Today we’d like to introduce you to Tyler Perez.
Hi Tyler, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started in the entertainment industry at 16 years old. I felt an inescapably strong pull towards film acting after participating in an international talent search where, with no prior training, I won an honorable mention out of thousands of performers. After that, I began doing student films and indie films to build my resume and reel. At 18, I signed with a talent agency with whom I’d begin working on network television shows like MTV’s Scream and Netflix’s From Dusk Till Dawn. After my high school graduation, I had a very difficult decision to make. I was accepted into my dream school, the University of Texas in Austin, to study film but I was also offered a series regular role on a Nickelodeon show that would film in Miami at the same time as my would-be fall semester. To dodge an incredible amount of student loan debt and to dive deeper into my respective craft, I took the acting job.
When the first and only season of that show was done, I moved here to LA at the green age of 19. Since then, I’ve worked countless survival jobs while relentlessly pursuing my crafts of acting, music, and writing-directing. I delivered pizzas, worked as an audio engineer at a music studio, washed dishes at a restaurant, served and bartended at events, all while working television and film roles in between. It’s like a rollercoaster, there are the slow rises and the incredibly exhilarating, rushing falls. In 2022, I began directing and am currently shopping for my debut short film Anywhere But Here to film festivals.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The road has been smooth at some intervals but significantly bumpy in others. I had to find a way to pay my rent, bills, gas, food, etc., while taking acting classes and going on auditions, dealing with constant rejection (as do the majority of my fellow actors). There were times I’d get ridiculously close to a life-changing role just for it to slip right out of my hands by some twist of fate. There were also times I was making really good money on a show or a pilot just for it to get canceled and stripped from me. Back to working minimum wage odd jobs. It’s difficult to transition back to working a job you find insufferable after working one you’ve dreamed of doing your whole life. It’s like climbing to Mount Olympus only to be kicked back down by the Gods. I missed my family my friends. I was very lonely the first year or so in LA. But as time passed, I found a network of immensely talented and genuine people who I grew with and continue to grow with. I found that there was more control I could take into my hands and more creative joy by writing and directing my own films. So after working the camera side of the industry for a couple of years with some incredible cinematographers like Philip Hoang. I began my journey into behind-the-camera filmmaking and I am so happy that I did.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a filmmaker. I act, I write, I direct. The majority of my success has been in acting but I aim to do much more writing and directing in the coming years. I believe I will always act, but I have so many ideas for films that I have to bring to life. I’m most proud of my debut short film as a writer-director titled Anywhere But Here. I wrote it in a time of desolation and many months later, with the encouragement of Keana Marie and the knowledgeable help of producer Ryan Silver, I made it happen. It was no easy achievement and I look at the project with pride in the team who worked on it and pride in myself. I think what sets me apart from others is my experience in so many different trades. I’ve dipped my toes into a plethora of artistic and entrepreneurial endeavors that have taught me so much about life and art. I believe it’s all connected and will help me to create projects that people can relate to and find comfort and representation in.
What’s next?
I plan on acting in more films and television shows, writing and directing more films, writing a television series, releasing more music, and enjoying more life with the people I love.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @tylertperez
- Youtube: @TylerPerezT
Image Credits
Jocelyn Simone @jsimonecreative
