Welcome to Alumni Live: The Podcast.

These are conversations with Grand Valley State University film and video

graduates about the industry, the film, video, major and alumni profiles.

Thanks for tuning in again to the Alumni Live podcast.

We are here with Dan Campbell, he's a independent feature film producer.

Dan is gonna talk to us all about, the time starting off at Grand Valley

and then all the way to becoming the award-winning filmmaker he is.

Let's talk about your most recent project.

Tell us, what does your career look like, in, 2023 as we are right now.

Currently as a freelance feature film producer, and producer in general for

entertainment, I have a couple films in development, one that I've written the

screenplay myself, and then, a couple that my business partner he has written, we

have in various stages of development.

Then I also have a personal project that Randy has been part

of that's also had some traction.

A documentary type format.

Why I'm vague on it is because it seems like it's ever-evolving every day.

The most recent project that I've completed was, last year, I did a feature

film on location in Louisiana . It's scheduled to be released this fall.

It'll be a theatrical release along with some streaming.

But right now I'm kind of in a holding pattern, in different, various stages

of development with personal projects.

In the last few years I've pivoted more towards my own creative

projects as opposed to, what we call, hired gun projects.

A couple years ago when the pandemic shifted everything, I took that

opportunity to focus more on my personal creative projects.

I've put a lot of the hired gun stuff on the back burner.

I don't want to jinx myself, but one of the projects, the docu-series that

I've been working on is a very personal project, which is in active development.

I'm actually in discussion with a major cable network right

now, so we'll see how that goes.

Waiting on baited breath with that.

And then the feature films that we have in development, we're kind of

loosely in talks with getting a green light on financing those.

It seems like the hired gun stuff is starting to ramp

up again, post pandemic.

A lot of platforms are available now, and a lot of 'em need content.

That works seems like it never, never ceases specifically for

line producing or production management or the logistical side.

There's just always a need for content.

You've got your own personal projects.

You're at a point where these things are releasing in theaters.

You're out there, you're around, you're making stuff.

But back at the beginning, Grand Valley, you graduated in 2010, right?

Yep.

We graduated together.

What was Grand Valley like for you?

What kind of projects were you working on?

What was your student experience there?

my, My experience at Grand Valley was positive on many fronts.

The quality of the education, the quality of the instructors,

the quality of the equipment.

When we get into specific of film production, it was the best avenue for

me, personally, to get into the business.

A lot of factors go into choosing the route, and I have this argument all the

time with my current business partner and other peers in the film business of

"film school" versus "non film school."

And this is where I have a background in the US military.

I served for a short time.

In the military, specifically the United States Marine Corps, you have enlisted,

which is your blue collar, and then your officers, which is your white collar.

So just like that, in the film business, you have your above

the line and below the line.

I look at those as parallel.

So what I say is that in the Marine Corps, when you have who's enlisted, and

they cross over into the officer world.

They call it a Mustang, like the horse, and so in the film business, because I

have the foundation of a undergraduate degree in film and video production,

coupled with on the job experience, that I'm considered a Mustang.

So when I talk with other peers or other filmmakers and some who've built a career,

30 plus years with no film school, all through on the job training, and those

who have a foundation like myself, this is kind of like a Mustang version of that.

Everybody has an opinion or an approach to creating their craft, which, the

film business is obviously a craft.

I champion more, the Mustang version.

I feel like the education gives you a good foundation that you can

build from with on-the-job training, and whatever your passion is.

So it's a classic argument of "no film school" versus "film school."

I would be in the camp of, film school if it fits your scenario, depending on what

your objectives are or what your career goals are or what you're trying to do

But my personal story is that, I I applied to Grand Valley, got accepted Grand

Valley, got accepted, to the film major.

and my emphasis was fiction filmmaking

at the time.

So that was a path and journey I took.

And it gave me with the experience, and the instructors, and all

those other assets, the tools, that I could put my toolbox.

Then when I finished my undergraduate degree, and I was on a film set, I

could go back and use those tools.

And then also coupled with my personal experience and personal life journey

and apply those to on-the-job training, specifically in feature films.

And then working up the ranks of a feature film crew, below the line,

and then crossing into above the line.

And then where I am now, I can say, I'm a bondable PGA feature film producer.

But how I got to that point was through the beginning of the journey,

through my foundation, working through the ranks, and gaining experience,

networking, and learning on the job, and relying on that foundation that

I had started to get me to where I am, just like any kind of craft.

Whether it's a carpenter or a mason you hone in on it.

And that's the thing with filmmaking, there's so many avenues to go.

Whether it's fiction filmmaking, feature filmmaking, television,

network, documentary, it comes down to your foundations and your

experiences and your networking.

The bottom line is it's a craft.

Whether you're in front of the camera, behind the camera, any

of that world, it's a craft.

And through experience and time, you begin to hone that craft.

It's also a passing of knowledge, which is kind of funny cuz it's

all parallel for me with the experience of the Marine Corps.

Cuz the Marine Corps is big on tradition as well, which is passing

of the knowledge from the older generation to the younger generation.

When you get into feature filmmaking in Hollywood, it's a community

and mentorship because it's such a personal and passionate craft that

people who are in it for a long time, it's this intrinsic thing where

they wanna pass the knowledge too.

Never stop asking questions.

If you're looking for advice, there's basic things that anybody can

apply that doesn't cost any money.

It's work ethic.

It's the willingness to learn.

You're not punching a clock.

If you're willing to learn, and make mistakes, and learn from those

mistakes, and have an open mind and adapt, you can do anything.

That goes across any kind of career path or craft, but if you can harness

those things for filmmaking business, they will help you leaps and bounds.

I'm living proof of it.

Not to be egotistical or anything, but I grew up in a town of 5,000

people, in rural West Michigan, with a dream to make movies.

And fast forward 14, 15 years later, I'm making movies and I'm paying my bills.

If you really want it and you go after it, it's out there.

We live in a country that affords us those opportunities if we pursue them.

And that's the whole thing, like in our constitution, the pursuit of happiness.

Filmmaking was my passion when I was younger and, I just went after it

and I still go after it every day.

To be a freelance filmmaker you only receive the benefits

for what you put into it.

I have to remind myself that every day, and that's some of the faults to my own.

I'm not the best marketer, and that's a big thing for our business.

You gotta market yourself, especially freelance and self-employed.

The work isn't gonna come to you, you have to find the work.

And I always said this too, I feel like sometimes, I do

more work finding the work.

And then when I get to work, it's like a pause.

And then, where's the next paycheck coming from?

But there also has to be that passion and that starving artist.

I hate to throw that out, that's pretty cliche too.

But it's time and circumstance too.

When I graduated Grand Valley in 2010 with you, Randy we were fortunate

that there was a lot of feature film work specifically actually

happening in the state of Michigan.

The film incentives were still active.

They're still robust.

I graduated and within two weeks of finishing Grand Valley, I had my

first paid position on a feature film.

I was hired in the production office of a Hallmark feature film.

Make those connections

Right.

And so that's that whole thing.

It's all about networking.

That's where you have to put in the effort, with networking

and keeping connections.

My business partner, who is also my mentor, we own a production company

and we've produced movies together.

But he's been in the business for 30 plus years.

One day you may have a PA.

There might be somebody under your supervision that you might

be reporting to on the next job.

You have to keep this Rolodex—now I'm dating myself —a Rolodex or this

list of contacts, regardless of what their position is, at the time when

you meet them and it's this ever evolving network that you're creating

in the freelance film world, where , you never know where a contact, is

gonna be an asset or vice versa.

It's kind of like a river, you know?

It just flows.

Yeah, keep all your options open.

Make sure you got good relationships.

Keep all your option open, it's relationships.

The business is big on relationships.

My first paid film actually came via my advisor at Grand Valley.

That's what's wild about it.

Who was that advisor?

Kim Roberts.

Honestly, if it wasn't for Kim, I probably wouldn't be where I'm at right now, along

with everybody else throughout my career, including my family and my support system.

But Kim Roberts, as my advisor, was very instrumental in not only shepherding

me through the program, but also she literally got me my first paid job.

I had the paycheck stub framed in my office, which is kind of funny.

She threw my name in the hat when a local producer was looking for

office production assistants.

What was it about you as a student that you think Kim Roberts saw and thought she

could trust you in a professional setting?

At that point I had been going to Grand Valley for a couple

years now and I was a senior.

I had just recently Unit Production Managed the summer film, which is a

keystone thing with the film program.

She saw the work I was doing and she put me in that area of people that

are about to be recent graduates and threw me in that pool I'd also done

an internship, which I had a pretty good review on, so that helped.

I hit those benchmarks and then, I was a graduate.

At the time, there was three or four films shooting in the Grand Rapids area.

They were looking for bodies at the time—we say that in

Marine Corps, bodies—but they were looking for personnel.

What's funny about that story, is that whole persistence thing.

I remember she forwarded my resume, and they reached out to me, it was a small

film, Hallmark films are low budget.

The line producer's like, yeah, come in, interview.

And I remember interviewing and I was like, oh my gosh.

this is a big deal, and this guy who's a line producer, he's doing a lot of

stuff, in pre-production especially.

So I just remember he's sitting behind this desk with like three or

four monitors, half listening to me, and I'm sitting there interviewing

for an Office PA, because I think he was, he was also the UPM at

the time, cuz it was a DGA film.

It was like a quick interview.

Done, all right.

And a day or two or three went by and I hadn't heard anything.

And I was like, oh man.

And this is a couple weeks after I graduated.

With our profession, it's so sporadic or unpredictable.

It's freelance, it's self-employed work,

Yeah, it floods when it floods and it's dry when it's dry.

Yeah.

So this is my first foray into it.

So I follow up and I contact him and I remember this like

yesterday, it was 14, 15 years ago.

I call him like, "Hey, you know Dan Campbell?

I interviewed for the Office PA position, just following up."

And he's like, "oh yeah, oh yeah, sorry you're hired.

I forgot to call you."

Like , he was so swamped that he already, in his mind he thought he

checked that box and moved on and he was like, can you show up tomorrow?

And I'm like, yeah, I'll be there tomorrow.

It was pretty interesting because it's just humorous when I think about it

now because now me Line Producing, Producing, I totally understand it.

Yeah.

You've been in that position.

it's, It's like I've been in that position where you literally,

it's like the house is on fire,

Yeah.

And, and still have to get your paperwork done as the house is on fire.

Yeah, you still have to do paperwork and this and that, pay people and

hire things and shoot a movie.

And so that was my first paid position on a feature film as an Office PA.

I got on that and met people on that and then it just like spiderwebbed

from there in the network because a person I met on that film got hired

on another film right after that.

And then they threw my name in the hat and then I got onto that set.

It kind of domino affected from there and started building that network.

That's where I honed into the production side of feature films and narrowing

my focus and my experience from there on what positions I was applying.

At first I was applying for anything at that point to get on any set.

And then I started working my way up there.

That's a great story and, and I think I hear two big lessons outta that story.

So you let me know if I'm on the right track here, but it sounds like

one of those is you want to have that resume ready, throughout

your time at Grand Valley.

So by participating in the Summer Film, which I have a question

about that when we get there.

And then also, building that resume up.

You made yourself known in classes.

Kim obviously knew who you were.

And then coming out of that persistence.

You made sure that you followed up, and didn't just wait for him to call you.

Cuz it, it turned out that it wasn't even on his mind.

He was like, "Oh yeah, get in here tomorrow."

Film production is chaos.

I had this little voice in my head and my wife, but at the time we were

dating, she probably put that bug in my hear and said "maybe you should

call" or "maybe you should follow up."

Cuz it's not a formal setting, it is and it isn't.

Outside of the film world, things are very formal or standard, in the film

world, we could be talking right now, and not again to sound arrogant or whatever,

but , I could get a call right now from an executive producer or from a production

company that I worked with before, and they're like, "Hey, we got a film.

We're thinking about shooting, you know, next month in South Africa.

Are you available?"

And I gotta be like, "well, you know sure."

You have to be self-motivated.

Just being self-employed or freelance in general, the more you put into

it, the more you get out of it.

And I'm not perfect.

I know I have my strengths and weaknesses, but persistence, work

ethic, determination, stubbornness, you gotta have the passion.

You gotta want it.

Because I mean, to be honest, this business, everybody

wants to be in show business.

You have to have a desire to make it happen, the industry is going through

a lot of transitions recently, on all fronts, technology, cultural, everything.

I guess the bottom line would be, you have to be able to adapt.

That's actually the biggest thing.

I'm sure maybe you've experienced that with things.

No matter what it is, you have to adapt to the situation.

It's a fluid work environment for sure.

So being able to adapt on the fly is a skillset across the board,

whether you're the DP, or the Camera Assistant, or a Costume Designer, or a

Production Assistant, or the Director.

You have to adapt, always, because there's plan A and then

there's plan B and plan C, and then what do you do after that?

You gotta be ready for it all, right?

Ready for it all.

We're taking a short break to tell you about the Dirk Koning

Memorial Film and Video scholarship.

Here's Gretchen Vinnedge remembering Dirk Koning.

The Koning Scholarship enables students to get that kind of an education, to be

a good filmmaker, to be able to express their voice and to continue Dirk's dream.

For more information, and to donate to the scholarship, visit

the link in the description.

Now, back to the show.

So that tool specifically, like being able to adapt, if we're thinking back

to that summer film, "Horizontal Accidents" was that movie, and

I remember you being the UPM.

There was some like wild location things that you had to overcome and put together.

One of the values of being at Grand Valley is, we kind of had this

laboratory where we could experiment, we could try out our different

skills and be in these positions.

Can you talk a little bit about what a Unit Production Manager is and then what

that was like on that summer film, and especially how those skills help you today

as a Producer who has a, movie coming out with theatrical release pretty soon?

The Summer Film Project was a basic training, because it immerses you

into that machine of film production.

It gives you the baseline skills to survive on a real film set.

I did two Summer Films during my tenure at Grand Valley.

The first Summer Film I did, I was part of the Behind the Scenes, which

was great because it allowed me to be a fly on the wall everywhere, which

I think you did that one as well.

I was in the sound department, and similarly, like very

much a fly on the wall.

Like, you know, I'm sitting there with a boom pole.

We're, done setting up and then we just watch the director work.

We watch the DP make decisions.

I definitely recommend doing some of those fly on the wall positions

just to see it.

positions just to see it.

And that's actually what attracted me to Grand Valley the Summer

Film Project piqued my interest.

It was like, oh wow.

So when I get into the program and, I did my first one, I was

part of the Behind the Scenes.

It's just this microcosm of different experiences which is also

very parallel to a real film set.

And so you have these different levels of experience and

different positions and stuff.

The first one I did, I was like, this is great, this is definitely what I wanna do.

And then the second feature film I did was "Horizontal Accidents."

We didn't know each other much before the summer film, but people knew

that you were the producer guy.

I don't know the specifics of how you got to be in that position.

I think I applied for it and, well, that's the thing.

When you go to film school, it's like whatever your path is to get to there

of your passion, at the time, for me you know, I wanna direct things.

It's the default.

But then once I got into the program, and I started taking the courses, and

I started doing the hands-on, and then applying the already baseline skills

that I had from life experience or the military, that's when I started to focus

in on the production side of things when I realized, that was kind of my skillset.

I've never been a tech person, so I started focusing on

production and logistical things.

When I did my different projects throughout the program, that's, kind

of where I honed in my skillset.

Then fast forward to my senior year and getting the position as a Unit

Production Manager, at the time, and this is where we can toot our horn,

I'm pretty sure that was the first summer film shot on a digital format.

Which is perfect for us at the time, getting into the industry to have that,

because that's also a resume thing too.

I did eventually do a 35 millimeter film, which was the

hardest film I've ever done.

Which one was that?

That was a feature film I did in West Michigan, as a

Production Office Coordinator, that shot on 35 millimeter film.

And if you've done a 35 millimeter theatrical film as a Production

Coordinator, it's logistically hell in the wintertime in Michigan on 35 millimeter.

It's just insane.

Sure.

So shooting on a RED was a very good thing for us.

Now we're students and we're shooting on RED and it's this latest, greatest thing.

I think at the time I don't know if we had the biggest budget for a short?

They didn't tell us in the sound department if that was true.

I wanna say it was either at or above the usual.

It was kind of a deal.

I do remember that because I had to go with Kim Roberts, who was a Producer

on it go to budget meetings with Grand Valley number crunchers in pre-production.

So that really sets you up then for executive producing

your own, budget meetings.

So I remember going into those budget meetings as a student.

Kim and I, and there's literally 10 people in front of us going through the budget

line by line that are not filmmakers, that are nothing to do with film production.

This one person, I don't know who it was, but they were like, " Catering.

That's a big line item.

Why do we gotta feed people?"

And Kim and I are like, "An army moves on its stomach, that's actually

very critical in our industry."

And I do remember them busting in that line.

One of our largest budgets was catering.

And so things like that as a UPM, producing all that stuff,

now down the line, I can use.

Here I'm in front of 10 Grand Valley board members picking apart our budget

that we came up with based on the script and the schedule, cuz that's how you

properly do it, script, schedule, budget, and then implement them.

So, then we shoot this short film, it was 10 weeks for 35,000

bucks or something like that.

It was definitely a baptism by fire because not only was it digital, I

was solely in charge of the budget.

Kim was there too, guiding me, but it was me with two credit cards issued out

by Grand Valley and we had a LA director.

Yeah, Tom Seidman came in.

So you throw in that and then we had a professional DP.

But we shot it in what, 10 days?

Multiple locations.

It was really quick.

It was a 10 day shoot for 35,000, live action, digital format, single camera,

stunts, vehicles, multiple locations, a hearse, which I drove when we picked

it up, which was pretty funny to drive a hearse because people are looking at

me when I'm driving it to the S-curve.

Here's this guy in a t-shirt , driving a hearse.

It gave me the basic training on the production side of things

that definitely I still use today.

You've done the summer film, you've graduated, you're working

on your first Hallmark movie.

Then you start producing some of your own stuff.

Tell us about some of your first movies.

I did, a handful of feature films after I graduated.

Five or six, mainly in production side of things.

Office PA, Set PA, Assistant Production Office Coordinator,

Production Office Coordinator.

Then, the film incentive collapsed at a certain point.

So the work dried up here specifically for feature films in

both West and Eastern Michigan.

I want to say it was around 2012, a couple years after graduating, where

I personally had to make a decision, was I going to relocate to a hub?

LA, New York, Atlanta, New Orleans, where films specifically are

happening or TV shows, cuz commercial work still happens in Michigan.

I looked at Chicago, do I go back, and do a master's degree in producing or an MFA?

I almost applied.

But at some point I decided, okay, I'm gonna move to LA cuz I

had some contacts at this point.

I lived in Los Angeles for at least a year, and I moved out there classic,

put all my possessions in my vehicle.

I literally had $400 in my checking account, and I'm

sleeping on an air mattress.

I'm applying for jobs on Craigslist.

I got one paid one, a feature, and then I did one for free.

I did a handful of things and rebuilding my network out there.

There was kind of resurgence in film work back in Michigan.

So I was bouncing back and forth at one point between LA and here.

Building my career.

Working through my ranks, I met another Producer who was my mentor

and who now is my business partner.

Is that when you started Blue Falcon Productions?

Yep.

Blue Falcon Productions, which is the production entity I own.

We're both Freelance, Feature Film Producers, Line Producers, but that's

our banner that we do our own content

and sometimes production services under.

And I worked my way up.

The first film I produced was an indie film that actually got shelved, never

saw the light of day, in Mississippi.

I produced that with my business partner and we played multiple hats.

That was when I was 25, and then after that, we produced a couple other films

that did get released, and then we did our own film, "The Incantation".

Can you talk a little bit about "The Incantation" because

that won some awards, right?

Yep.

So that won some local awards in West Michigan.

It won an Eclipse award for Best Director.

It was a hybrid thing where our production's based out of Michigan, our

production entity, and the Eclipse awards is a local awards for feature films.

So we were able to qualify for that.

But that film was written and directed by my business partner, Jude S.

Walko, and I produced it.

It's a horror genre film.

Stars Dean Cain.

We basically pulled a Robert Rodriguez, "El Mariachi", type thing.

We had a couple films that we had gone back and forth getting green lights on,

and we went from, one time having a green light for like a 5 million budget on

one film and then 300,000 and back and forth and it didn't get into production.

So finally we were just like, okay, we gotta shelve that.

What can we produce now, independently, to brand ourselves

and put ourselves out there?

We had an opportunity to film on location in France at a

chateau for, inkind, free.

So Jude wrote a script around that location, and then from

there we backed into that.

How much is it gonna cost?

, Horror genre, inexpensive.

What do we need?

Bare bones, what connections can we pull?

We bootstrapped literally an entire feature film on location in France

starring Dean Cain, former TV Superman.

How did you get in touch with Dean Kane?

Jude had a personal relationship with Dean Cain, in that he had worked with him

a couple times prior on films and he had pulled a scheduling favor for him on one

of those films and Dean never forgot that.

So fast forward we're all pulling our connections at this point.

And Dean would work for this role , let's see if he can help us out.

We got a hold of him.

And sure enough he remembered that favor.

Next thing you know, we had a completed future film that we shot on

location for 25 days with Dean Cain for a hundred thousand dollars, US.

It was something that was also like a Summer Film Project for both

of us, cuz this is my business partner's directorial debut.

It was our own film under our company.

It was putting us all out there personally, financially,

and professionally.

We did it.

We bootstrapped distribution on our own.

We got placement with Redbox.

They ordered 50,000 units of this film.

We were told less than 10% independent films get into Redbox.

That was a nice, mark on our belt that gave us a little morale boost.

We're still in the red on the film, to be honest.

But that wasn't the point.

The point was that we created our own original content, we

produced it, we distributed it, we exhibited it, it's out there.

It's that whole Robert Rodriguez mentality, whatever way

you can just make it happen.

It's not the greatest film.

But it's our film.

It's out there.

And then we did a follow up.

Jude directed another film, but that's still in post-production.

We did that a couple years later.

He's almost done with it, trying to finish it up that we

shot on location, in Thailand.

The bottom line is that, it's a craft, it's a passion.

Put your head down and put your shoulder to the wheel.

To make your own content, it's a lot of discipline.

And it's a lot of persistence.

That's such a great story too, of making that opportunity happen.

Just seeing what you have in your network and then, just backing into it.

We got, a location.

Who can help us with this?

How do we make it, what can we pull together?

And all of a sudden you got your first feature film.

Yeah.

And we couldn't have made it without our network.

And that's the thing, I can't wait till the day we're out of the red

where we can, pay some deferred payment to crew or vice versa.

The people that helped us with that film were not only professional

colleagues, but they were our friends.

And that's why they helped us too, is they wanted to see us succeed.

And they're all passionate professionals themselves.

Everybody from the sound mixer, to the boom operator, to the camera operators,

to the gaffers, all the crew in the cast, and everybody wanted to be there.

They wanted to make a movie.

And that's the bottom line.

They all knew what they were getting into.

It was like, "Hey, do you wanna come to France and shoot a movie with us?

We'll pay you in some baguettes."

Looking at your IMDB, one movie I'm wondering if you've got a story about

could you talk about "Black Beauty"?

I assume there were, there were some horses involved with that.

That was an interesting film because that was a hired gun project.

We filmed on location as production services in Rhode Island.

With Luke Perry and Bruce Davison,

I had never done anything at that scope with animals.

But we had another Producer, Dave Bellino, he owned a horse farm his

daughter and wife were equestrians.

It was challenging and you're working with animals.

And we were working with minors.

There were stunts as well, but it comes down to leaning on those

professionals having a safe set.

And you're making a movie, it's not like life or death, so we you know,

adapted the situation with animals.

Network wise, how much do you keep in touch with alumni?

I try to stay more involved with it.

That's how I'm on this podcast here with you, Randy, because you decided

to, reach out to me, which I appreciate.

I feel like Grand Valley has a lot of resources that I don't

take advantage of as an alumni.

I can definitely be guilty to that.

You should rely on those.

Because I film a lot on location, I never know my schedule.

So it's hard for me sometimes to get involved because I

don't wanna let people down.

I did this one thing at the alumni house a few years back, It was a dinner,

networking thing and I met some great people, talking with students that

were about to graduate and vice versa.

I think I remember helping Suzanne with her resume workshop I think it was.

What are you looking for in resumes?

With film resumes, you have to be succinct and to the point keep it

one page and highlighting specific things with your skillset because when

you're a Production Manager and you're literally looking at a thousand resumes

for one position, it has to stand out.

It has to be concise.

If I'm looking for PAs, entry level positions, what are

at least some foundation they have that can get 'em there?

Because I've been in that position.

Do they have set experience, whether it be student films or internships?

Do they have some on the job experience?

Do they not just have coursework?

Do they also have some real world experience?

It may not necessarily be film.

Do they have any kind of life experience in similar industries,

they, here did they work?

Retail.

They interact with people.

What's their foundation?

So don't be afraid to put those things alongside—

Yeah, dont, don't necessarily be afraid to put those things, especially if you had

minimal specific feature film experience.

You might have something that parlays into it.

Because when I applied I think I had two internships as a Set PA.

So that probably gave me a little push to the top if I have 30 seconds

to look at it, what do I take away?

Could you talk to me a little bit about work life balance?

You're traveling to different cities, different countries, how do

you kind of maintain your sanity?

I think in the recent years I've been working on that, but my family and

my wife have been very supportive throughout my entire career.

If I didn't have that support system, I wouldn't be where I'm at.

But it's a balance.

I think in the beginning of my career I was so focused on that,

which may be a good thing or bad thing, but you definitely have to,

live life too, you know, decompress.

And I think for me, specifically with my background in the military, you

have to know what your limits are, cuz when it starts affecting your

work, are you getting adequate sleep?

Is your work suffering from it?

You have to be able to balance.

Also with feature films, I compare feature films to commercial work, it's

like a sprint versus cross country trek.

Commercials are sprints, feature films are like cross country endurance.

You have to balance those two different worlds.

I gravitate more towards the endurance side of things like feature films, and

that's just whatever your skillset is.

You have to discover that on your own.

Because I know commercial Producers that are like, they outproduced me

big time when it comes to commercials.

Like I can't believe what they do in like three days.

Pulling crazy things together?

Yeah.

But then, I could produce a film in 25 days in my sleep, and they're like,

"Whoa, producing a film for 25 days.

That's like outta my lane!"

You have to figure out where you fit, in that puzzle.

Totally.

I have a real good friend.

She's a great commercial producer and that's primarily been her career

and she produces big campaigns in LA I slept on her couch when I started

out, when we first met on a commercial.

We stay in touch all the time.

She's trying to transition into directing feature films.

So I've helped her create scenarios for feature films and stuff.

But yeah, the commercial world sometimes is kind of foreign to me in that aspect.

In the feature film world, can you take us through your

position from pre-production, production, to post-production?

As a producer, it's a balance of both business and creative.

setting goals or benchmarks, staying on task help a lot.

You come up with a concept, your script is your architectural

plans, it's your foundation.

And then from there, how do we shoot this film?

This is how we shoot the film, logistically.

Now we see how the film is broken down.

Each of these are phases, right?

Let's just say financing is done.

Now how are we gonna pay for the film budget-wise with the financing?

And that's the thing with independent film, we're talking

budgets below 10 million dollars.

We're not talking studio films.

You can't throw money at the problem.

You have to figure out, the compromise of, the financial, logistical, and creative.

You come up with those three phases, script, schedule, and budget.

Now we have to implement those, and that's where it comes in with your key personnel.

As long as everybody's on the same page with these, parameters,

then you go to implement them and you move into pre-production.

So producing a lot of your work is in prep, because the more prep you

do the smoother the shoot goes.

But we all know there's Murphy's Law and that's where experience comes in.

You do it enough times, you get ahead of those Murphy's Law.

You start implementing different, tactics or procedures, you

lean on your department heads.

You all come together as a team, and then you get into the production.

At this point in my world, keep the cameras rolling, get the film.

What are things that would stop that?

Well, there's so many variables.

Depending on the script, depending on the location.

You're dealing with weather.

If I'm shooting an action film in Michigan in winter, I know my camera

batteries are gonna freeze, so I need to have a vehicle on standby

to keep the camera batteries warm.

All these logistical things, I need to get ahead of those

to keep the machine moving.

That's the logistical side of it.

The creative side would be "oh, the snow looks great, you know, on camera."

You get through the production phase, and depending on your position on

there, if you're a lead producer, then you're carrying it on into post.

And then is distribution negotiated ahead of time with what they

call pre-sales, or are you taking this film out to the market?

That really depends on how the film was set up in the beginning

on that backend for distribution.

Cuz a Lot of independent films are pre-sold to get financing.

There's the domestic market, which is Canada and US, and technically

Mexico is considered a Latin America, and then you have foreign markets.

For our film, we didn't pre-sell our film, but we went and got Dean Cain on our

own and we privately financed the film.

Go out to the free agent market, American Film Market, can we get sales

from that or distribution from that?

And that's what we did.

There's a lot of different avenues for distribution for independent film.

Studios, have things slated out ahead of time.

It's more a corporation business setup, but independent films are more, organic.

That's really what dictates a lot of it is what is the story?

What is the genre?

What are you trying to tell?

I know a few filmmakers that have made some great films, but it's

like, well, what's your audience?

It wasn't followed through all the way on that end.

As we wrap up here, if you have any other stories, I'd love to hear 'em.

We've covered a lot so far.

The bottom line is, if it's something you're passionate about, pursue it.

At the end of the day, determine what's best for yourself.

You gotta find where you fit or what feels right for you, and do that.

There's no right or wrong answer.

I like to end with having you brag about something you're like super,

proud of, or a problem that you solved do you have, something off

the top of your head you're feeling really proud of, you wanna talk about?

I mean, I, I am proud of shooting Incantation because it was a once in

a lifetime experience where we truly, as filmmakers reported to ourselves.

Though we had limited resources, we made a film that we wanted to make.

At the time it was like, "What are we doing?"

We're taking this financial risk, but we have a film that we shot and

it's very stylized, it's unique.

We shot in a unique location.

It may not be the most interesting or, Oscar-winning performance film, but it's

a film that we made that will outlive us.

It's available currently on most mainstream, streaming platforms

like Amazon, iTunes, it might be on some Roku channels, some Tubi.

If you Google "The Incantation," it's out there.

And where can people follow you?

Follow Blue Falcon Productions on Facebook, or Instagram, Twitter.

I'm on Facebook, IMDB.

Just keep doing what you're doing.

There is no manual.

That's great.

Well, thanks so much, Dan.

Yeah.

Thanks Randy.

I appreciate it.

Thank you for joining us for this episode of Alumni Live: The Podcast.

Subscribe to our podcast, to hear more from our alumni across the industry.

Check out Alumni Live on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube for more

conversations and networking.

Let us know what topics you want to hear our alumni talk about.

The Grand Valley State University Film/Video Alumni Network is here for

you, and we're glad that you're here.

Thank you for listening.