Tyler Gunderson

and i do cool stuff

I'm from an exciting little city called Beloit, WI--Population:36,966. So...obviously I'm a Packers fan and love cheese and beer. But what else?

For as long as I can remember I've been obsessed with technology and computers. I first started tinkering with them in my parents' basement when I was 10 years old. These formative years were especially important because I broke A LOT of computers and learned a ton about what NOT to do. This skill set became quite useful as I grew into my middle school and high school years as I became the go-to guy for any and all computer related issues. My status as the local technology guru was cemented by my high school German teacher who bequeathed me the title of, "Meister der Technik" (Master of Technology).

My interest in film and television also developed during these years as I sought alternative options for school projects. After a freshman year English project permitted us to make a movie trailer for class, I was hooked on the process and the creativity I was afforded with video editing. There were no doubts in my mind that this was something I wanted to do for a long time.

then what?

In high school I felt like I was going to do one of two things--go to MIT and do computer engineering, or go to USC film school. As luck would have it I never bothered to apply to MIT and was not accepted to *any* undergrad film school programs. So I went to the University of Wisconsin in Madison instead.

UW Madison doesn't (or at least didn't when I went there) have a real film production program so I did the closest thing I could, which was Communication Arts. What that meant for me was watching lots of movies and TV shows and writing papers about them. Not what I wanted to do.

Side note: Going to school in a small town had a weird educational perk in that we were made to take German in 6th grade. Long story short, there were enough incentives to keep learning it throughout my schooling that I ultimately double majored and also got a degree in German.

It became pretty clear early in my college career that I would have to go to grad school to do real film.

cali here i come!

I *was* lucky enough to get into USC's Master of Fine Arts program for Film and Television Production, which I started in January 2010. After my requisite six semesters and the completion of all requirements, I graduated.

At this point I had a shitload of new production, post-production, and AV engineering skills, but no idea what to do.

the space

During what would have been my "winter break" after my last semester at USC, I was contacted by a classmate who also happened to be working for Google at the time. She inquired about my post production skills and asked for a a resume.

Side note: When someone does this, YOU GIVE THEM YOUR RESUME AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

History being what it is, I got my job at the YouTube Space in Los Angeles in early 2013.

The Space has been a great professional experience in every possible sense. Being that it's my first *real* job, I've been afforded a tremendous amount of freedom to learn and experiment with a lot of different technology and software. Anyone with even a little interest in this kind of stuff would be blown away by most of what we've got. For that I'm very grateful.

what next?

You tell me! What should we do next?

In the mean time, check out some of my stuff: