccer, catching dragonflies at the paddy field, exploring abandoned houses, building forts out of mattresses with her sister and cousins, and other neighborhood kids. Growing up poor, there wasn’t much-imported entertainment provided, so she entertained herself with activities that sparked her interests and curiosity in her everyday surroundings.
During Anh’s 4th year of elementary school, her family finally got a TV, so she was exposed to all kinds of fun channels. Anh started watching cartoons like Tom & Jerry, SpongeBob, Phineas & Ferb, Even though she couldn’t understand most of the content because there were no subtitles, she found them to be very fascinating.
As an introverted and shy kid, when Anh saw her sister and cousin drawing, she realized it was a form of communication for her to express herself, so she started drawing and making her own comic books. Her parents weren’t supportive at that time, mostly because they were worried about her academic future. Anh’s sister and cousin obediently stopped drawing when their parents told them to focus on school instead. However, Anh secretly stuck with art as her primary interest because she was never good at traditional school.
Back then, Anh wanted to become a comic book artist because it was all she knew, but then after watching Big Hero 6 in 2014, it completely blew her mind as she realized it was a comic book coming to life! She admired how much effort, hard work, time, and dedication that thousands of people had put into a film. She imagined herself being a part of that animation scene, a part of something bigger than herself. She understands she’s more passionate about the process than the end results.
At that time, the animation industry wasn’t a thing in Vietnam, so Anh decided to go study abroad in the US when she was 15 with the hope of becoming a better artist, and sharing her vision with other like-minded people. In search of a career path, she researched the career of a storyboard artist that she admired, she even emailed them to find out where they went to school and, surprisingly, got a reply back! Anh wanted to follow that artist’s career path so she made that happen by getting the highest scholarship offer for an international student from Columbus College of Art and Design. After the first year, she had an unexpected opportunity to move to LA, to be closer to the animation community. Anh decided to take a risk and she packed all her stuff in one small suitcase and left college along with her friend.
Once in LA, Anh illustrated a children’s book that was published in early November 2020, in addition to commissions work here and there. She continued her online training on Schoolism, and spent her free time exploring LA, meeting cool people, and falling in love with motorcycles after she met a group of bikers at a local bookstore. By the end of the year, good news came: She got accepted into the Nick Artist Program. Anh knows her journey has just begun, but she knows she’s not alone on this road and can’t wait to see what the future holds!
Founded in the year 2000, the Nickelodeon Writing Program is a full-time, paid, yearlong development Program for television comedy writers with unique voices and fresh perspectives. Join us at the studio in Burbank for classes and workshops to sharpen your skills, executive mentorship and networking to build your professional relationships, and the opportunity to work in the iconic live-action and animation writers’ rooms at Nick. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to dedicate yourself to the craft of writing and build your career from the ground up.
The Nick Writing Program is not a writing contest – It’s a launching pad for emerging creatives. If you bring the unique voice and innovative ideas for kids’ and family content, we’ll help you launch a career with all the tools you’ll need to succeed in the industry for years to come.
We need your talent and perspective, so come tell us your story!
Submissions are closed.
Please note: all submission and notification dates are subject to change.
We can’t create the most awesome kids’ content in the world without the most awesome artists in the world.
The Nickelodeon Artist Program is a 6-month, full-time paid talent development program for aspiring pre-production artists. We seek out talented designers, painters, story artists, and CG generalists with unique voices, with the goal of mentoring, developing, and staffing the next generation of inclusive storytellers and content creators.
The Nick Artist Program is designed to kick-start the journey of career-ready artists! If you’re ready for the SLIME of your life, come join us at the Nick Animation Studio.
Please note: All dates are subject to change.
2025 Summer NICKtern Applications are Closed!
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