Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Tara Twal of Detroit

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Tara Twal. Check out our conversation below.

Good morning Tara, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
This year has been filled with many unpredictable, and sometimes hard, days. With this, my mornings have become my ‘me time’. My 6:00am alarm, my ‘sunrise’ light turning on, and my backup alarm clock all work together to force my eyes open first thing every day. In a sleepy daze, the next thing I will hear is a very loud meow. Chopper, my extremely cuddly tuxedo cat, jumps on my bed to demand affection. She will meow until I open my arms to her. We have our routine ‘cuddle puddle’, where I will pet her until she flops her whole body on top of mine. While we are being completely adorable, my black cat watches from the hallway. Wasabi is the polar opposite of Chopper. I can count how many times he has cuddled with me (once…). I honestly don’t know what runs through his mind as he watches us. I finish up my me time by putting on some mindless tv, scrolling instagram, and holding Chopper as she sleeps. Another alarm goes off at 7:30am, and it is officially the start of my day. Giving myself that time to completely shut my brain off makes the biggest difference in my very, very busy days!

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hi! My name is Tara Twal, and I am a full time producer in the advertisement industry! I produce commercial spots for a range of clients, including McDonald’s and The UPS Store. I began my creative career by freelancing on commercial, narrative, and documentary productions. While I took every opportunity I could in different departments, I mostly focused in the assistant director and audio departments. I have worked on very exciting sets, ranging from commercials for Ford to episodes of Ahlan Simsim (Sesame Street)! Outside of my nine to five, I produce, direct, and write narrative and experimental films. An absolute highlight of my career was when my experimental self-performance film “BRAIN WORMS” was exhibited at the Grand Rapids Art Museum. My career has been a very fun journey so far, and every opportunity I can take a part of makes me appreciate this path even more.

Thanks for sharing that. Would love to go back in time and hear about how your past might have impacted who you are today. What did you believe about yourself as a child that you no longer believe?
“You are too much” is a phrase I still wish I could un-hear at times. I was a very self-conscious child, and growing up, I was completely convinced that my personality was too overwhelming for everyone. The truth is, for some people, it absolutely was. I just wish younger me had realized that it never really mattered. With this mindset, I spent a lot of time alone. I kept things like my hobbies and passions a secret. As I grew older, I finally had given the people in my bubble the trust of sharing who I truly was with them. Yes, I absolutely received judgment, but the majority of those I shared my life with offered me nothing but support and excitement! I especially wish younger Tara had known she had her family’s support all along. After high school, I went to Macomb Community College to give myself the space to explore my future. I had a great experience there, and honestly recommend community college to everyone! During my two years there, I took my first-ever art course – Intro to Filmmaking. My older brother Laith was often the subject of my assignments, since we were both living at our parents’ house. My household got to really see me in action! During that time, I think they realized I was serious about becoming a professional artist. They bought me my first camera and supported me in pursuing a film degree at the College for Creative Studies. My family and friends have truly been a blessing in my career (I love you guys!). I wish younger me had known her passions were never a burden to anyone. They are what make me, me!

Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Absolutely! I’m sure anyone in any field of work can relate. Specifically for me, I was the first assistant director on a short film in 2023 where everything that could go wrong, did. For those unfamiliar, the first assistant director on a film production is the person in charge of keeping everyone on schedule while ensuring the director’s vision is brought to life. It’s a very stressful position, but if done well, it can be extremely satisfying. This production was filled with people I had worked with before, who seemed to trust me and were excited for me to lead. I still hate that, to this day, all those amazing people saw me at my absolute worst. I did not handle that production well. I still had a lot to learn, and the demands of this production were too big for me to handle properly. There were multiple locations, different languages the leads had to learn, fight sequences with stunt props, and around twenty-five pages of story to be filmed in two days. One location’s owner almost threw us out, people were getting sick, we had sixteen hour workdays, and the worst part was that I couldn’t manage to keep my stress contained. I’m ashamed to admit it, but my attitude alone really harmed production morale. The second we wrapped, I immediately went home and passed out. After learning how disappointed everyone was in me, I truly considered quitting filmmaking. I felt so much guilt over how poorly I handled things and was convinced I should never fill this role again. I gave myself a few days to self pity and mope around, then I began to be productive. I apologized to the crew and am grateful for their understanding. Most importantly, the director was extremely happy with the final product! Even though I still feel guilt about that production, I’m glad I gave myself the forgiveness to keep pushing forward! I was an assistant director on many projects after that, including a shoot for Planned Parenthood! I was also given the chance to AD on a short series with the exact same crew. Some folks understandably were hesitant to see me leading again, but overall the crew said I had grown a lot! It was amazing to learn from that first production and regain people’s trust. (If any of the crew happen to be reading this…thank you for your patience! You are truly the best!) I would trust myself to say yes to this role in the future, and equally important, know when to say no!

Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What would your closest friends say really matters to you?
So, I asked all my friends to give me an answer… and aside from my current Pokémon obsession, they all agreed that it is the connections I make with people! My friends and family are the parts of my life I will always be so grateful for. The people who are, or have been, a part of my life will always hold value to me. The experiences I get to share with them, the perspectives I get to see, and the hardships we go through together are some of the greatest privileges of my life.

Thank you so much for all of your openness so far. Maybe we can close with a future oriented question. Could you give everything your best, even if no one ever praised you for it?
Yes! This is actually a constant goal of mine. Something I noticed myself doing in college was making art I felt my professors would like, not what I would like. I am sure as a college professor at an art school, you would see this from a lot from students. They each seemed to have their own way of handling this. One of my professors, and now friend, Jen Fitzpatrick often taught me valuable lessons in her 3d art course. Honestly, when I began this class, I did not think it would offer me much. In the middle of the school year, my uncle sadly passed away which was a very hard hit in me and my family’s life. When I got to Jen’s class next week, she immediately could tell something was wrong. I opened up to her about all that I was going through. She set up a desk for me in a separate room from the rest of my class and told me to create. Our assignment involved taking a piece of paper and giving it a ‘new life’ by changing its form. I had spent a good amount of time with my paper and felt very proud of my end results. I only showed Jen, who was excited about what I did, and then went home for the day. While it was such a small gesture, this gave me a nice reminder that the art I make should be for me. Still to this day, whenever I am feeling down, bored, or anything really, I can feel the motivation to make art for myself only. I will write, film, sew, etc., and never show a soul what I make. I find this practice to not just be good for helping my mind be at ease, but it is a great way to build up confidence as an artist! It is something I recommend anyone do!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://taratwal.com
• Instagram: @tara.t.art
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/taratwal