Rising Stars: Meet Chad Campbell of The Alamo Studio

Today we’d like to introduce you to Chad Campbell.  

Hi Chad, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
Oh boy, this is a loaded question! 

Personally, I have always been a major fan of film. Whether it’s making them, watching them, reading about them- film and media makes up a great majority of my knowledge. As a kid, I often took the family camcorder and got to making various films- comedies, stop-motion LEGO movies, King Kong movies (my dad even built a miniature Empire State Building for that), Godzilla, dramas, everything! I made films in high school and did premieres for friends, put them online, and spent all of my downtime either watching a movie or writing down an idea that would never happen. The magic of movies captured me early on and continues to this day. 

The Alamo Studio got started out of Star Wars. My roommate, Tyler Mayes, was writing a Star Wars short film that he had wanted to make for some time. He had a camera at the time that he was using, and he was really working on special effects with it. I thought it looked fantastic, and he was talking about buying another camera just for a better quality. When I heard this, I thought “Hey… maybe we could do even more with it.” I began looking online for upcoming events that could probably garner some attention while also staying true to my geek side. I noticed that Free Comic Book Day did not have anything in the way of a documentary. “That’s a pretty big event,” I thought, “We could certainly give it a try.” I e-mailed them saying we have zero real experience and thus will charge zero dollars. They can have full creative control, and all we want is the opportunity. They were sold! 

That event began slowly leading to other events, which eventually led to us being paid for it. Early on we decided that one thing we didn’t really want to do is weddings. Weddings are awesome and a great source of income for local filmmakers, but we wanted to just make things that we were personally passionate about. 

2017 was the year that made us known. There was a local, much-loved movie theater called the Alamo Drafthouse that was suddenly closing. A lot of us were in an uproar about it, and as fans ourselves we decided to at least capture the final amounts. We ended up getting very attached and involved, the footage kept piling up, and eventually, this led to our first personal project: Remember the Alamo. This was our first experience with a lot of things- how to write a press release, how to do film festivals, how to do interviews, etc. I am still incredibly proud of this project, and over COVID, we finally released it via our YouTube page for everyone to enjoy. 

That same year we started working with Grand Rapids Comic-Con. We were already fans and attendees of the convention, and given our history of capturing pop culture events, it was an easy project to move into. Working with them has always been a personal highlight for me, and we continue working with them to this day- creating commercials, recaps, documentaries, music videos, series, and more (all available on their YouTube channel). 

We’ve done a lot of projects since that key year, creating more commercials and recaps for other organizations along with creating our own personal videos and documentaries. One of my personal favorites is “Duel of the Skates,” where we got to capture the Kalamazoo Wings (hockey team) claim the world record for the World’s Largest Lightsaber Battle. 

Our most recent major release was “Last Day for Videos.” This was my personal project, shot over COVID. Once businesses opened back up that year, I began to travel to the old-school physical video rental store Family Video, eventually helping them with social media. I got to save a lot of money, meet some fantastic people and see a lot of movies that were not available on streaming. In January 2021, they announced that they were closing, and I was heartbroken. A documentary had recently came out titled “The Last Blockbuster,” which showcased the struggle of still being a video rental store in this age. I did not want to make the same film so instead, I just captured the final hours of the store, showcasing the raw emotions and reactions from the staff. The movie meant a lot to me, but I was never sure if it would resonate with a larger audience. Much to my surprise, it did! Multiple articles and interviews were released about the film; it received a limited VHS release from Lunchmeat VHS that sold out in 2.5 hours, travelled all over to various festivals, got an introduction from Lloyd Kaufman from Troma, and got an award from Joe Bob Briggs. Those last two names mean a lot to people who like cheesy B-movies. 

Amidst all of that, we continue to work on other things we love. Tyler Mayes (co-founder of the studio) has been working on a scripted film titled “Lovelace Outwood,” production of which can be seen in some behind-the-scenes videos on our website. Definitely our biggest project to date, I give no set release date for Lovelace but remain optimistic we will be able to see it within a year or so. 

Bottom line of this ridiculously long-winded answer- we’ve done a lot that we are happy with and passionate about, and that’s all a filmmaker can ask for. I continue to look for where the road will take me for our next big project. Whether that continue to be pop culture or it switches to something completely different, we love to have a creative community and encourage others to join us on this adventure. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I feel like it’s a super lame answer to say, “Yeah, it’s been pretty smooth,” but that is the truth. Early on it was a lot of trial and error with things, realizing we needed more equipment a few days before a shoot- common things like that. Our biggest struggle was when we tried to have a physical location and learned very quickly that communication is key. We struggled with having different visions of what the studio was becoming before eventually settling on “It’s really whatever you want it to be.” This freed us up to allow for a lot more creativity all around, whether that be someone making a YouTube video or someone making a serious documentary or a scripted feature film. At the moment, The Alamo Studio has become a group of creatives using one banner for their passion- and that’s about as good as it gets. 

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Personally, my work always comes directly from my passion. Given that is a side hustle at best, I have the freedom to choose projects that mean something to me, most of which happen to involve my geek side. The ability to only tell a story that I care about makes my job a lot easier and sets my work apart in that I am only doing it for the passion and not for the income. An edit choice or two may always bug me personally, but I’m never more proud than when I can see other like-minded people react fondly to my work. If I was able to make you also care about something like a physical video rental store closing- mission accomplished! 

Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs, or other resources you think our readers should check out?
I wish I could say- “I learn everything through this podcast,” but in reality, I mostly learn best through trial and error. A personal favorite of mine is “Make Your Own Damn Movie!” by Lloyd Kaufman. He’s not going to get into the deep issues of what lenses and what lighting brand is best- he’s just going to teach you how to make a film and get it seen. He is a famous B-movie director who has, despite not having the best lighting or editing, or effects, make it a lot farther than many indie filmmakers. It’s worth the read! 

Contact Info:

• Website: thealamostudio.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thealamostudio/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheAlamoStudioProductions
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thealamostudio

Image Credits
The Alamo Studio
Michelle Loftus