By VERONICA KLOSS

MONTEVALLO, Ala.– Tyson Evans appears outside of New Hall to let his crew inside. He goes into the bedroom of his private resident assistant room to prepare, unknowingly singing, as the cast runs lines with the crew setting up. He emerges, discussing his plan for the scene with the crew. Everyone moves into their places. Roll camera, roll sound, the clapboard strikes, and he begins to act. 

On the left, a man stands holding an ipad. A man crouches on the floor holding a phone next to him. Then, a man holds a large camera. Next, a man holds a boom mic. A man and a woman watch them and two men sitting on a couch and a chair
Behind the scenes of the filming process for “The Book of Tyson”

Evans, a student at the University of Montevallo, is the writer, director, and executive producer of “The Book of Tyson,” a fictionalized account of Evan’s college experience, as well as playing the titular lead. Evans also wrote and directed “Up/downs,” a sitcom about contemporary college life that was included in the lineup of the 2022 Sidewalk Film Festival. 

A well dressed man with glasses smiles and holds open a clapboard
Evans poses with the
clapboard before filming

From theater to film

Evans did not begin with acting on the screen; he began acting on the stage. Evans described the beginning of his acting career as “a High School Musical type situation” because of his initial resistance to theater and his history of playing football and basketball. Despite his initial resistance, Evans grew to love acting, in part because of a high school teacher who constantly pushed him to try new things outside of his comfort zone. 

Evans has not completely abandoned his theatrical roots. In 2021, he played Ares in the Alabama premiere of “The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical.” In 2022, he acted in Gold Sides’ winning College Night show “Ballad of the Mississippi River,” playing John Henry.

Despite this, Evans is not a theater major, but instead is part of the mass communications program with a concentration in broadcast production. Evans explained that while writing and acting are a part of what he does, understanding everything that occurs on a film set is a necessity. Evans said, “Being a part of mass comm has taught me the technical jargon that I have to use so that I am clearly understood when communicating.

Where inspiration comes from

Evans stated the biggest inspiration behind his film projects is “the hunger to learn new things and grow as an artist, whilst giving others that chance as well.” Evans started working on “The Book of Tyson” because he wanted to strengthen his storytelling, but he also wanted others to have the opportunity to work on a project near and dear to him. 

In the foreground is a man holding a boom mic. Behind him is a man looking over another man's shoulder watching the screen of a large film camera
Evans reviews footage in between takes

Evans’ stories are based on real experiences; however, they do contain some dramatics from time to time. Evans said, “I do my best to tell personal stories in an authentic and genuine way that I hope people can connect to.”

Becoming the inspiration

Evans hopes to inspire other students as well. “I believe everyone has a story to tell,” he said, “I’m a junior at Montevallo, creating what I believe is the first ever weekly web-series to be done on our campus, and this experience I hope inspires other people to try to lay the foundations for their dreams such as I’ve been doing.”

Red letters that say T E and white numbers 14 hanging on a wall
TE 14 sign in Evans’ room

After graduation

After graduation, Evans wants to be a director and story creator for a large studio. Evans knows the difficulty of this, but that does not deter him, stating, “I understand, however, that the road for my dream career is not an easy one, and I’m prepared to do what it takes.”

Evans’ friend and fellow actor in “The Book of Tyson” Jordan Hall believes Evans can do it. “Over the years I learned that Tyson is the type of person that when he puts his mind to doing something he’s going to make sure that it’s done properly and to the best of his ability,” Hall said.  

Final thoughts

Evans described 2022 as a year of firsts. After two pandemic years, he made it a mission to begin laying the foundation to his dreams. Reflecting at the work he has put into his projects, “Up/downs” and “The Book of Tyson” Evans said, “I think that overall, I’m so blessed and thankful for the opportunities I’ve had and the amazing people I’ve met and have worked with me along the way to make my ambitions possible.” 

If you want to receive updates about Evans’ projects, you can follow @bookoftysonofficial and @updownsofficial on Instagram and TE14 TV on Facebook, along with subscribing to TE14 TV on YouTube.