Meet Tyler Ham Pong

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Tyler Ham Pong. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Tyler, thank you so much for making time for us today. Let’s jump right into a question so many in our community are looking for answers to – how to overcome creativity blocks, writer’s block, etc. We’d love to hear your thoughts or any advice you might have.
I wouldn’t wish writer’s block on my worst enemy (say that ten times fast).

But seriously, writer’s block isn’t just a roadblock; it’s like driving your car in the woods with no compass. The problem is not that you can’t go anywhere, but that freedom can sometimes be overwhelming. I’ve muddled through varying degrees of writer’s block throughout my career, the worst being the time I took off between writing my second play, “Two Days ’til Dawn,” which in itself is a play about a writer with writer’s block. Despite having a thorough outline and pages of research, I came to an abrupt stop halfway through the script. In some ways it was too personal, and in other ways it tackled subjects beyond my understanding. The character was further in life and career than myself, and I had a lot of insecurities about how I would apply my limited life experience to this story. In the play, the ghosts of literary figures haunt the main character, as he’s also repairing his crumbling personal life with his wife and family. While my life wasn’t crumbling at the time, I was preparing to leave New York City for Los Angeles, which presented its own level of existential dread. I took months off from the project and thought I’d never return to it, instead focussing on different projects and all the minutiae that comes from moving across the country.

The time off from the script proved beneficial. Despite my self-doubt, I had the support of my New York community who believed in me, and in turn my script. I returned to it with new eyes and picked up where I left off. Support and advice from trusted collaborators is what moved me along in the process. From then, my script was selected by the Planet Connections Theatre Festivity, and had a run at the historic Gene Frankel Theatre in the East Village.

While my advice is rudimentary, I have another “cure” for writer’s block that works pretty effectively. While the freedom of any possible outcome can be overwhelming, you can alleviate that pressure by giving yourself guidelines. It seems contradictory, but some of my most freed writing came from film racing, like the Asian American Film Lab’s 72 Hour Shootout, where we had to write, shoot and edit a film in 72 hours. In this scenario, you’re given the freedom to fail, which removes the pressure of perfection. You don’t have time to get stuck in analysis paralysis. Adding stipulations like theme, characters, props, or dialogue, can give you benchmarks in your script that distract your brain from the larger existential questions that may be holding you up. And anyway, those themes become clearer to you as you go along.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
As an actor and filmmaker, I’m always looking for my next project. Aside from the day to day auditions, my wife, Jamie Miller, and I are working on a feature length horror screenplay of our own called, “The Nevada Triangle,” about a couple documenting their home renovation as strange phenomena and unsettling memories put their relationship and sanity at stake.

Our film is in the found footage style like “The Blair Witch Project” or “Paranormal Activity,” but has a genre-bending ending. The reason for found footage is because I’m a huge fan of the genre, and worst-case scenario we can make it ourselves. It’s a single location with minimal cast, which is a common horror trope because it requires low investment, and has a higher probability of return.

We’ve written and produced several award-winning short films with my production company, and we’re excited for the next step that we’re planning with Kill the Pig Productions and our screenplay, “The Nevada Triangle.”

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
As an actor, the most impactful quality was learning filmmaking. By creating opportunities for yourself, you can show casting directors what kind of actor you want to be, instead of what kind of actor they think you are. With the accessibility of filmmaking tools today, there’s no reason not to dip your toe in it. There are companies, like myself with Kill the Pig Productions, who offer production services to actors who want to collaborate and customize their acting reels.

Another quality is building community. The filmmaking community is actually pretty small, and there are even smaller subsets where you can find like-minded creatives with similar life experience. I found a community among Asian American filmmakers through organizations like the Asian American Film Lab, CAPE, and other Asian American film festivals. An important part of the industry is cultivating long-term relationships.

Lastly, patience is a virtue. Nothing happens overnight, even if it looks it. I’ve seen people come and go from Los Angeles because they’ve given their dreams an expiration date. Hunker down and get ready for the long haul.

How can folks who want to work with you connect?
Yes! I’m always looking to collaborate with new people who bring a fresh perspective or bring something new to the table. At this point, I’m searching for producers with experience in horror and found footage films. Do you have experience with monster makeup, CGI or levitating visual effects? Have you seen our short films, “Leap” or, “CLUB RAT$” on Amazon and thought to yourself, “hey, I’d like to see them make a full-length feature”? If yes, then maybe you’re the missing piece! And if you’re just curious to follow our journey, you can always connect with us on social media or our website: @ktpproductions and www.killthepigproductions.com.

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