IFH 807: Making Your Own Damn Movies: Inside Dave Campfield’s Troma-Fueled Filmmaking Path
Indie Film Hustle® - A Filmmaking Podcast17 Jun 2025

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.

Episoder(980)

IFH 404: How to Squeeze Money Out of Your Indie Film with Patrick Solomon

IFH 404: How to Squeeze Money Out of Your Indie Film with Patrick Solomon

Today on the show we have filmmaker and Filmtrepreneur Patrick Solomon. Patrick is the mastermind behind the celebrated film Finding Joe.Finding Joe is an exploration of famed Mythologist Joseph Campbell's studies and their continuing impact on our culture. Through interviews with visionaries from a variety of fields interwoven with enactments of classic tales by a sweet and motley group of kids, the film navigates the stages of what Campbell dubbed The Hero's Journey: the challenges, the fears, the dragons, the battles, and the return home as a changed person."WE MUST BE WILLING TO GET RID OF THE LIFE WE'VE PLANNED SO AS TO HAVE THE LIFE THAT IS WAITING FOR US" - JOSEPH CAMPBELLRooted in deeply personal accounts and timeless stories, Finding Joe shows how Campbell's work is relevant and essential in today's world and how it provides a narrative for how to live a fully realized life-or as Campbell would simply state, how to "follow your bliss".I saw Finding Joe years ago and it just blew me away. This is why I was so excited to include the film in the IFHTV Streaming Service. Patrick and I sit down and discuss his film, his distribution journey, and how he used the Filmtrepreneur method to squeeze every drop of revenue out of the film. Enjoy my conversation with Patrick Solomon. Proud Member of the IFH Podcast Network (http://www.ifhpodcastnetwork.com)Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

28 Aug 202059min

MOTIVATION: How to DEFEAT the Filmmaker's Ego

MOTIVATION: How to DEFEAT the Filmmaker's Ego

We all need a kick in the butt sometimes on our filmmaking or screenwriting journey. This show will do just that. Never stop chasing that filmmaking dream. Keep on hustling.Proud Member of the IFH Podcast Network (ifhpodcastnetwork.com)Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

25 Aug 20202min

IFH 403: Making Money & Cracking the Amazon Code for Self Distribution with Ismael Gomez

IFH 403: Making Money & Cracking the Amazon Code for Self Distribution with Ismael Gomez

Today on the show we have a filmmaker that was able to crack the Amazon code and actually make money self-distributing his low-budget film on the platform. His name is Ismael Gomez.Ismael Gomez is a Cuban-American filmmaker. In 2009, he received an Artist Fellowship grant to pursue his B.A in Film Production. After completing his studies, he began to work as lead editor on several motion pictures and commercials for theatrical and TV release. Some of his projects have screened at Cannes, Starz Denver, Tribeca, and Miami International film festivals.His film is Death of a Fool. A teenager and his dying grandfather conduct afterlife investigations in Miami when a mysterious man hires them to find the secret to immortality.Ismael was able to generate close to $75,000 in rentals and sales on Amazon using about $9000 in Facebook Ads. In this conversation, I dig in deep on how he did this, his techniques, and how he used the Filmtrepreneur Method to create additional revenue outside of TVOD.Enjoy my conversation with Ismael Gomez. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

21 Aug 20201h 4min

MOTIVATION: Do You Believe in Yourself

MOTIVATION: Do You Believe in Yourself

We all need a kick in the butt sometimes on our filmmaking or screenwriting journey. This show will do just that. Never stop chasing that filmmaking dream. Keep on hustling.Proud Member of the IFH Podcast Network (ifhpodcastnetwork.com)Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

18 Aug 20203min

IFH 402: Debunking Myths & the Future of Indie Film with Emily Best

IFH 402: Debunking Myths & the Future of Indie Film with Emily Best

Today on the show we have returning champion Emily Best. Emily is the founder and CEO of the crowdfunding platform Seed&Spark, which she started with a group of independent creators after the challenges and lessons of producing my first feature film, Like the Water. "Storytelling can change the world – when everyone can see themselves reflected in the stories we share, we empower all people to take part in shaping how we see our past, our present and our future." - Emily BestI wanted to have her back on the show to talk about the state of indie film and how filmmakers can survive and thrive in the future. I recorded this interview before COVID-19, just around the time TUGG went under.We have a spirited conversation about the future and how the mindset of filmmakers needs to change to make it in the future. Enjoy my conversation with Emily Best. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

14 Aug 20201h 3min

MOTIVATION: How to Be an Unstoppable Filmmaking Force

MOTIVATION: How to Be an Unstoppable Filmmaking Force

We all need a kick in the butt sometimes on our filmmaking or screenwriting journey. This show will do just that. Never stop chasing that filmmaking dream. Keep on hustling.Proud Member of the IFH Podcast Network (ifhpodcastnetwork.com)Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

11 Aug 20202min

IFH 401: How to Shoot a Feature Film in Two Days with Grant Pichla

IFH 401: How to Shoot a Feature Film in Two Days with Grant Pichla

Today on the show we have director Grant Pichla who shot the time travel feature film Making Time in two days. Making Time's 110 pages were shot in just two crazy, fast-paced days, separated by 7 months and a house renovation.After traveling back in time, a divorced workaholic must repeat his past footsteps in order to return to an unaltered present but struggles when it means re-proposing to his ex-wife. How'd they shot​ a full movie in 2 days? This documentary series explains it all.This remarkable documentary is available on Indie Film Hustle TV. Grant and I discuss the insanity of shooting a film in two days, how he came up with this crazy idea, and what it took to put this beast together. Enjoy my conversation with Grant Pichla. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

7 Aug 20201h 2min

MOTIVATION: The Power of Your Mindset

MOTIVATION: The Power of Your Mindset

We all need a kick in the butt sometimes on our filmmaking or screenwriting journey. This show will do just that. Never stop chasing that filmmaking dream. Keep on hustling.Proud Member of the IFH Podcast Network (ifhpodcastnetwork.com)Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

4 Aug 20202min

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