Meet Tyler Matthews: Video & Multimedia Producer

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

Hi Tyler, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
Five years after college I was completely burnt out from working in finance. I felt lost, ashamed, and embarrassed because I put so much of my self-worth into my professional identity. Unfortunately, this sent me into a two-year period of depression and anxiety where I wasn’t able to do the most basic things that I used to be good at. I eventually became very much isolated in my apartment which sucked: Social life, gone. Career goals, gone. Confidence, gone. Purpose, gone. But the one thing that comforted me was messing around with Garage Band on an iPad. I was amazed at how much more intuitive music apps had become since I’d been a creative high school student. But that just led me to want to learn more, eventually on a MacBook Pro with Logic Pro and Ableton. I started developing a knack for audio production by consuming Youtube tutorials and meeting new creative friends who had serious skills that I learned from. And as much as I loved music production, I was living in Columbia, SC where there isn’t much demand for that type of creative work. But I learned that video editing has a lot in common with producing music on a timeline and learned editing the same way I did with digital music production. I felt then that if I could just learn how to use a camera… someone might be willing to hire me to make videos. But the first time I turned on my brand new Canon T3i I felt my heart sink into my stomach… I thought the menu would have an easy-to-use interface like an iPhone camera. Honestly, every single term was foreign to me: aperture, ISO, shutter speed, video codecs, cropped sensors, etc. But at this point, I was determined and knew I had the ability to learn. So I asked friends to teach me, I googled and browsed forums, and because I wasn’t learning this in school I had to give myself projects, like interviewing my grandmother who had just been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. My fear of job uncertainty drove me to learn quickly. I found opportunities to volunteer, I started networking again, and met lots of great people. Eventually, people started hiring me and I treated some projects as a matter of life and death. I started winning awards, providing affirmation for myself and credibility for the people who used to see me in a suit and tie every day. Today I’m just grateful to be in this line of work and excited for the opportunities that lie ahead. There wasn’t a specific moment when I decided to pursue a creative career, I just stumbled into it when I needed it the most. Creative work reinvigorated me and gave me a second shot to do meaningful work.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I began shooting and editing video in 2015. After 3 years I became a video producer for the University of South Carolina working at the institutional brand level and returned to my business (Tyler Digital) full time in 2019. My services include filming, editing, animation graphic design, music and audio production for Brands and Agencies. I’m proud of the range of services I can provide on my own but some of my best work has come by partnering with talented artists, animators, actors, and creators located in Brooklyn, Norway, Ukraine, and elsewhere. My hope is to continue providing great work for clients that gets them results and to find new opportunities in film, television, and possibly even music production.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would tell them that I moved to Atlanta right before a global pandemic so I still don’t know my way around very well, but I can take them to the best BBQ place in town which is right across the street: Daddy D’z. Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Thank you to Mason Youngblood for responding to that first message on Soundcloud. You were my first creative friend who taught me a ton about music production and introduced me to so many talented artists.

And thank you to Tucker Prescott for teaching me how to use a camera. Your work has always inspired me and always will.

Website: https://www.tylerdigital.net/

Instagram: http://instagram.com/tyler_digital

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/1tylermatthews

Twitter: https://twitter.com/tyler_digital

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tylerdigital1/