Derek N. never sleeps - but with good reason. He grew up in Newport Beach and went to Corona Del Mar High, then studied pre-med and English with an emphasis in film at UCLA. While he’s graduated now and focused on directing and producing everything from short films to commercials to branded content, he says tutoring keeps him sharp enough that med school could still end up on the table. Keep Derek on your radar: you will likely see his name again some day on the big screen… or on your hospital papers!
Your brief life synopsis begs a ton of questions. How did you manage to graduate from UCLA in four years with both a pre-med and an English/Film degree?
The way I looked at it was, back in high school I took five APs each year along with playing state-level competition piano and varsity tennis. I honestly didn’t have any time at all when I was in high school. But the second I got to college I was like, “Oh wow I have endless amounts of time in comparison.” Compared to high school, I now had three classes maybe twice a week - what was I gonna do with all that leftover time?
I’ve always loved film. My family jokes that they learned English from the movies. Both my mom and my dad come from families with lots of kids and my grandparents would take them to the movies to get them to shut up, disguised as family bonding time. My parents continued the tradition: as a kid, we saw at least two movies a week in theaters. So I started spending my spare time as a pre-med major in college trying to make films, and figured studying English would be a great way to bridge the gap. The center of any career is being able to communicate with others, whether writing or speaking, so improving my storytelling and writing and communication in all different facets was important whether I was going to be a doctor or a filmmaker. It was an exciting and mutli-faceted education, to say the least.
Do you have a favorite movie?
It’s hard to name a favorite movie; they all have different stuff that makes each one amazing. One of my favorites, a guilty pleasure, perhaps, is 500 Days of Summer. It’s the perfect subversion of the rom com genre: the filmmakers know exactly how to use conventions to subvert audience expectations. Plus it has great acting. I also love films from Martin Scorsese, like Goodfellas, and sci-fi movies like Blade Runner 2049. But I also enjoy wacky comedies like Zoolander.
Why are you focusing on films right now instead of medicine?
I did all my pre-med classes but even before I graduated I was getting hired to do work for commercial companies and musicians so I decided to give film a fair shot first once I finished school. It’s exciting and a grind - especially since I still tutor for PCH Tutors as well - but that’s freelancer life. On my projects I typically direct and produce, often overseeing a crew of about 10-15 people. I’m involved with everything from storyboarding and conception through the edit and finished product. You can sleep when you’re dead!
How do you juggle an intensive freelance filmmaking hustle with tutoring, especially subjects that have little to do with filmmaking, like high-level science and math?
My film hustle is still in the early stages as I get to know more people and gain more experience, so I still need to support myself in other ways. I love tutoring and teaching in general. I have three younger siblings and growing up I used to teach them all the time, essentially tutoring them in piano, school, tennis, etc. I always found it fulfilling to know that with whomever I’m teaching or tutoring, it’s making a big difference. I love being able to communicate with people - I’m a big people person, I love talking to people and get to know them; it’s a huge part of my filmmaking job as well. Tutoring keeps my brain sharp, too. Every student is different so you have to adapt to every person.
What are some of your favorite aspects of tutoring?
Once I ended up tutoring a student who was pre-med and worked at a hospital. I happened to know the doctors and people they’d talk about when we’d chat in between actual tutoring. The student live near where I grew up so it was a cool to experience teaching someone so close to home. It was encouraging to talk to someone who was heavily studying pre-med and remind myself that I also know this stuff; I can actually have a deeper conversation about these different biological functions and whatnot. Plus I was able to talk about specific places and food all the time, give suggestions for dates, things like that.
Working with all kinds of people from kids with learning disabilities or others who honestly may just not want to cooperate has also been a good experience. To break ground with a student who seems resistent and become their friend just by opening up a conversation and straight-up talking… it’s not just the bond of a teacher and pupil but as a mentor/tutor, it’s as close as a friend and equal as possible. When a feels invested in using my time as well, they open up. Slowly picking away at those barriers - whether it’s educational or social or behavioral or something else entirely - and finally getting close to them to the point that they are comfortable telling me gossip of their lives or their realest hopes and dreams: Sometimes they come from such different walks of life than I do and it’s funny to swap perspectives on things. I love having comical back-and-forths with my students and I find it so fascinating. Maybe one day I’ll base a short on some of my students.
The interpersonal connections and being able to share stories with each other. I have very interpersonal relationships with my students - I feel very invested in my students, so even though my hope is eventually that I will go full-time into film, there are students I’ve known so long and we feel so invested in each other, I want to keep hearing what happens to them. I want to be involved in their stories. Even if I didn’t need to tutor at all, I’d like to make time to keep tutoring students I’ve had for a long time, partly just because we’ve made a bond. We have transcended straight-up teaching, that’s the great thing about being a one-on-one tutor and PCH Tutors really encourages that.
It’s also been very cool seeing the system PCH has set up with Simplifi EDU, seeing what’s possible for online tutoring.
What are some of your filmmaking goals?
Film is definitely the end goal for me. I’m saving funds now to make my first larger budget short by the end of the year and hopefully hit the festival circuit with that. I literally meet and have one-on-one interactions multiple times a day, whether it’s musicians or clients or tutors. I make tons of cold calls every day. Meeting and engaging with people and hearing stories from them helps me think and helps form better stories to tell.
With your pre-med degree, is medical school still on the table?
Med school is still a back burner option - thanks to tutoring I’ve kept sharp on all my biology and chemistry skills all the time! I haven’t forgotten anything and honestly thanks to PCH Tutors I’m not scared of taking the MCAT.
You tutor online a lot. What do you like about your SimplifiEdu experience?
I’ve always loved working for PCH Tutors - in terms of a tutoring agency you can’t really ask for much better in terms of matching tutors/students and customization. I hope to continue working with my students even if I don’t need a second job because I feel fully invested in them.
Online tutoring in the digital age and in my freelance life is awesome - it’s a really interesting path PCH Tutors is on. Simplifi EDU is essentially a virtual whiteboard, and you can import PDFs and all that. Simplifi EDU already has all the SAT books in PDF form just for that platform so it’s great having the online tutoring agency supply not just the tutor for the student but also the material and medium. Usually I have to ask the student for worksheets or whatever and this time we are prepared for everything in advance - everything at our fingertips to make sure the tutor and the student have the right gear and equipment to optimize that system. When students use Simplifi EDU they’re not just paying for a tutor, but for the system and study optimization as well.
I actually do quite a lot of online tutoring outside of PCH Tutors as well and nobody has as thorough of a system to make sure a client is as happy as they can be.
What’s a mantra you live by and like to share with your students?
Keep busy and make good use of your time because you’re not going to get that time back. It feels like I kept super busy in high school but I still look back and think, “Oh, I wish I had done more.” You will never look back and say you wish you didn’t take a risk or opportunity.
Check out Derek’s work.
