The National Park Service turned 100 years old, and they've been celebrating it all year! Even allowing free entrance for a week in April, of which I dutifully took advantage. Despite this, I've only been to a handful of these parks; and about a year ago, I wrote and hosted a piece about Utah's National Parks, which won the Communicator Award's 2016 Silver Award of Distinction.

Hopefully my list will keep growing, but at the top are Yosemite National Park in California, Zion National Park in Utah, and Volcanoes National Park in Hawaii. Now, if you're not close to any of these, don't fret because the National Park Service can help you find your closest National Park.

​Hi-Ho Silver!

Well, I've dropped the ball on keeping my blog up to date. I see the last few posts have all been about Brand USA, which is amazing! -- but only one of the few things that I've been working on.

I've done a few narrative projects, one of which will be released on Tuesday! It's called "Over A Girl" and stars Christian T Chan and myself as brothers caught in a love triangle. It will stream on the Indie Vision Projects Facebook and YouTube page. Stay tuned for that. On set pics below.

And I participated in the Asian American Film Lab's high-profile 72 Hour Film Shootout for my eighth year (WHAAAA!?) in a row. This year it was directed by Christina Jun who co-wrote the screenplay with me. The theme was "Lose the Labels" so we decided to make it about mixed up moving boxes, also dealing with the themes of identity as one does when given the theme "Lose the Labels." Coincidentally, it also features Christian T Chan as well as a few other familiar faces, and was shot by the very talented Sade Clacken Joseph. I'm happy to say that we made the Top Ten Selection this year, screening at the 39th Asian American International Film Festival in New York. Watch below!

Just last week I returned from one of the most epic states that I've ever been assigned with my Visit the USA Blog -- Hawaii. Now, all of the videos up to this point (including Utah and Missouri) have been targeting a Canadian audience. However, this assignment was for a broader international audience, making it a new format and interesting learning experience for me. Hopefully enough to warrant more "Host Tyler" in the future. If not, then this is it and you better drink it in!

Three of the videos were catered to the outdoors which involved zip lining, tubing, hiking, etc. Lots of early, early mornings and tons of coffee, giving me my official hashtag #starbuckswhore. We have fun... Nevertheless, crazy sights and experiences were the consistent daily itinerary. From the first video you can see my time lapse (30 mins pass by in 14 seconds) of the volcano at Kilauea Caldera, Volcanoes National Park. Into the evening you can see the lava flow burn bright orange. This time lapse shows the visible effect that day and night make with its glow. The video next to it shows me screwing around and wasting drone batteries for the sake of a Facebook video, but whatever -- it worked.

After four days of adventure on the islands of Hawaii and Kauai we started smelling a bit ripe, so we finished our trip by interviewing chefs on Oahu and Maui for our segment on Hawaii's culinary scene. All my foodie knowledge was put to the test. Luckily everyone had long answers, making me look like a pro. Also, I tried three different versions of Hawaii's loco moco and I wish to Glob it catches on in Los Angeles. Just as I wish for the poutine and the garbage plate. When you try a region's comfort food, it's like being welcomed into that region's living room. Warm and fuzzy.

As always, keep an eye out for my newest videos and watch past videos at Visit the USA.

Way back in October, I spent a week on the road with Visit the USA making tourism videos for the great State of Missouri. We drove all along Missouri's Route 66 and stopped in Joplin, Pulaski County and Springfield, making a total of 5 videos in our short time there!

I met some great people along the way, and collaborated with videographer/photographer Amon Focus to make this project the best it could be. Now I'm happy to announce that Visit the USA has unveiled the first video for Joplin, Missouri. Watch and like it below!

And visit my Travel Blog to watch more videos, read my accompanying articles, and see where else I've been! The only question is: Where to next?

Let's reflect! I haven't had too much time to write an in-depth post... but it's worth the wait because I've been up to a lot of fun stuff over the past few months. You'll see me posting about my amazing short film LEAP (Teaser Trailer), about a young woman from a history of abuse who has decided to kill herself, until she is interrupted by someone from her past. It was written by Jamie Miller, directed by Marlo Bernier and shot by Chris Vongsawat. You'll also see me posting more about my adventures across the States with my travel video/blog Visit the USA.

But today, I wanted to share a short film called We're Only Here To Help: An Ambush because it was such a fun project and it turned out to be a really dynamic single take. All 6 minutes and 40 seconds of it are done in one single, solitary shot. The team was amazing! Keep an eye on the choreography and movement.

So excited to be on Asians Doing Everything -- a unique blog that celebrates the work of Asians and Pacific Islanders. I was lucky enough to be featured on October 30th, 2015.

Check out the article here!

It's been over a month since I wrote anything in my blog, so I figured it was worth an update. This month has been busy! I've started doing post-production at Authentic Entertainment as a Story Assistant, which has been educational and rewarding, albeit time-consuming. As for acting and filmmaking -- that's obviously where most of my focus has been. From 4 days of callbacks and chemistry reads at NBC, to festivals and filmmaking… it's been real.

First off, Wedlocked (starring myself and Christina Jun) screened at the Sacramento International Film Festival (coincidentally, where Dreamer in Exile screened in 2013), and will be returning to Sacramento for the Sacramento Asian Pacific Film Festival at the end of the month. Apparently, Sacramento's hot for Wedlocked.

On the way back from Sacramento to Los Angeles, I was also able to shoot a short film starring Jamie Miller for the This Is New - Short & Sweet Film Competition. I love these types of competitions because they force you to exercise your craft in a very spontaneous way. And if we win, we could get $1000 which we would put towards our upcoming project written by Jamie Miller and produced by Kill the Pig Productions. So check it out and please vote! It's called Mother's Day.

Also, I just watched a sneak preview of the amazing video from my work trip to Utah, and I can't wait for it to go live on Discover America. Check back soon for more updates!