It all starts with a dream
Storytelling, place and perspective come together in a short film — and in the path of Richmond filmmaker Tyrone Nelson Jr.
By Susie Burtch
Tyrone Nelson Jr. (B.S. ’20) is a self-described storyteller and the director of the short film “Echoes of a Dream,” which screened at the 2025 Richmond International Film Festival. Here, he describes how his creative journey and his latest film exploring Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy in Richmond came to be.
Before production on the MLK film began, Nelson and his team asked themselves:
How did the dream begin?
What about the places where he started building that vision?
What is the story there?
Ironically enough, these very same questions help to illuminate Nelson’s own life path.
How did the dream begin?
“Storytelling is a passion I’ve had for my entire life,” said Nelson. “At Christmas I got my two younger sisters to act out plays. I liked doing presentations in class. I liked putting things together.”
He further refined his passion for storytelling during his first job at the Federal Reserve Bank. At the tender age of 16, walking over the nearby T. Tyler Potterfield Memorial Bridge on his lunch hour, Nelson realized, “I liked to watch nature as it was happening. I liked documenting the world around me. Eventually I had an epiphany: what if I go in this direction — capturing what is going on, not creating it? In nature, all lives are in harmony. What if I take that into human stories?”
This thinking proved to be the genesis of his first company, Newviews Productions — now The Newviews Agency. Nelson’s goal: “to help tell stories and turn dreams into visual realities” or, as stated on his website, “to shape narratives that move people and inspire action.”
What about the places where he started building that vision?
Nelson grew up in Richmond. His family has deep ties to the city, and his own allegiance is strong. When he was 17, he earned his diploma and associate degree simultaneously from Highland Springs High School and J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College.
“I didn’t really like school,” he said. “I enjoyed learning, just not structure. I wanted to get through it as quickly as possible.”
But since both his college-educated parents impressed on Nelson the importance of earning a degree, he headed on to college. So VCU came next, with a bachelor’s degree in marketing communication and analytics at age 19.
“VCU opened my eyes to different possibilities,” he said. There were almost 500 students in my high school graduating class, but only four chose VCU because they didn’t want to stay home for college. But I did. You see a lot of different cultures at that school; you live those experiences. VCU gave me a sound foundation into every detail of running a business.”
There followed an impressive series of certification courses earned remotely in particular aspects of communication through different universities: Financial Markets (Yale); Personal Branding (UVA); Viral and Social Media Marketing (Penn) and Creative Thinking (Imperial College of London). All of these provided fuel for the dream.
What is the story there?
No story is complete without a little luck thrown in, though chutzpah helps.
“As I always tell my interns at the agency, you can’t predict the future,” said Nelson, before recounting how he leveraged his recent MLK film into valuable introductions and future prospects. He had gone to a pitch seminar simply because he wanted the experience of listening to other directors propose new films, but surprisingly, he was encouraged to pitch an idea himself. “I wouldn’t have gotten that opportunity if I wasn’t there,” he said.
Meanwhile, “Echoes of a Dream” has been well-received, winning the audience choice for best short film at the festival. This acclaim allows Nelson to think there might be a chance for him to realize his own dream — to one day win an Emmy. For now, he has started to write a new documentary about sickle cell anemia, gene therapy and the patients afflicted with this malady.
But there is always the day-to-day work, especially now that he has expanded from a production house to a full-service marketing agency. “The process feels like stepping off into new explorations,” Nelson said, though he has never deviated from his initial focus.
“My goal is not just to lead a successful business, but to create a platform where stories from all walks of life can be told, celebrated, and leveraged to inspire change and foster understanding.”
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