Today we’d like to introduce you to Tim Carr.
Hi Tim, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstories with our readers.
Growing up, I was always looking for that “something”, something that inspires or excites not just myself, but maybe others too. I’m sure everyone is like that, but for me, I couldn’t ever quite find “it”. When I was a kid, I knew when I’d do impressions of relatives or neighbors or teachers, those would either get either huge laughs or huge trouble for me, but either way, I’d get a reaction, so I knew that whatever I was doing, was working, so I knew I liked that.
That eventually got me into trying to make others laugh as much as I could, and once that got going, it led to me taking a Steve Martin in “The Jerk” approach to life, that whole “well, if this is out there, think how much more is out there!” This had me doing some variation of what that little kid was always doing, radio, TV, comedy… eventually, I was filming all over the place, Miami, Baltimore, New York, LA, San Diego, Ohio, Canada, and Europe, this had me working all over the world, but I had never really set out with any sort of set “plan”.
I now work with these fantastically trained actors, these enormously skilled writers, these incredibly talented directors, and incredibly educated philanthropists. But I learned as I worked, I read, studied, asked, listened, and would take workshops or classes whenever I could, not just in showbiz, but workshops for quite literally anything.
I took one for memory one time (it did help, after all, I do remember what I learned there) I took a few workshops for concussion training (that one helped more than I thought it would) I didn’t know a single thing about financial planning but I took that workshop, and it turns out, I still don’t know a single thing about financial planning. They can’t all be winners.
But I found my groove. I found my “something”, I love telling stories and being part of others’ stories. Stories are truly global, they’re generational, and it’s how we can all connect in this world. I’m insanely lucky to be able to continue to do that, and I encourage anyone and everyone out there, in any way that you can… share your stories, share someone’s stories. It makes the world a little smaller and infinitely more relatable.
Along the way, being a kid who had nowhere to go, I always felt a need to give back to the community. Please don’t think that this is me running for Pope or anything, I simply believe everyone can use a “lane” in this life, a lane to help get by a little smoother, maybe for a brief moment, we can make life easier for someone. I have a little organization called the L.U.C.Y.
The initiative, named after my dog Lucy, is no longer with us, but please trust me, she was a VERY good girl. It stands for “life, unity, community, you”. We get involved in everything, just a few extra sets of hands to help out wherever we can. We’re all in this together, and sometimes everyone could use a lane, they could use a break. Every little bit helps. That’s all I’m trying to do.
Even to this day, I’m looking for that “something”. And working in showbiz and with so many different charities, it’s always a challenge, and it’s never boring, and to be honest, I still get those laughs and I still sometimes get scolded. Some things never change.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
If “smooth” is Japan, my path is Utah… that’s how far away my journey is from “smooth”. Show business is the most beautiful-chaotic-heart wrenching-soul lifting-inspiring-soul crushing job, and sometimes that is all happening at the same time. When it’s low, it’s low, but when it’s cooking? It feels good.
Like, right now I’m about to do 2 episodes of a new TV series called “The Grounders”, I’m working with a phenomenal writer and director in Jacob Stargrove, and there is a deeply talented cast and crew that I’m working with, some are going to be guaranteed movie stars…please just remember I said that for the first time, right here.
I have another pilot showing signs of life, and I have 2 movies that I’m having weekly meetings about getting made, so this is having a nice moment, but I do know that these things can swing back and forth, so I’m ready for anything. All we can do sometimes… and this isn’t just the showbiz side of life, but life in general, if we get knocked down, we just dust ourselves off, and we get up and we go again.
We owe it to ourselves to do that. Please know, no matter what we do, no matter what we’re going through, we have people we never even knew were rooting for us, they are. I hope you all know out there, you have more fans than you think.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
The work has always come but in all sorts of variations. I started out wanting to do radio, I loved the writing, I loved the atmosphere, and to be honest, the 17-year-old version of me loved the free music tee shirts. That led to me writing, which led to my face getting on TV a bit more, working in film, to directing. I’m grateful for all of this.
There have been some great things, being part of films that have played at Sundance, Cinequest, and SXSW. Projects that have been seen by the masses that did well, there are some commercials that I’ve been in that still gets quoted back to me. The fact that, in these times, where there are truly so many things to watch at any given time, it’s nice to know someone is watching. There have been some misses, some real misses, I’d mention them, but, if you haven’t heard of the project or can’t easily see it, that means that it never got to you, it means I missed it.
My goal in all of this, as long as this lasts, is just to really try and put some stories out there that’ll make others laugh, or make others think, if I’m really lucky, maybe something others might talk about later. One time, I had a film at a festival. A friend at a bookstore near that festival told me later that someone came in, someone that had seen the movie, and wanted to find a book to read more about it. I think I’m still on cloud nine from that.
Recently I did a project, and there were some impressive and accomplished actors and producers involved. We were talking and they said, “we wish you had your positivity, we had that at the beginning of our careers and it just lessened along the way.” The fact I’m still able to tell these stories and still keep upbeat about things, makes me want to keep working hard. And let’s be honest, just like 17-year-old Radio Tim… I still love those music tee shirts.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I want to answer your question respectfully and honestly, so my essential qualities for success? I’m simply not naturally good at anything else. I am lucky to have a huge circle of people around me, I see incredible teachers, I see gifted nurses and first responders, I see our military, I see our fire, our police, just putting their lives on the line, I see people who can just wake up and write a song. Do you know that some people can just naturally sing and dance?
I am not one of them. Some people can just build things, and fix things, again, I am not one of them, but I am truly inspired by them, so I take their stories with me. Just knowing a guy that rides his bike insanely long distances because it helps him raise money for cancer research, just knowing people who reach out to social media on New Year’s Eve offering people, that they do not know, a free ride home, no questions asked, or people on Thanksgiving who invite anyone that may be alone to their homes to celebrate.
To me, knowing that there are people out there like that… makes me want to be better at everything in my life, it makes me want to be a better human. I am naturally not good at anything else, but knowing that you all are out there? It makes me want to work harder, it makes me want to try harder. That’s what’s led to any successes that have come my way.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.parkinglotfilms.net/
- Instagram: @NotTimCarr
- Twitter: @Parkinglotfilms
- Other: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0139882/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1
Image Credits
Jennifer Beer Photography (https://jenniferbeersphotography.com/), Jerry Habraken, Surfrider Foundation, and Beach Cleanup Lionsgate
