Meet Ty Hunt | Director, Producer, CEO

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

Hi Ty, how do you think about risk?
Filmmaking is inherently risky, no matter how much planning, money, foresight, whatever you put into your project. At the end of the day, there’s always something that pops up outside of your control that forces you to adjust your plan to accommodate. The crazy thing is, even in “stable” jobs (you know, the ones that people always tell you to have a backup plan for in case this crazy, unrealistic plan doesn’t work out…), even in those jobs, there’s a risk. That sense of security is false. Anything can happen that can take that away. Look at what happened in this recent pandemic when the world shut down. How many people all of a sudden found themselves without a job, worrying how they’ll pay for life? There’s a risk in everything that you do in this life. Nothing is guaranteed. So, why not go fully after what your heart is set on? There will always be obstacles and reasons why it can’t work. But there’s always a way around it as well if you’re willing to find it. That mindset has driven me every step of my career. Sure, it hasn’t always worked out perfectly. But more often than not, taking the risk to move forward is what got me to the next step of this journey.

What should our readers know about your business?
One of the biggest challenges for me is balancing business with art. Filmmaking is both. It took me a long time (much longer than I cared to admit) to realize how to make the art make money. And for anyone who says that’s me selling out or anything like that, to them I disagree. Vehemently. The whole point is freedom. Having the money to do what you need to do on your terms is the reason why we work. That’s one of the personal reasons I started my company. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to reach my goals working on someone else’s dream (that’s how I see working at another company). Now, that doesn’t mean that it’s been unicorns and rainbows. Quite the contrary. There have been so many obstacles and points where I asked if it is even worth it. And the crazy part is: the answer has always been yes. So, the thing I want to leave people with is persevere. Remember in Sister Act 2 (oh no, I’m dating myself lol) when Sister Mary Clarence told Rita if she wakes up and can think of nothing else but singing, she’s supposed to be a singer. That’s the same bit of advice I took to heart and am now sharing with you.

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.
Oh man, this is tough. I’ve been so focused on working that I rarely get out and have down time. I will say this though. This city has a pulse. Several, in fact. It’s easy to get out and find one that resonates with your own. That’s one of the things that I love about this city. You can definitely find your community if you’re willing to put in a little effort to locate it.

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?
There are so many people who have made what I’m doing possible. So many people who have supported me in so many ways, it’s almost impossible to call one person out above all the others. I will say at this present moment, my wife, Natalie, has sacrificed a lot in order for me to continue to push. Having recently had a child, there’s been a lot of sacrifice on both our ends to care for our new daughter. But she’s given me so much space to continue to pursue the goals we spoke about before Nyla came into our lives. I wouldn’t be able to do really ANY of it without her continued support and sacrifice for our family.

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