Meet Zane Hampton of Los Angeles / OC

Today we’d like to introduce you to Zane Hampton.

Hi Zane, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started off in Colorado, with a dream to get into film as a Director after going to Film School. After years of trying and failing, being on productions and running my own (sometimes into the ground), I found myself in Arizona finally learning my voice and my method. That got me an opportunity to move to LA after making dog grooming documentaries, crazy right? Anyways, when I got out to LA I hit the ground running. I was working non stop, sometimes as a director, sometimes a Cinematographer, a lot of the time as an actor. Things were going great and awful at the same time. I learned the hard way how cut throat and clepto the industry can be out here, and then at the same time was getting to be a part of amazing things with people I’d seen on TV. In a lot of ways, it was turning into a dream come true. Then the strikes hit and everything vanished. A show I was very excited to be on was canceled, and then after the strikes I couldn’t get anything. The productions I got on were brutal, very inefficient, and made filmmaking feel like a corporate job. I hated it. But I fought through it. Finding my way into some weird situations with executives, experiencing some awful film sets that left me wide eyed and she’ll shocked, and consistently being used and abused left me ready to quit. Then, I met my wife and together her and our kids started making movies together. Suddenly, awards started coming in, we got to have the kid’s first film screen at the Chinese Theater which literally blew my mind, and then we just kept going. We now have separated from the Hollywood machine and work with industry professionals on certain higher end products, but for the most part we just make movies. I now write books and am making comic books as well, something I never thought I would do, and the whole experience has turned film and my life into what I always wanted it to be, fun!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has been one of the harshest roads. I mean, I have made so many mistakes its not even funny. When I first got to LA I literally shot four episodes (twenty minutes episodes) for a producer of a Reality Show that then the producer tried to cut me out of the deal for (lesson learned, do not work for free without a contract). Another harsh lesson was, there’s production companies out there that look super amazing and real, but are actually scams and literally steal rich people’s money by convincing them to invest in a podcast or film, and then leave with the money. So that was an experience I’m glad I only witnessed, but then of course that attached me to being in the room with executives where I literally lost movies too and wrote pro Bono work like an AI machine that went nowhere and wasted nothing but time and energy and hope. The struggles have been increasingly difficult, from working with psycho executives to being ridiculed and treated like garbage by filmmakers on the indie side. Which is the reason I pivoted, and chose to protect the experience over chasing the paycheck.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m known as a Film Director, although I do a lot of things. As far as what I’m most proud of, it has to be that movie with my kids. Getting to see them on the big screen in a theater I’ve known about from a different state, was just an amazing experience. It made actually feel like a success for the first time. The fact that it was my children up there, was a greater accomplishment than anything else. And what sets me apart from others in my field is that I just don’t wait for anything, or anyone. I just go and I make what I want to make, when and how I want to make it. I am built to create. People don’t often understand me, which used to really bother me. Now, I just enjoy what comes and I take pride in not waiting for permission or approval or acceptance.

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
Dedication. If I hadn’t been dedicated to this for over ten years, I would never have any of the accomplishments but moreso I would not have this lifestyle that I cherish. I love my life. I love making these movies, writing these books, drawing these crazy comics. Its a blessing but that wouldn’t have ever come if I hadn’t worked my butt off and chased that dream.

Pricing:

• For my novels, find them on Amazon under my name!
• My comics are spread around from places like Webtoons to Amazon under my name as well.
• To see my films, check out Danger Dog Productions on Youtube, Instagram, or Tiktok
• For a specialty series me and my family made, check out SITREP on Youtube, its on its own channel
• We also made a new series, TheTrappedAuthor on instagram, TikTok, and youtube

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dangerdogproductions?igsi=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dangerdogproductions?mibextid=ZbWKwL
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@dangerdogproductions2028?si=vmfip0oKosGVme-t
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@dangerdogproductions?_r=1&_t=ZT-994zjU8rOBh