Meet Tyler Coon | Filmmaker

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tyler Coon and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tyler, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I spent most of my life with eyes on a career in business and entrepreneurship. In hindsight, my interest in those fields were only in the act of “creating” something. Being solely responsible for the existence of a thing– something tangible and shareable– is something that I find so much joy in.

When I was about 20 years old a friend of mine and I stumbled upon an opportunity to make a documentary film about an issue in our hometown of Lenox, MA (despite neither of us having production experience of any kind). What followed, for me, was falling in love with craft that I’d never even considered dipping my toe into before.

From that first experience, the writing, the filming, the editing- simply, the making of something– was love at first sight.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
The secret for me has always been about finding the aspect of the “thing” that will excite you time and time again no matter what. If the work doesn’t have an aspect of that, I know that I’m not going to be willing to go the distance with it. Finding that narrative metaphor, that one shot, that one scene or that one plot point that really makes you giddy every time you think about it is a complete necessity for me in the projects I work on. As a result of this I think I just tend to end up working on things that genuinely excite me and that I feel are genuinely worthwhile. I’m quick to hate an idea, which is a blessing and a curse.

Ironically, 99% of working in a creative field is spent doing things that feel completely uncreative and soul-sucking. For me, the task that I’ll forever be facing is preparing for and maximizing that 1%, and learning to face that other 99% with the same energy and attitude as the fun stuff.

There’s a wonderful quote I once heard: “Think like an artist, work like an accountant”. As someone who developed a love for creative work out of an interest in business, I tend to have a healthier attitude towards the accountant type work (also, for a brief minute I’d intended to be an accountant!). This is the struggle that I believe plagues all of us. And it’s the struggle that separates creating as a hobby from creating as a profession.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
For me, the place to be is Long Beach. I moved here a few months ago from West Hollywood and haven’t looked back since.

The absolute MUST VISIT for me is Gusto on 4th Street. They have the best baked items in perhaps the entire universe. Get yourself a Bolillo and be absolutely blown away, trust me.

Any my more cliche and potentially lame must-do is Korean BBQ… Can’t go wrong with where. That’s coming from a guy from small town, Massachusetts though. A cook top in the center of the table is, like, futuristic technology to us.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I will forever owe everything to my peers in the USC Graduate film production program. Without their collaboration, camaraderie, and friendship I would feel totally lost in this great big city. Specific love to my dear friend Peter La Fata, and my soulmate Inez Franco– both of whom I met within my first week of being on the west coast.

Website: https://tylercoonfilms.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ilymtd/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tylerscoon/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@tylercoon1322