Meet Tyler Elder | Filmmaker

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

Hi Tyler, why did you pursue a creative career?
Filmmaking has been the only thing I have ever wanted to do. I remember dragging my parents and siblings into the living room to watch the Behind The Scenes documentaries on the second disk of the Harry Potter films. I was always so fascinated by the idea of this crazy magical world being put together by 2×4’s and fog machines.

The first movie I ever made was when I was about 7. My parents had an old camera with a video mode, and I would use that to make cinematic sequences featuring my Lego figures, which I then presented via PowerPoint. After my family indulged me by watching the PowerPoints a few times on repeat, we would go sit down together and watch a real film. As much as I loved watching these films with my family, the part I loved the most was how they would react to the events on screen. Ever since then, entertaining the people close to me has been a very consistent driving factor in my day to day life.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
For the last few years, I’ve mostly been working as a videographer, helping local corporations create internal and promotional content. These opportunities allowed me to leave the cliche filmmaker origin story: waiting tables. With a good amount of advice from my family, I took the plunge and went all in. I got an LLC, designed my branding, and started landing clients. Elder Media kicked off with a lot of optimism. Business was pretty slow at first, but as I kept going, doing small photography and video jobs, the momentum gradually picked up and the advertising projects would get a little bigger each time.

At the beginning of this year I was able to tap back into what got me started on this path in the first place, which was collaborating with fellow artists and entertaining people. I’ve been fortunate to connect with some incredibly talented people, who have entrusted me with producing their content, and who have helped me visually realize some of my own concepts. This year Elder Media produced a number of music videos, and two short films, that are working their way through the festival circuit. When I connected with the team I work with today, it was a turning point in my career, and the content we collaborated on has surpassed the quality of what we all created separately. Up until the beginning of the year, Elder Media was a one man band, basically just me wearing every hat at once. While working solo allows for complete creative control, the limitations can be overwhelming. Meeting the owner and Executive Producer of Lethal Hobo Productions, Josh Feldhake and his creative partner, Line Producer Kenny Sabian, was a benchmark in my career. It was as if someone dumped a barrel of kerosine on the the light at the end of the cinematic tunnel. Seemingly overnight I went from doing everything myself, to having meetings with department heads, who were equally interested in stepping up our game and finding new challenges. It is very rewarding to be part of a culture of people who all want to grow within our crafts, and learn from each other.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
As much as I love living in Surprise and spending time with friends and family across the valley, my friends and I love going camping up north, where it’s a bit cooler, and we all lock our phones away for a few days. One of the things Arizona is best known for is the incredible heat. My wife has lived here in Arizona for 8 years now, and without fail, year after year she is absolutely astonished by the consistent 120 degree afternoons. But one thing Arizona does not get enough credit for is the amazing sunsets. Hard to beat sitting around a campfire with your lifelong friends, local brewed beers, and a top tier Arizona sunset.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My family really is the reason I am able to do what I do. My beautiful wife Brianna, who has helped me in more ways than she would care to have described online. My parents, Scott and Irenka, who have been the most inspirational people in my life. My baby brother Adam, who will hate this description, and baby sister Sava, who might find it sweet, have been the strongest and most reliable confidants a brother could ever ask for. Without them, this path I’ve chosen would be entirely fruitless. I love you guys.

Website: www.elder-media.com

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

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

Image Credits
@cliffywilli @subytech11 @r2p2productions