The man who was introduced as US composer Christopher Wong at an event held by Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC) on June 20. — Photo courtesy of MAAC

HCM CITY — Christopher Wong, a secretive film composer from Los Angeles well-known in Việt Nam for his music in blockbuster movies like Yellow Flowers on the Green Grass, Dreamy Eyes and Passport to Love, had to speak out on his Facebook account on July 2 after finding an imposter had attended a public event as him in Việt Nam.

To distinguish himself from his impostor, Wong also made public a behind-the-scenes video of a Vietnamese film which he composed music for. In the video, he looks different from the man introduced as Christopher Wong at a talk show held by the HCM City-based Maya Academy of Advanced Cinematics (MAAC) on June 20.

The MAAC, a film training centre in HCM City, apologised to the American composer for inviting and introducing the guest speaker as Wong in its event on sound design.

In a press release published on July 2, the MAAC said they would like to correct a mistake regarding the name of the guest speaker, Tuổi trẻ (Youth) newspaper reported.

"We have just learned the name of the guest speaker who took part in the second part of the event is Huỳnh Hồng Giang. This person is not the real Christopher Wong, who is renowned for composing many film scores in Việt Nam but rarely appears in public," the announcement said.

According to MAAC, when asked about the process of composing film scores during the event, Giang neither confirmed nor denied he was indeed the composer behind such works.

The way he talked at the event made people believe that he was the American composer Wong.

After the MAAC’s correction, the real Christopher Wong said he was shocked to know the impostor could deceive some filmmakers. — VNS