Steven J. Campbell, Mark Barth, and Renn Reed are owner's and partner's (for life & beyond) in Liquid Ice Entertainment Corporation and Crowne Imaging Corporation, which are umbrella corporation's for film-making, modeling, art & design, photography, special effects, 3d modeling, animation, etc; and include the following companies: Alantis Productions/Shooting Starz Studioz, Rennditions, Rennz Ragz, The Mandarin Connection & The Latin Connection, R & R Research and Investigations. Alantis Productions ® is currently in post-production of the 1st and 2nd episodes of a PBS documentary about the old west titled, "The Bonanza Trail" copyright 2001-2005 All Rights Reserved and have begun shooting the 3rd episode which is about the Chinese. Alantis Productions is a complete in-house production facility wth a "portable studio to go..." on the road. Originally Alantis Productions, formerly known as Fantasy Photography, was established in 1988 as a theme-based photography studio in Los Angeles, California. In 1994 the name was changed to Alantis Productions when we began the development of our theatrical film-based division in Las Vegas, Nevada. Steven J. Campbell primary owner of Alantis Productions passed away March 2, 2001 and in honor and memory of him we carry on his dreams of movie-making and photography having moved to South Dakota (temporarily) in late 2001 to begin shooting the first episodes of The Bonanza Trail. Since March 2001 we have picked-up 14 sponsors in the industry who are either No. 1, 2, 3, 4...in their respective industries of filmmaking, photography, 3D modeling, animation, editing, compositing, sound software, screenplay writing software, distributor, etc.
IN MEMORIUM OF STEVEN J. CAMPBELL
In honor and memory of the primary owner of Alantis Productions, Steven J. Campbell, who passed away unnessarily March 2, 2001 thanks to a careless primary-care doctor in Las Vegas, Nevada.
* We have moved to South Dakota, home to many interesting events in our countries' early history and are recording and documenting everything of value which we are able to locate. We have pushed forward inspite of some sponsors canceling funding when 9/11 hit us all and inspite of our dear, beloved, best friend Steve "going on vacation..." as we call it as... [we still find it difficult to use the "D" word]. Our sponsor's it must be said, are our Heroes. They are listed in the Heroes section here on the main page. They have stood by us donating equipment and moral support all the while and we cannot thank them enough for it all. We have spent Mark's savings on the project understanding very well how all of us are hurting as our economy has spiraled downward these past 5 years
WE WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF YOU READ THE FOLLOWING TRIBUTE TO STEVE...............
HTTP://WWW.MYSPACE.COM/STEVENJCAMPBELL
Many of you know Steve having worked with him on many a project. But Steve never used his real name as he wanted to retain his privacy, or so he told me. Therefore we cannot mention any of the projects Steve worked on. But what we can say is this...
Steve got his start by winning a contest for a major film corporation's opening credit style which through these past 45 years has gained a very popular international following. Later he and Mark were stuntmen on the "Berretta" TV show and their careers flourished from there.
Steve could do it all and did, earning a reputation from innovative camera angles and lighting, to dance moves, costumes, and set design. But his greatest love's were writing and shooting film or stills. During the year's prior to becoming ill he was often contacted via computer and telephone to trouble-shoot problem scripts, cinematography, 3D graphic issues, etc...and Mark & I learned from him. He loved history and loved it so much that when our 2 girls came home from school and would ask questions so basic to us all he decided to pursue the documentary, "The Bonanza Trail", which we are currently working on, instead of theatrical films, (which we do have a 2 animated projects in development).
He was and still is our inspiration and we applaud him for his integrity and humility. We will always love him and miss him terribly. There are times where we feel him standing close and guiding us on our way...
STEVEN J. CAMPBELL, MARK BARTH, RENN REED
In additions to the history written about us below we feel impressed to add the following notation because so many people both in our industry and out of our industry have asked this same question..."Why are you living in South Dakota with your talents and capabilities?"
When Steve who had been the primary owner of Alantis Productions, fell ill in 2000 and passed away March 2, 2001 unexpectedly. Mark and I sat down to discuss what to do about the businesses then named Alantis Productions/Shooting Starz Studioz, Rennditions, and The Mandarin Connection. We didn't know IF we should continue as both Mark's and my talents and skills were not developed and evolved to where they are now. And yes, we know that we still have much to learn and a long ways to go in their development and refinement. But that being said we knew we had to move as we no longer had the income to pay the mortgage on our wonderful home with pool, and an actual studio on property that we had just finished doing the upgrading on for the electrical needs we would require in our business.
In 1999 I finally became "cancer free" so I was told after 12 years of cervical cancer twice back-to-back. Both of my daughters were in New York going to school or working at that point so we felt in 1999 it was a good time to put our studio together while continuing to learn "the business". We had a project in pre-production at that time titled, "The Bonanza Trail", but our primary goal was to learn what we could at least generally of "the business" so we would be better equipped to supervise a staff doing the actual work. We decided in honor of Steve and his love for "the business" to push forward and learn to do all that we could learn and do to make his dreams come true becoming a reality and thereby his goals fulfilled at least in part or to whatever degree of success we could accomplish. Since Mark and I were not getting any younger (nor are we now) and felt having a business we at least had some familiarity in was a smart goal for our later years we have pursued the industry with an honest and loving passion driven by our love and commitment to Steve and our desire's to be creatively productive.
We learned Mark's mother had cancer in and around summer 2001. Again we discussed should we move to South Dakota to be near her. Mark left South Dakota and his mother at a young age to be on his own. He never wanted to go back. And although my maternal grandparents hailed from Nebraska it never even crossed my mind to move to the midwest after growing-up in Los Angeles, San Francisco, California. I only attended Brigham Young University for college because it was an inexpensive route for me to obtain my BFA in art and design as my "real" father and mother had raised me a mormon. Originally I had received scholarship's to both UC Santa Barbara and The Academy of Art College in San Francisco. So my approach to college would have been different given a chance.
But Mark who had not been around his mother of relatives for many years approached the question of moving to South Dakota very realistically saying this is a business we can do from anywhere with computers and the internet. He also added that we could provide our services to the people of South Dakota for more reasonable rates. Being that his focus was on production and post-production skills like editing, compositing, 3D modeling, to name a few and I was focused on the producer/executive producer responsibilities, art, camera-work, as well as editing, compositing, etc. I had to agree. We did our research and found that much of the higher-end work of our industry was farmed-out to Denver or Los Angeles by the State of South Dakota and various corporations there. So we moved to South Dakota to be near Mark's mom and to try to help her.
When we arrived the Chamber's of Commerce, the State of South Dakota, various local corporations that we would logically want to network with seemed very happy we were here. Within the first year we learned that Mark's mother knew all along that her cancer was benign.
But what we also learned during that first year literally blew us away. We all have heard the saying, "It's a small town mindset". But what you don't understand from that saying is its true meaning. We were told by Mark's mother and others don't tell people where you're from meaning anywhere out-of-state, in particular California. They truly don't like people from California here and refer to us as tree-huggers. The people here blame us for legislation that has been implemented in South Dakota which prevents them from using their resources as they would please. They also like to say we're all the same meaning that we come and try to change things here. The many different business people and business-related entities we ultimately have had to deal with in our efforts to network have made all of these comments to us and made it clear that they only do business through "word-of-mouth" with those "they like and who they know" meaning those whom have been given a local stamp of approval, so to speak.
Our first year here became very depressing because we had no idea there was such discrimination here and fear of "the unknown" meaning those of us who aren't from here. By 2003 Mark's small retirement fund had been depleted due to my "forced" unemployment. I could get a spot job here or there (day work), I even got 2 seasonal jobs one at the Department of Transportation assisting with surveying and the other flagging on a road construction crew.
But although office jobs are at a premium here we figured that after a year or two people here would realize we aren't trying to change the area and we're okay, that they didn't need to think we were something to be afraid of especially since Mark is originally from here. So we stayed and continued to try to at least be supportive of Mark's mother and her health issue's thinking time would solve the problems that we learned of after arriving here.
But this wasn't to be the case. In 2004 a very influential businessman out of the Sioux Falls, SD area hired me to go to China and trouble-shoot some serious problems that had occured there by 3 different Chinese interpreters. He also hired me to be his Director of Marketing for the products he was importing to his museum in Keystone, SD. I went to China and resolved all of his problems to everyone's satisfaction including the Chinese. However during my trip home on the airplane he told me he had someone else in mind for the position he had originally hired me for as Director of Marketing, a young lady and friend of his son. Needless to say I cried because there was no way to change his mind as it was made up. So any chance for financial stability was now thrown out the window as this was my first personal experience learning that in this region people hire "who they like and who they know" whether they are the best qualified and suited for the position or not. And it is usually "not". I say this not our of resentment and bitterness but it is often the case that the "friend" is hired whether as a dental assistant, engineer, professor, you name it, and pretty much the positons are filled by those who know the right people yet don't have the training or education required for the position they are hired to do.
This is frequently how it is all done here so that those who are from here actually get the better jobs, positions, and pay. When I moved here I was 47, I am now 53 and although young at heart cancer took a toll on me that I am in many way recovering from but aging has begun to kick in and the blue collar work I once was able to get here is now not such a realistic option.
Case in point last year 2006 I got my first job since 2003 working at a pizza restaurant in Spearfish, SD. I worked and stood the whole time which was 3 days a week for about 10 hours each day. The fourth day, Sunday's of every week, I worked typically 3 to 5 or 6 hours depending on the employer's needs on that day. I soon learned that with only the 5 to 10 minute breaks we typically got during my 10 hour shifts my hips and legs have developed definite issues.
Last Christmas 2006 Mark's mother moved from California to Virginia. She left South Dakota in 2003 after living here all of her life with very brief stints in Arizona for about 6 months, and California for maybe a year or so when Mark was very young. Most people here are college educatied although like anywhere else you find those who haven't gone to college. Also many of the people here have traveled and lived elsewhere, especially you business people here. They return for the same reasons Mark and I felt it was a good choice to move here. The air is clean and the people are friendly, at least on a social level. But try to establish a business to generate a self-sustaining income and you're ____ out-of-luck as a general rule. In May 2006 there was a businessman, a Vice President of an prominent advertising firm in Denver visiting Black Hills State University with whom I had the pleasure of chatting with after his lecture. He brought up that a good friend of his who lives in the area had invited him to speak at the university and he was quite surprised at how easily threatened the individuals in the community were. He didn't get into details of the experiences that he was referring to. However living here I understood very well and felt a little comfort in the fact that I knew I wasn't alone.
In fact I am not alone and many people move here every year because of the beauty of the hills and also to just get away from "it" all. Many of these same people leave and move away within a year or so because they can't get the work. And although it is typically who you know and they "like" you that get the jobs or positions, there are other factors that play into what is called a "small town mindset". Job security is first and foremost but are you the "type" of person they want in their community? And no, that doesn't refer to the obvious are you a criminal type. It refers to are you someone that compliments "their mindset" and won't open a can of worms, or stir up trouble.
So since Mark and I have sterling backgrounds never having had an trouble with anyone or anything including the police we figured in time all would be made right. But no, apparently that is not to be. Last year we were to teach a class on filmmaking at Black Hills State University. The Board of Regents for South Dakota approved it and the president and vice-president were completely supportive of it. But the faculty including deans were up in arms because I didn't have my master's degree. It didn't matter that I had a concrete plan to get my degree should the class be well received and so the spent much time both to our faces and behind our back to one another telling people that we had no business teaching there. One dean went so far as to say that even if I had my masters degree it was very unlikely that I would be teaching there at anytime.
Needless to say after approximately 2 and 1/2 months of these derogatory statements we withdrew our class on filmmaking feeling it just wasn't fair to the students to try to learn in such a negative environment. And although many of these very same professors and faculty members were highly complimentary of our work they didn't seem to care about anything other than their own fears about their job security, so we heard. It seems there were those who imagined that we were going to replace them. There had been those who had seen the curriculum we had written up in 2001 while in Las Vegas, Nevada where we lived for 11 years. We had been working with the City of Las Vegas and the Clark County School District to put together a film department whose demographics included junior high and high school students. Upon the heels of withdrawing our class we received a nice letter of apology from the Dean of Academic Affairs who had been one of the wonderful people promoting our class and supportive of it.
Long story shorter...we are looking to move. Currently I have an extra's role plaing a tourist in the theatrical movie sequel National Treasure 2 playing a tourist. Originally scheduled to shoot April 22, 2007 due to weather I have been rescheduled for April 27, 2007. I am grateful and glad to be working again, even if it is only for one day. I am very grateful for all the opportunities a I receive to utilize my talents and skills in a positive and productive manner. Mark and I continue to pursue our businesses with commitment, perserverance, determination and willingness and desire to do our best irregardless of our circumstances. And although we are now extremely poor our only complaints here have been why is it that the people here have been so very "unreceptive" to us, especially me, to put it politely.