There is a question that I have asked myself many times recently: Do I really want to sell everything that O2 Production has built over the past 12 years?
To be completely honest, I don't want to.
I have never considered O2 Production something to be sold simply for profit. But at this moment, I honestly do not know if I have any other options.
Making films has never been easy for me. Production costs are very high, while revenue is extremely low.
Recently, things have become a little easier because we have started selling some of our films to international partners. But the value of these deals remains very low, sometimes representing only a small fraction of what we spent to produce the films.
For example, to produce Love Bill, we invested nearly USD 60,000. But the amount we received from selling the rights to this project was only around USD 1,000.
That is the reality of independent filmmaking that I have faced for many years. So when I talk about selling YouTube channels or film rights, it is not because I want to profit from what I have built. I simply want to have enough resources to continue making films.
When I founded O2 Production, my dream was very simple: I wanted to make films. That's all.
I started O2 Production when I was only 23 years old. Today, I am 36. Twelve years have passed since I founded O2 Production. I have never regretted what I have done for O2 Production. The only thing I regret is that I wish I had been able to help O2 Production grow even further.
In Vietnam, O2 Production may be known as one of the pioneering and prominent independent producers in the Boys' Love (BL) genre. But honestly, I have never truly made a profit from the films I have produced.
What I received was the films themselves, the words of encouragement, the praise, and the audiences who have stayed with me throughout all these years. The wonderful relationships I have built with actors, crew members, partners, sponsors, and viewers—that is the greatest “profit” I have received over the past 12 years.
I still hope that O2 Production can exist for a very long time. Even if one day I am no longer the owner of O2 Production, I still hope this brand can continue to exist and stand the test of time.
I want O2 Production to remain a place where good and meaningful stories can be told, giving audiences a little joy, a sense of connection, and a few moments of entertainment after a long and exhausting week.
So if one day I truly have to sell part of O2 Production's legacy, I hope everyone will understand: I am not selling because I no longer love O2 Production. I am simply trying to find a way for O2 Production to survive.
At this moment, I do not have enough financial resources to start a new project. But I still want to believe in one thing:
Perhaps a miracle will happen.
Perhaps someone will appear.
Perhaps an opportunity will come that I have never imagined.
And perhaps O2 Production still has another chapter waiting to be written.
After 12 years, I am still not ready to say goodbye. I just hope O2 Production can continue telling stories.
— Sihau.director
Director / Producer
O2 Production