Natalie Tran says content creation made her a better filmmaker

Welcome to our Mashable studio, Natalie

So I know you've had a little bit of an untraditional trajectory. You started as an actor

Did you start acting when you were five? Yes, five years old. That's amazing. I'm now like mainly an actor, but I thought I was going to be a singer initially

And so I got into musical theater and I started doing that. And from musical theater, moved on to commercial work, indie films, etc

All that jazz. But that's what led me into content creation because I just found that I really like performing

I like making funny videos, things like that. And I'd been making videos here and there, but never to get an audience just kind of for fun

But the very tail end of 2023, I made a video that went viral

It blew up and then I kind of took the bit and ran with it. And now I'm here

So it's just been interesting to kind of see how acting and content creation can work together

And every day I'm kind of I'm building that brand and making it make it worth it

Anyone can have a viral video, right? But it's what you do after and how you build it into a career that really matters. Right

So you have this viral moment. And then what were you thinking? What were your next steps

I was just shocked. I was like, there's no way this is happening

I was gaining so many followers. I couldn't even believe it. But then I started making videos

And, you know, my favorite thing ever is when people comment that I'm funny

Like, I love being called funny. That's my favorite compliment. And that just made me really happy to be recognized for that because I actually am a pretty shy

person and so I like that I'm now recognized for my personality that makes me really happy

and I think I can show my personality through my videos and it's also helped me just be a more

sociable person in general and when you're making your comedy right they always say like the first

three seconds are so important like how much thought and intention are you putting into it

when I make a video I make sure my face is the first thing that they see because the algorithm

them does like a woman. They like to see a woman first, which I'm like, okay, at least we get that

We get that. That's one thing I think about. Um, I think about like high energy right away. I think

about like, maybe not the best joke. Maybe you want to keep the punchline for the end, but you

want to have something really engaging, you know, think you think of an idea. Okay. What can make

it even funnier? What's going to make someone stop scrolling and be like, Oh, I want to watch this

whole video. Um, sometimes it sucks because it's like, Oh, I don't want to have to make the first

a clickbait reaction. Yeah. Because there a balance for sure You don want to like draw your audience in and then have the rest of the video be oh not what they actually wanted to watch Yeah What is it about the medium in which I feel like comedians always really succeed on platforms like Reels and TikTok Yes I would say the biggest

thing about comedy is timing. Yeah. And that's really important with shorts right so it's like

boom boom boom. I'm a very like percussive comedian I would say where I always say I'm so picky with

the edit. I mean, it depends because I also love comedy that's like dry, no edit, literally nothing

But then I also love the comedy where it's like cut, cut, cut, cut, cut. And like, that's why it

does so well in short form because now with these short attention spans, it works, you know, because

it keeps you engaged the whole time. Leveraging the audience you have, right? And then taking it

now, you know, you have your short film passion project. Great name, by the way. Thank you. Thank

you. How did you decide like, okay, I'm going to do this. I'm going to pursue. I've, you know

you've been acting since you were so young. You've been really, this is what you've been working towards

I would have people ask me a lot, oh, do you ever want to write or direct something

And I would think, yeah, yeah. And that's it. And then I was on a feature film last year called Frogman Returns

Check it out if you can. And the way the film was shot, it was a lot of oners

And so I saw the way the actor chemistry worked on camera, and I thought, okay, it was generating ideas

And so I came up with the idea of Passion Project on that set. It was very like early stages

But I remember I even still have the voice memo where I was like, oh, my gosh, it could be it could be this this thing where it's a lot of wonders

And it's really good actors. Acting is the main thing. That's like my love is acting

And so I think I use a lot of my skills as an actor into my directing way that I do things

So I started writing it, started building it out. It was about five months of pre-production and rewrites

And then we shot it in May. And it was a dream come true, honestly, because this was my first time really being the producer and the director and the writer behind everything

And I found that I really love it. It was so much fun. And it also proved to myself that I'm able to do things like that and made me passionate for what I'm going to create in the future

And how did your kind of job as a content creator also help influence the work you put into your film

Everyone wants to say that it's very hard to direct and act in your own movie

I disagree. And the reason for that is because I have all this content creation experience where, you know

I have I'm filming with a friend. I asked them to record me I watch I watch the playback and I go okay redo it change the angle I going to change my acting And that exactly how it was on set And it was funny I kept telling everyone this feels like one of my skits just higher budget

And so I really think content creation helped me so much because I already had that acting background

but then filming my skits and just finding out what I like in my own videos really helped me

And now I know how to communicate that to a team. Wait, I love that. Yeah

So, I mean, those skills are so transferable too. Content creation used to be like a vehicle to Hollywood and now it feels

like creators have their own version of Hollywood, right? So do you still see

like that as a barrier or you know having made your own short film are you

seeing it like a lot easier for creators like yourself to like break through? I think it is a lot easier now and I mean everyone's been talking about

it with Obsession, Curry Barker, and Kane Parsons all of these things but I

I even, now that I'm able to put my own stuff out there, it's an extra push

And because of that, I'm able to put myself out there, you know, I've gotten with a great agency and management

and all these things that have been helping me build my career. I just think it's growing every day

and more people are talking about it, about creators getting into Hollywood. And I also think like the real draw there too

is like you guys are bringing your fans, you're bringing your audiences and that is like so important

That means so much to a studio, right? Totally. I'll get auditions now

and sometimes they'll ask for your socials. Yeah. It is hit or miss because you don't want to cast people only because of their following

But with Passion Project, I sought out creators who are actors but also do content because that's where I come from

And so it was really fun to have that room of people who kind of had the same understanding of this industry

It's not I'm just hiring any Joe Schmo off the internet. I did have a casting process as well

So it's interesting to see how those worlds collide. What do you think it is about your content that keeps your audience engaged and keeps them coming back

I think it's how weird I am. I like putting on silly voices and making weird faces and just being myself on camera

But it's also funny because when people meet me in real life, they're like, oh, you're way more chill than I thought

Because it comes out in bursts. How's your Australian accent? Oh my gosh. Well, it's funny because there's another Natalie Tran who's Australian. Did you know that

I did know that in my research. I think you have to say rise up lights to like get rise up lights is razor blades rise up lights

and then you can kind of get into the accent but it not really good I sound like a Cockney accent I just know and switched it I got it I got a see now i in my cockney accent i gotta work on it a little bit but okay then you and the other natalie tran can we can collab i been seeing that if there one thing i learned at big con

it's that authenticity is king like everyone talks about it i agree so how how do you balance

that like being authentic to yourself but you also have a certain image right that you want to

It is hard because, you know, I blew up kind of for satirical videos

Yeah. And a lot of people get it. They got it and they're like, oh, I know you're not actually like that

And then there's some people that thought I was like that. And I'm like, wait, but now I'm not being authentic

I don't want to, you know, it's hard. But I'll live stream and that'll, I never like to play characters in my live stream

Really. I'll do accents all the time. I love to do an accent or a lot. You know, people are always confident like, oh, you have an accent

See, I'll play with people that way. I'll play with people that way. but like I'm not gonna like fake I don't like faking stuff you know what I mean

so that's where my authenticity comes from like I'm always gonna be real someone

asked me a question I'll answer real like I'm not gonna give you a fake answer

yeah do you read the comments like how important is reading the comments as a

sometimes I think I'm more prone to looking at the comments on videos that

I'm really proud of because those are always really nice I like those ones I'm

like oh wait you're like gas me up please yeah but there are some videos where I'll

open my comment section and it ruins my day like that that'll happen so that's another thing like

and I'm one to say it because I do let it ruin my day sometimes but try not to for creators out there

or aspiring creators what advice would you give them to you know if they want to start their

journey as a creator yeah I mean I would say just put yourself out there if you are confident in

what you do just do it don't care about what other people think and I mean I'm saying that and I do

care about what other people think. I get scared to post things sometimes because I'm scared of people

thinking it's stupid or commenting something mean. But if you're passionate about what you do

I've used the word passion over and over again, especially because of passion project, you know, passion, passion, passion. Everything is about the passion. It's going to pay off

because if you love what you do, it's worth to pursue it. Yeah. Your advice is, you know

have fun with it just do it yeah you know don't get consumed by the comments or the views and

maybe do a funny little accent do a do a funny little accent everyone loves it i love it that's

a great i love it i love it yeah i love it yeah i'll work i love it that was good okay thank you

so much yeah