Cheyenne Tan

Kuching-born documentary producer Cheyenne Tan won her first News & Documentary Emmy in 2026 for Outstanding Research for her work as an associate producer on Netflix’s Turning Point: The Vietnam War. The accolade adds to a growing list of international honours, including two Academy Award nominations for Best Documentary Short Subject for St Louis Superman (2020) and I Am Ready, Warden (2025). Her work on St Louis Superman also earned a Critics’ Choice Documentary Award.

Tan’s storytelling centres on individuals confronting systems of power and injustice. St Louis Superman follows activist and rapper Bruce Franks Jr as he enters politics following the 2014 Ferguson protests, while I Am Ready, Warden documents death row inmate John Henry Ramirez’s pursuit of redemption and forgiveness.

In 2026, Tan also co-produced The American Experiment, a Netflix and Luminant Media documentary project that premiered in June. Based in Los Angeles, she continues to build an international career while advocating for greater investment in Malaysia’s creative industries. Drawing on her own experience navigating the challenges of establishing herself abroad, Tan hopes to help inspire and advocate for an ecosystem in which Malaysian filmmakers can tell their stories and find success at home.