IFH 807: Making Your Own Damn Movies: Inside Dave Campfield’s Troma-Fueled Filmmaking Path

IFH 807: Making Your Own Damn Movies: Inside Dave Campfield’s Troma-Fueled Filmmaking Path

When two Daves walk into a podcast, you don’t expect to stumble upon a meditation on art, failure, persistence, and horror-comedy. But that’s exactly what happened in this electric and delightfully unfiltered conversation with Dave Campfield, a filmmaker, actor, and host of the Troma Now Podcast, best known for his work in the cult Caesar and Otto comedy-horror film series.Dave Campfield is a fiercely independent filmmaker whose journey from a now-defunct film college in New Mexico to directing his own cult horror satires has been a long and winding road paved with hustle, humor, and horror.We start in the sand-colored surrealism of Santa Fe, where adobe buildings and the ghost of City Slickers set the stage for Dave’s early filmmaking dreams. In the land of tumbleweeds and tumble-down gym studios turned sound stages, Dave cut his teeth not just on film but on the art of adaptation.

The college no longer exists, but the memories—like chalk lines under studio lights—remain vivid in his story. “It was like going to school on Tatooine,” he says, laughing, but behind that joke is a bittersweet nod to the ephemeral.From there, Dave walks us through the illusion of success—early meetings with Universal and New Line Cinema where hopes were dangled like carrots in front of eager young dreamers. The industry, he quickly learned, speaks its own coded language: familiarity, marketability, and sometimes, plain deception. One mentor told him to “say you're young, from the streets, and have a dark comedy,” regardless of truth. Dave gave it a shot but came away with the haunting realization that "they were intrigued enough to keep me on leash, but not enough to make it happen."That experience seeded his first real film, “Dark Chamber,” a mystery-horror project which deliberately bucked slasher formulas. It took five years to make—five years of blood, sweat, and overdrafts. And yet, when the studios responded with, “We wanted something more familiar,” Dave knew he was swimming upstream. Still, he sold the film to a small distributor, endured its repackaging as something it wasn’t, and got it onto Netflix. A win—just not the one he envisioned.

But here’s the heart of it all: Dave didn’t stop. He pivoted, not with bitterness, but with evolution. “I decided I wasn't going to be one of those people waiting for opportunity. You had to make it happen on your own.” And so, he leaned into comedy horror—a genre he describes as “Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein, but for the splatter generation.” Thus, Caesar and Otto were born: two absurdly lovable doofuses bumbling their way through massacres, monsters, and paranormal mayhem.One of Dave’s secret weapons is loyalty to what’s real. Whether recounting how Lloyd Kaufman forgot him (then remembered) or editing commercials for the Philadelphia Pet Expo, he keeps a kind of grounded magic about his craft. He shares a deeply personal new project, “Awaken the Reaper,” born from a decade of introspection and struggle, calling it “the most personal thing I’ve ever written.” He says, “It’s about being stuck—feeling like every day you’re not moving forward—and finally getting out of your own way.”All along, Dave’s been quietly building a reputation for casting future stars before they break—Trey Byers (Empire), Peter Scanavino (Law & Order)—and hosting a podcast that thrives not just because of brand synergy with Troma, but because he genuinely knows how to talk to people. “They’ve never rejected an episode,” he remarks. “I tease Troma a lot, and they’re always game. It’s a beautiful collaboration.”The conversation wraps not with grandiosity, but a recognition that even the smallest cult followings can keep a creator going. “My fanbase is small, but intense,” Dave says with pride. “I can rattle them off on two hands.” Maybe that’s enough. Maybe that’s everything.

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

Jaksot(980)

IFH 328: Producing Terrance Malik & Build a Mammoth Empire with Tanner Beard

IFH 328: Producing Terrance Malik & Build a Mammoth Empire with Tanner Beard

Today on the show we have renaissance filmmaker Tanner Beard. I Had the pleasure of meeting him at the Mammoth Film Festival this year. His adventures in Hollywood are pretty amazing.Tanner Beard is a film and television actor, producer and director as well as CEO of Silver Sail Entertainment and Mammoth Film Festival. SSE was created during the industry strike of 2008 with a concentration on cultivating professional media content without sacrificing the integrity and artistic vision of the content creators themselves.Tanner has since produced various projects including a travel show, award-winning short films, award-winning documentaries, commercials, music videos and multiple seasons of a web-based television series. His feature film producer credits include critically acclaimed 'Hellion" starring Aaron Paul and Juliette Lewis, and 'Legend of Hell's Gate,' which he also wrote, directed and starred in alongside Eric Balfour, Henry Thomas, Jenna Dewan Tatum, Summer Glau, Kevin Alejandro, and Lou Taylor Pucci. Mammoth Film Festival was named by the press as "the biggest first-year film festival ever created" in 2018.In early 2015, Tanner Beard entered into a four-film partnership with iconic Oscar Nominated Director Terrance Malick and producer Sarah Green. 'Knight of Cups' stars Christian Bale, Ryan Gosling, Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, and Natalie Portman. The only documentary of the partnership, 'Voyage of Time,' was produced alongside Brad Pitt, who also narrates the film. It recently premiered at the Venice Film Festival and had its North American Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.Enjoy my conversation with Tanner Beard.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

25 Kesä 20191h 6min

IFH 327: Directing Films for Netflix and Mark Duplass with Alex Lehmann

IFH 327: Directing Films for Netflix and Mark Duplass with Alex Lehmann

Today on the show we have returning champion director Alex Lehmann. I asked him back on the show to discuss his new Netflix film Paddleton starring indie film legend Mark Duplass and Ray Ramano. Paddleton is about an unlikely friendship between two misfit neighbors becomes an unexpectedly emotional journey when one of them is diagnosed with terminal cancer.I know, it sounds hilarious. The film is beautiful, touching an actually pretty funny. I wanted Alex to come back on the show (Listen here to Alex's first appearance​ on the show) to discuss the process of working with Mark Duplass and Ray Ramano and to breakdown how a Netflix feature film is shot using a Scriptment and not a traditional screenplay.We also discuss his other amazing film Asperger's Are Us and how making that passion project led​ to him working with Mark. This is an inspirational talk​ with some knowledge bombs thrown in. Enjoy my conversation with the talented and ever humble Alex Lehmann. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

21 Kesä 201952min

IFH 326: Can You Help Me with IFH's Dream Guest List?

IFH 326: Can You Help Me with IFH's Dream Guest List?

So I'm conducting an experiment. Can the IFH Tribe and I get some of the most amazing filmmakers in history on the IFH Podcast? Well, let's see if we can make that dream come true. There is a list of filmmakers and screenwriters I would love to have as guests on the show. This list is pretty ambitious but hell if you are going to dream DREAM BIG. If anyone out in the Indie Film Hustle Tribe knows or has a way to contact any of these amazing filmmakers please email me at ifhsubmissions@gmail.com I know this might be a pipe dream but wouldn't it be astonishing if one or more of these filmmakers actually came on the show to share their filmmaking and/or screenwriting knowledge? I want to prove to everyone listening that if you want your dream to come true then you need to put it out into the universe and have the courage to do so. Like I said, this is just an experiment but man wouldn't be cool? Here's my humble list.Dream Directing GuestsRobert RodriguezQuentin TarantinoSteven SpielbergJames CameronMartin ScorseseDavid FincherChristopher NolanKevin SmithPT AndersonFrancis Ford CoppolaSteven SoderberghGeorge LucasGuillermo del TorroJJ AbramsRon HowardSpike LeeDavid LynchRichard LinklaterMark and Jay DuplassLena DunhamTim BurtonMel BrooksDream Screenwriting GuestsAaron SorkinJoss WhedonShane BlackRobert McKeeDream Producer GuestsRobert EvansJerry BruckheimerGale Anne HurdKathleen KennedyFrank MarshallBrain GrazierI know there are so many other amazing filmmakers out there that I would love to have on the show so the faster we can fill this list up the faster I can come up with the next list. LOL.Email me at ifhsubmissions@gmail.com if you have the ability to reach any of these guests. Please share on social media and help get the word out. Thank you for your help IFH Tribe. Let's see what happens = )Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

19 Kesä 20198min

IFH 325: What Negative Filmmaking Story Are You Telling Yourself?

IFH 325: What Negative Filmmaking Story Are You Telling Yourself?

We all tell ourselves negative stories. I'm not good enough. I can't write that. I can't direct a feature film. These stories are killing us day in and day out. It took me 20+ years to finally change the story I was telling myself about being able to direct a feature film. When I finally changed that negative story I was able to make This is Meg, self-distributed it and even sold the film to Hulu and overseas. Once you change the stories you tell yourself you will change your life. In this episode, I do a deep dive into the negative stories we tell ourselves as filmmakers, screenwriters, and creatives. Buckle up. There are a TON of truth bombs in this episode! Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

18 Kesä 201923min

IFH 324: What Makes a Great Screenplay with Stephen Follows (CROSSOVER EVENT)

IFH 324: What Makes a Great Screenplay with Stephen Follows (CROSSOVER EVENT)

What if someone could read over 12,000 scripts that were read by professional script readers, who gave the scripts an overall score as well as scores for specific factors including plot, dialogue, characterization, theme, and voice. Then looked for connections and correlations to discover what professional script readers think a good screenplay looks like. Well, today on the show I have that man, Stephen Follows.It's a monster of a report -- 65 pages to be exact -- that examines data from over 12,000 screenplays - mostly written by amateurs, but some of them written by professionals and major Hollywood actors.  Using rigorous data analysis methodologies, Stephen and his team found some fascinating correlations.  Stephen Follows is an established data researcher in the film industry whose work has been featured in the New York Times, The Times, The Telegraph, The Guardian, The Daily Mail, The Mirror, The Evening Standard, Newsweek, The New Statesman, AV Club, and Indiewire.He acted as an industry consultant and guest on the BBC Radio 4 series The Business of Film, which was topped the iTunes podcast chart, and has consulted for a wide variety of clients, including the Smithsonian in Washington.I just love Stephen and his amazing ability to crunch numbers for the benefit of the filmmaking community. He's truly doing God's work. Get ready to go down the rabbit hole and see what makes a great screenplay.Enjoy my conversation with Stephen Follows.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

12 Kesä 20191h 13min

IFH 323: How to Become a Filmmaker Who Edits with Sven Pape

IFH 323: How to Become a Filmmaker Who Edits with Sven Pape

Today on the show we Sven Pape. Sven is an A.C.E. Award-nominated editor who cut for James Cameron, Mark Weber, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and James Franco. We get into the weeds on editing, storytelling, the business of editing and much more. Oh, did I mention Sven worked with James Cameron for three years? We definitely​ go into that. Sven Pape's YouTube Channel This Guys Edit is an awesome resource for filmmakers and editors alike. Enjoy my conversation with Sven Pape.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

11 Kesä 20191h 12min

IFH 321: How to Prove Your Doubters Wrong

IFH 321: How to Prove Your Doubters Wrong

In this episode, we discuss proving your doubters wrong. Proving to yourself that if you have a dream and you have some hustle then damn it you can do it. Why are people so scared of your success? We get into it. Enjoy!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

4 Kesä 201917min

Filmmaking Motivation: Don't DIE with Your Indie Film Inside of You

Filmmaking Motivation: Don't DIE with Your Indie Film Inside of You

Every week I'll be posting new videos as part of my Weekly Motivation Series to help the #IFHTribe along their filmmaking or screenwriting path. We all need some help, guidance, motivation or inspiration on our long journey in this crazy business so I hope these video help in a small way.If you like this please share it with your friends and inner circle. Keep on hustling and never give up on that dream!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

30 Touko 20192min

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