Tyler Pina, '14 | Award-winning film director
Less than 10 years ago, Tyler Pina was working on films at Kent State. Today, he’s an award-winning director in Los Angeles.
Tyler founded his production company, Neon Flamingo Films in 2017, while he was still working full time producing science and technology-related content for The Verge in San Francisco. At The Verge, he worked on several high-profile projects with NASA, Aston Martin and Volkswagen.
A turning point came when he was able to reunite with several fellow Kent State graduates in San Francisco to direct and produce the short film “88 Cents.” The film tells the stories of inmates’ lives, post-incarceration, highlighting the difficulty of reintegrating into society after leaving the prison system. In creating the film, Tyler hoped to draw attention to an often-overlooked issue.
“I think there is power in filmmaking; we can offer audiences a glimpse into the lives of people that many might not understand. As we learn about these people, we can begin to empathize with them, change our opinions of them and treat them differently.”