Tyler Silvers is a New Yorker through and through. His parents grew up in Brooklyn and Harlem, he grew up in Manhattan, and he has lived his whole life in the Big Apple, where he now makes and acts in TV shows and movies. “I sometimes think of this city as one of my best friends,” Tyler says as he laughs. “It inspires me, and it’s always there for me. Every day I can walk down a new block I’ve never been down before, and experience so many amazing things. How many other places can you say that about?”
His love of New York City permeates in the funny and heartfelt comedy series he Co-Created, Executive Produced, and Starred in, “Becoming Jiff” from Samuel Goldwyn Films on Amazon Prime Video. The series follows the titular Jiff, who one day gets a new cell phone number that belongs to the notorious Alejandro Alejandro and hilarity ensues as he decides to try and assume Alejandro Alejandro’s identity. The series is non-stop funny, and surprisingly sweet. Millennial comedies are often cynical, but “Becoming Jiff” is optimistic, and stands out because of that. And it has been very successful in its release, with a 5/5 rating on Amazon Prime Video, a 8.9/10 on IMDb, and BuzzFeed called it one of the Top 5 Series on Amazon Prime Video, and it made the 2019 Primetime Emmy Award Shortlist for Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series.
Interestingly enough before he got into filmmaking and acting, Silvers at the age of 16 was the Publisher and Editor In-Chief, of “Athlete Magazine,” a New York based magazine for independent high schools that was sponsored by Chelsea Piers and Velocity Sports, and included interviews with high school athletes as well as professionals from the New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets, and Houston Texans. “I just love working on different creative projects. The magazine gave me a great grounding to understand writing and business. Also going to Knicks practices as a teenage journalist was a bonus,” Tyler says. Tyler won the Gold Key Award from Alliance for Young Artists & Writers for his work on “Athlete Magazine,” (past winners of this award include Stephen King, Sylvia Plath, Robert Redford, Truman Capote, and Andy Warhol). And years later the writers Tyler hired for the magazine went on to contribute to outlets like Vice Media and SportsNet New York (SNY). But after working in the magazine world for a year, he decided he wanted to shift gears and focus on acting and filmmaking. This lead to small acting roles including a role in the film “One Fall” on Netflix, and then to writing, producing, and directing short films that he also starred in, before releasing “Becoming Jiff.”
And when he’s not making TV shows or films, Silvers hosts the podcast “Quadruple Overtime.” Guests on the podcasts include some of New York City’s brightest up and coming writers and comedians as well as many established talents from “Saturday Night Live,” “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” “The Wall Street Journal,” and many others. The podcast is about people’s funniest or most embarrassing sports stories. “It can be a story from someone’s youth or a memorable game they once attended. The stories and guests are very eclectic which makes it always interesting.” Silvers says. And when asked who his favorite guest on the podcast has been, Tyler says, “I’m biased, but it’s my brother. I already knew the story he was going to tell on the podcast, but it always makes me laugh anyway!”
After the success of “Becoming Jiff” what’s next for Tyler? “I’m working on a feature film and an animated TV Pilot, and I’m writing a book I’m very excited about.”
