Today we’d like to introduce you to Tiara Mason.
Hi Tiara, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I was born in raised in Atlanta, GA. I grew up in College Park, GA. My love for writing started when I was in the 3rd grade in Ms. Robinson class at Heritage Elementary school in College Park, GA. I use to enter writing competitions at school and some of my work would be displayed either around the school or as a part of the school newsletter. The writing was something that was soothing to me as a child, I love assignments and I loved school assignments that involved book reports or 2-page essays. My writing journey began in 9th grade. I attended Tri-Cities High school in East Point, GA. I was accepted into the magnet program which I studied musical theater and dance. A fun fact about me is before writing, I fell in love with dance, acting and singing growing up. I participated in shows such as Rag Time, Malcom X and Hats.
Shortly after my 10th-grade year of high school going into my 11th-grade year, I relocated to Macon, GA. I later relocated back to Atlanta and graduated from Banneker High school in May 2011 and shortly after high school, I attended community college in Warner Robins, GA, where I studied Mass Media and minor in English. During my time of attending college, I continued studying film and media, but I love writing grew, which inspired me to host my very first community play at my local church. The play took place the week prior to Christmas back in 2013 and it was a packed-out free event. The title of the show was called “The Christmas Stories: the musical.” As time went on a year later, in 2014, I was hired as a Production Assistant for a local news station, WMGT-41 NBC in Macon, Ga for two years. During my time as a production assistant, I’ve learned so much about production, editing and filming. After my journey as a production assistant concluded, I started my own production company in 2016, Hourglass Production Studios. I continued to write more community projects which lead to another show in 2017 which was titled “Christmas Redefined which was also another packed-out free event.
After successfully hosting two free events free to the public and receive positive feedback from the community, as well as gained a following from those events, it inspired to debut my first major production, entitled “I Married My Best Friend,” which debuted in September 2019. The play was held at the Douglass Theater in Macon, which seated 350. I sold out the box office twice in one day. My inspiration for being a writer as well as a director has the opportunity to create and tell stories that have never been told before. I write stories that speak to people’s hearts and plan to continue to create more stories that will be treasured for generations to come. My biggest inspiration is my family, of course, but my inspired influencer is Tyler Perry. I grew up watching Tyler Perry and it inspired me to write at a young age. My dream is to work on Mr. Perry’s writing team and learned more from him. I’m also inspired by other great writers and directors such as Lee Daniels, David E Talbert, Ava DuVernay, Ryan Coogler, Spike Lee, Jordan Peele, Shondra Rhimes, Craig Wright, and Lena Waithe, who I also dream to one day work with.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
One of the challenges I faced was preparation. Preparation is never an easy task no matter how professional you are or how large of your team has. There were challenges I faced where I didn’t come into my first major production with a big budget. But I had a vision, and with a vision, it came with tireless nights planning, recasting and restructuring until everything came together. There were times prior to my event were I wondered did I have the right venue to support my vision? Did I market enough? Will my equipment work properly? Will my cast be altogether? So many unknown questions come to mind when you’re executing a vision. But it comes with the territory.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar, what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a writer/filmmaker. I specialize in screenplay writing. I have experience in being an extra on movie sets as well as experiences on a television set. But I’m known for my stage play “I Married My Best Friend.” What sets me apart from others is my authentic creativity in my character choices and stories that are not only relatable but also unique and appealing.
I plan to do another stage play soon but my biggest is moving on to television and film. I plans to work with major companies and networks such as FX, BET HBO, Netflix, Lionsgates, Paramount,etc. What currently working on right now with my company is directing music videos and documentaries for upcoming artist locally and abroad
We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Whew! I would say financially, and I don’t know if I should be sharing this with you guys. But I took a major financial risk with this last project because, as I said in my last text, I didn’t have a realistic budget for my show, so basically, I took my vision and ran with it… literally! I’m not saying do what I did. That doesn’t necessarily work for everyone because even with the risks I took, I learned lessons and gained experiences of what to do differently for my next project and future projects to come.
Contact Info:
- Email: hourglassstudios@gmail.com
- Instagram: @therealladytthewriter
- Facebook: Tiara Mason
- Twitter: @TheReal_Lady_T
- Youtube: Lady T.
