Today we’d like to introduce you to Brandon Tyler.
Hi Brandon, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve been an artist my entire life. Growing up in Newark, I was always drawing and making my own comic books and magazines, and by 12 I was rapping. Making people laugh is something I’ve been drawn to forever, from my family and friends to the people I grew up around and the shows I watched as a kid. That’s why almost everything I make is comedy-driven storytelling. It’s just how I see the world.
I studied broadcast journalism at William Paterson University, where I founded my own production company, Manville. With my friends, I shot a web series documenting our everyday adventures and college life, and we even took it on a college tour through a few HBCUs.
After graduating, I went straight into the TV industry. I worked with brands like the NBA, BET, Monster Energy, MTV, A&E, BuzzFeed and Comedy Central, working my way up as a producer across TV, live events, awards shows and digital content.
The whole time, I was putting in work on my own craft: writing, shooting films and studying comedy. Balancing a full-time career with building my own thing on nights and weekends wasn’t easy, but it led to my first short, What The Hell?!, in 2023. Its premiere doubled as a showcase for other filmmakers and artists. That energy became the first WTH? Music & Film Festival, in Los Angeles in 2024. Building a festival from scratch meant wearing every hat, from getting submissions to promo to running the night itself. Later that year I started production on the feature-length sequel, What The Hell? Again?! It premiered at WTH? Festival 2025 to an even bigger reception and went on to earn a Best Screenplay nomination at the Newark International Film Festival.
Watching the film industry move into New Jersey sparked my next project, Operation: Is Jersey The New Hollywood? It’s a documentary about the NJ film boom and what it means for the people who actually live here. It opened at WTH? Festival 2026 and was later selected for the NJ Filmmakers Showcase at the 52nd Newark Black Film Festival.
I’ve never been one-lane. I write, direct, shoot, edit, design, make music and host, and for a long time I felt like that made me harder to put in a box. Now it’s the whole point. I’m building WTH? into one home for film, comedy, music and events. Our newest series, WTH? Moments, brings on people from all walks of life to tell the craziest thing that’s ever happened to them. More to come.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Definitely not a smooth road. Early on I had to put in a lot of work to be seen as a Director / filmmaker and as the head of my own thing, not just the guy someone hires to shoot. Being multi-hyphenate has been a blessing and a challenge. I write, direct, shoot, edit, and more, and for a long time that made me hard to put in a box. People like to know exactly what you are, and I’ve never been one-lane. It probably slowed me down in some ways, but I wouldn’t change a thing, because it’s what lets me build my world the way I see it.
Then there’s the grind of doing it independently. I built the films and the festival while working a full-time career, and while navigating the layoffs that have been hitting our industry. That’s meant a lot of nights and weekends, and wearing every hat: producing, writing, shooting and editing all my films, plus handling promo and running the festival itself. Freelance life isn’t always steady either, so you’re constantly balancing different kinds of work.
But every one of those struggles made the wins feel bigger. Every premiere, every festival and every screening reminds me why I keep going.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I make dope stuff, period. A lot of it’s funny because that’s just how I’m wired, but it’s not only comedy. Whether it’s a film, a doc, a festival or a series, I want it to look good, feel real and stick with you after it’s over.
People know me from a few different lanes. A lot of folks go back to Manville TV, the web series I started in college with my friends, which made waves all over Jersey and in other states too. On the industry side, people know my work from places like the NBA, BET and MTV, including content with NBA players that shows who they are off the court. And now most people know me from the What The Hell?! movies and the WTH? Festival, which started as a premiere for my first short and kind of took on a life of its own. Then there’s the Jersey doc, Operation: Is Jersey The New Hollywood?, which got a lot of people talking about what all these studios coming to NJ actually means for us.
What I’m most proud of is that WTH? was never just about me. From the first premiere, we’ve been putting other filmmakers, musicians, artists and even my friends on. Watching somebody show their work to a crowd for the first time hits just as hard as my own premieres.
What sets me apart is that I’m just different, and I don’t try to be anybody else. I really just create cool things I like, and the people who like it too will rock with it. Luckily, they have so far.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
Determination. I’m locked in being successful, no matter how long or what it takes. But more than my own success, I want to inspire other people to go after theirs. If somebody sees what I’ve built and realizes what’s possible when you believe in yourself, that means everything to me.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/b.radg/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandontylernj/
