1. Maria Tran is known as a trailblazer in developing the martial arts action film genre in Australia via the Asian diaspora communities of Western Sydney through her shorts such as Hit Girls, Gaffa, Enter The Dojo, Operation Kung Flu; her contributions on Australian television; Maximum Choppage and movies outside of Australia; Roger Corman's Fist of the Dragon, Death Mist, Vietnamese action blockbuster Tracer and action movie trilogy Echo 8.
Maria Tran's father was a former soldier in the South Vietnam Army and her mother worked in publicity.
Maria Tran attended Dinmore State School and Camira State School before moving to Sydney and attending Villawood Public School, Fairfield West Public School, Westfields Sports High School, Sunnybank High School, and Canley Vale High School.
Maria Tran left home at 16 and moved back to Brisbane.
Maria Tran returned to Sydney a year later to finish school; she graduated in 2002 at Canley Vale High School.
Maria Tran graduated with a Bachelor of Psychology at the University of Western Sydney, in 2007.
Maria Tran has a younger sister, Elizabeth H Vu, a frequent collaborating screenwriter.
Maria Tran participated in a community film making workshop in 2007 and later became a coordinator and educator for culturally diverse at-risk youth.
Maria Tran served as a community arts trainer in various local councils in Western Sydney and was a guest lecturer on filmmaking and digital media at the Australian National University.
Maria Tran was chosen as an Australian representative for the Australia-Vietnam Leadership Dialogue in 2019.
Maria Tran is an Australian filmmaker known for her work across various genres, including documentary, drama, action comedy, and martial arts films.
Maria Tran received the Metroscreen Multicultural Mentorship Scheme in 2009 for her short film script A Little Dream, leading to seed funding for the film, which she directed with the mentorship of Khoa Do.
Maria Tran learned from the Jackie Chan Stunt Team, met Jackie, and was invited to go on a road trip to Canberra with him.
Maria Tran directed and produced several short action films, including the action comedy Hit Girls in 2012.
Maria Tran was a recipient of the Screen NSW Emerging Producer Placement in the same year.
That same year, Maria Tran wrote the original screenplays for the Vietnamese historical epic The Drums of Me Linh and the action comedy Fury of the Far East, which received seed funding from ICE's Produce Perfect program.
Maria Tran officially set up her film production company, Phoenix Eye, in 2017, and produced, wrote, and directed The Subtractor, a mockumentary short film about an Asian lead breaking into Hollywood.
Maria Tran occasionally taught at the Australian Film, Television and Radio School on stage combat and fight choreogpraphy and ran workshops in regional NSW.
Maria Tran's directorial debut, Echo 8, co-starring Japanese actor Takashi Hara, is a self-funded feature film for $10,000 AUD that has won several awards, including the Best Film award at the Tokyo Film Awards and the Best Feature Film - Women's Film award at the World Carnival-Singapore Film Festival.
Maria Tran's first acting role was in Australia's first kung fu comedy Maximum Choppage in 2007 followed by her first TV role on the ABC Logie TV series My Place, channel 7's Australia: The Story of US and channel 9's Love Child.
Maria Tran's self produced, directed and acted action comedy Hit Girls co-starring Juju Chan earned her 2016 Breakout Female Action Performer of the Year at the Action On Film International Film Festival.
In 2015, Maria Tran landed the role of leading female antagonist "Phuong Lua" in Vietnamese blockbuster Truy Sat starring Truong Ngoc Anh and filmed in Vietnam.
Maria Tran had a role in the film Suka and The Gift that Gives.