Meet Peter-John Campbell | Producer/Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Peter-John Campbell and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Peter-John, what do you attribute your success to?
Growing up I was the kid who had a wild imagination. This often got me in trouble. I was a weird kid….still am. My nickname was “Crazy Pete” which was fitting.

Like any creative person you spend a lot of time experimenting with different ideas. It’s easy to look at what everyone else is doing and want to do the same thing, but at some point you have to find your own style. This took me far too long to learn. At some point in my 30s I finally decided to own “Crazy Pete” and be comfortable with my approach, for good or ill.

“At Claymore Pictures we make crazy happen.” I never did the “corporate look” very well. It was when shifted away from that and moved into to more creative projects that I started to enjoy my work again.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I’m an indie filmmaker that lives in Canton, Ohio.

Much of my work lately has been creating music videos for local artist. Last year was a very busy year and we were filming about every four to six weeks. I’ve dialed it back this year, I have kids and they are at that age where they still want me around so I don’t want to miss that.

I do have three music videos that are running around out there right now. My latest one is for the band Indré called “Passenger Side.” We shot this at my friend Todd Biss’ studio in Akron, that was a wild day. Only to step up the crazy we filmed it on an Alex 35 with Atlas’ Orion anamorphic lenses. That was the first time I’ve ever worked with anamorphic. There is massive learned curve with these lenses, but I’m glad we did it, the video turned out looking amazing.

Last summer we filmed this Wes Anderson inspired parade for Anya Van Rose’s “Lucky Stars.” That was a great experience. We took over an air strip and put on a full blown parade. We only had to clear the runway twice. Actually, it was that shoot that lead to us having a float in the 2022 Football Hall of Fame Parade. (Which is here in Canton.) We took the float from the music video and made some adjustments and entered. We ended up winning the Ohio State Award for best Non-Professional Builder.

The thing that everyone knows me for right now is The Vindys’ Bugs video. The Vindys are already bigger than life and getting to work with them was a huge honor. On a whim I submitted the video to the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival, thinking “oh well, it’s worth a shot.” Well wouldn’t you know it we got in! – You know, just that small little festival started by Robert De Niro. – I’m not going to lie this was probably one of the most exciting moments of my career.

Currently we are in preproduction of 2 music videos. One for a new artist James Hackett who goes under the name Salineyes. And a new project with Anya Van Rose which we’ll be filming after the new year.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Oh boy, I fear answering this question because it will indeed prove how lame I am. 🙂 There are memes running around online these days about, “Where do people over 40 hang out?” and the responses to that question is all too real.

When I do get time to hang out with my friends we typically hike. We have the Cuyahoga Valley National Park which is a great place if you love the outdoors.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
A friend of mine use to say, “You’re only as good as your friends.” If you want to succeed in anything in life, you got to build into people, and when you do you’ll find they will build into you.

I often give shout outs to my friend Ron Flack at Realgrey Records and Todd Biss and his team at his studio in Akron. Ron and Todd have welcomed me into their respective worlds and given me a place at their table, here in the Akron/Canton area.

There are many men, and women, who have supported and mentored me over the years. So many names roll through my mind sitting here to list them all, I doubt I could.

Among many names I think of my friend and mentor Rosie de Rosset. She was a professor at my college and we worked together for many years. A wonderful writer and thinking she has taught me much over the years. Always quick with word of encouragement or chastisement when it’s warranted. There are few people who will stick with you in life, challenge you, read your screenplays, and actually provide notes! But Rosie has always been more than willing with red pen in hand.

It’s people like Rosie who have helped me to hone my skills and I owe a far better thanks to her than these few words.

Website: https://claymorepictures.com/home

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/claymorepictures/

Image Credits
My head shots are by: Mikayla Murnane-Donaldson