Uploaded April 2024 | Updated September 2026, 16 hours ago

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In the third episode of made. a podcast for thoughtful creators, we have short form video genius Tristan Zhou, known as Trystane.
In this episode, we talk about his origins, imitating others and developing style, how he mastered the short form video content, how he makes money, and so much more.

Find Tristan here:
instagram.com/trystane
tiktok.com/@trystane
threads.net/@trystane

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0:00 Introduction
0:23 Origin story of Tristan
2:30 Studying photography
3:53 What film school was like
9:43 Photography in China vs San Fransisco
13:37 Early filmmaking
14:40 Photography or filmmaking?
15:52 Taking inspiration from others and developing style
20:59 On imitating others
22:47 What is art?
26:26 Tristan’s goal today
28:49 Tristan’s journey in short form video content
39:38 Adding humour into video
41:41 Mastering a format
47:05 Surviving long term as a creator
50:14 Income distribution as a creator
52:50 What do brand deals and ambassadorships look like?
1:01:14 What ambassadorships is Tristan targeting in the future?
1:03:22 Distribution of income with ambassadorships in mind
1:06:09 Distribution splits in the future
1:10:51 Future products
1:15:55 Top 3 tips to “make it” as a creator
1:20:37 Where you can find Tristan
1:20:59 Outro

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Listen on Apple Podcasts
podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/made/id1741735314?i=1000652732550
Listen on Spotify
open.spotify.com/episode/0ebw1GlDi8Cg17EBrfSMIS?si=2ad3b4acc9f54e6e

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🌐 Find me at
Website - patkay.com
Instagram - instagram.com/pat_kay
Instagram (second account) - instagram.com/heypatkay
Discord - patkay.com/discordinvite

🛍 Shop
30 Day Photography Fundamentals Accelerator — patkay.com/accelerate
Lightroom Editing Masterclass — patkay.com/lightroom-masterclass
Photography Guide to Japan - geni.us/DiscoverJapan
Photography Guide to Tokyo - geni.us/TokyoGuide
My entire Adobe Lightroom preset pack - geni.us/presets
Prints - geni.us/pkprints

📷 Gear
Full gear list here - geni.us/A6HPT