T.J. Harper was born and raised in Meridian, Mississippi. He was an all-state performer on his high school football team and power-lifting team. His love of film came in his junior year in high school when he was deciding his career path. He attended Pearl River Community College after high school on a football scholarship. It was at PRCC where he got his opportunity to film his first documentary, when a pastor from nearby Slidell, LA asked him to film his church's dance team in Orlando, FL as they competed for the championship. His second film at PRCC caught the attention of media when he film a short film about steroids. He was taught editing in a small room at PRCC from Ron Hauge the school media director. After leaving PRCC, he choose to attend East Carolina University over many other schools to play football but most of all attend their media program.