We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tyler Peck a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Tyler, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?
I think ones purpose is an ever-changing landscape. At least mine is. I had to learn this the hard way, though.
When I was a kid, I was certain I was going to be an important architect designing incredible homes for people, artistic homes, and making a difference in people’s lives because of it. I carried that interest with me into architecture school where I thought I was destined to be. But I watched it start to change–evolve. I as a person started to change, and thus my passions shifted along with it.
My eyes were opened to so many new things–new ideas, new directions–there was a huge multiplicity of options that sprawled out in front of me, and I wasn’t sure of my direction anymore. I explored fine art more intensely. I dug into philosophy and spirituality on very personal and academic levels. My ideas and approach became increasingly alternative and rebellious to the norms of the field of design, and when I graduated and started working in it professionally, those new pieces of me couldn’t reconcile with the conventions set forth. So I left. After working as a designer in a large firm and teaching design at a college in Boston for 3 years, I left architecture behind.
For acting. The craziest, never saw it coming, didn’t take it seriously at all, but ended up meaning so much to me. Acting turned into a purpose. And that purpose took me to LA. Which then evolved the purpose yet again into screenwriting. Which then morphed into a more holistic sense of filmmaking. The world of film has really allowed me to take the same ideas and objectives and passions I had in architecture for making a difference in people’s lives and localize them in a more intimate and direct manner. Acting lets me truly show myself to the world. To not hide like I used to as a kid. To be fully expressed and raw and vulnerable. Filmmaking allows me to make beautiful and challenging worlds for people’s hearts and minds to reside in. Posing ideas, infusing potent messages, visually dazzling–being free to create bold visions to encourage change.
To answer the question of, “How did I find my purpose?”… I haven’t. I’ve learned that ones purpose isn’t a fixed thing that can be summed up in a few words that stays static and unwavering. I’ve learned it’s more like attempting to capture the wind. Let it live and move and change shape, and even fold back in on itself. Let it exist in its cycles and don’t try to grab it. To move with it instead. My purpose is to search for purpose, and to always keep searching. Striving to stay true to the essence of what inspires the feeling of purpose, which is always in flux and reimagining itself. It’s a tough and terrifying but important task. One I am committed to for the long haul.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Professionally, I work in education, design and film. I am the Director of Talent Development at Bridges Academy (a private school for kids with learning challenges); I design and build furniture under my little design brand called BLU Design; and I own and operate a small production company called DRKBLU Films (focused on genre films), all in LA. My life and my time are thus split between three very different professional worlds that help balance each other out. The film and education spheres consume the largest parts of my time, but my creative work in film and design are certainly my true priorities.
What’s most current, and most exciting about what I’m up to, is I’ve recently launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise money for a feature film I’m dying to make called AETERNUM. Aeternum means “forever” in Latin, and is a dark fantasy thriller epic with a precedent soup of films like Pan’s Labyrinth, The Fountain, Midnight Special, The Fall and The Tree of Life. It’s going to be aesthetically gorgeous, and even more thematically beautiful. I’ve got some really experienced and wonderful people lined up to actually make the film if we can raise the budget, and I will be writing, directing, producing and starring in the film.
The script and pitch deck are complete, and people seem to really love the world of the story and how original it all is. The campaign page is full of helpful info as well as tons of fun and exciting perks to help incentivize contributing to a bold and poignant film like this. It’s tricky though because there are so many good and valuable causes to back pretty much all the time, and I think a lot of people struggle with the notion of supporting the arts. But we are trying to do something just as noble, just as powerful, and we do indeed need people to give, if they can. If you do read this, and do contribute, thank you so much in advance!
Here’s the link to the campaign page on IndieGoGo:
https://igg.me/at/aeternum-film/x#/
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
Self-awareness. Self-reliance. Bravery. There are really a huge list of truly crucial skills and qualities needed to succeed and follow a path of purpose, but those three are pretty foundational.
It’s really impossible to make any real decisions for yourself that are going to mean anything or bring you happiness or fill you with a sense of purpose without first having self-awareness. It’s indeed impossible without it. Looking inward, listening, digging, exploring. It’s invaluable and challenging work to look within yourself for the answers to all the questions.
If you can’t trust yourself, or rely on yourself, you won’t be able to do much, frankly. Being an independent, self-motivated, driven and determined person can only really happen if you’re the first and foremost person in your corner. No one is going to hand you your dreams, you have to go after them whole-hog, guns blazing, knowing that you can meet the challenges you will face.
Which leads me to bravery. Maybe the most integral of them all. You can have all the self-awareness and self-reliance and passion and focus and intelligence and talent in the world. But if you lack the courage to do anything with all that, well, then you won’t do anything. And that’s what we’re talking about here, right? How to do. How to take the things that live inside of us and move us and are us, and put them out into the world. You must be bold. You must look at fear and say, “I’m doing it anyway.” The worst thing that can happen is you’ll fail. And honestly, apart from our bruised egos, failure ain’t so bad.
What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
The challenge of raising money to fund a feature film is by far the hardest thing I’ve tried to do. A big reason for that is because I have little control over it because it has very little to do with me and what I bring to the table. I can write the most powerful script, create the most beautiful pitch deck, make the most comprehensive and engaging crowdfunding campaign the world has ever seen, but if I reach out to people and they don’t want to contribute, for whatever reason, then I can’t do what I’m aiming to do, simple as that.
This process is also very personally challenging because I have such a hard time asking for help. I hate it. It makes me feel weak and unable and embarrassed, and I don’t want to be those things. But I do need help. I simply can’t do this on my own. And as horrifying as that reality is, the humbling part is kinda cool. It’s really been forcing me to reconnect with people I haven’t talked to in a long time, review experiences and people that I’d forgotten about, and it’s actually quite a beautiful experience. It still makes me gag everyday, but I’m trying to grow towards it, rather than away from it.
To overcome these things, I’m trying to have a lot of perseverance and resilience and tenacity and resourcefulness. I’ve never done this crowdfunding thing before, so I’m trying out all kinds of approaches. Contacting people directly in text or email or social media, posting widely on my social media avenues, posting in relevant film groups and have even begun to hire people to do marketing work for me that specialize more in that kind of thing. I don’t know what will happen, or if this whole thing will blow up in my face, but I’m trying, and that alone is important.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.tylerpeck.com
- Instagram: @tyler__peck
- Other: Aeternum’s instagram: @aeternum_film Aeternum’s IndieGoGo page: https://igg.me/at/aeternum-film/x#/
Image Credits
Marisa Gerardin Dustin Pearlman
