feature films receive limited theater re-
leases: “Finding Faith” and “Virtuous.”
“Each of our films is designed to chal-
lenge the audience,” he says. “It must
answer the question ‘How can this
film make a difference to someone who
watches it?’ That is a very important
part of our ministry—connecting people
of faith with our films in an attempt to
change the culture.”
Highlighting the Mountain State
Of his 20 films, 12 have been shot par-
tially or entirely in West Virginia.
“We shoot in West Virginia for three
reasons,” says Campbell. “First, the avail-
able resources provided in West Virginia
for filmmaking are amazing, from the
kindness of each community to the avail-
able locations to the awe and spectacular
beauty of the state. Second, the Moun-
tain State is not only loaded with amazing
and talented actors and actresses but also
qualified and creative filmmakers. Lastly,
my family and I live in Morgantown.”
Through his films, Campbell aspires to
bring more people to West Virginia and
hopes they appreciate the state as much as
he does. His efforts are paying off. Last
year, while shooting a Dean Cain film in
Bridgeport, a law enforcement organiza-
tion from Florida with whom he would
be working on a future project traveled
to the Mountain State to meet Cain and
observe the filmmaking process.
“We were scheduled to shoot their film
on the dangers of texting and driving
in Florida in the spring of 2020,” says
Campbell. “After visiting the set, meet-
ing the people here and spending four
days in West Virginia, they insisted on
changing the shooting location to here.”
Bringing people to West Virginia to
experience the unique culture and meet the
friendly people is just one way Campbell
is changing the narrative for the state. By
using West Virginia as the film location,
he is helping expose the state’s beauty
to people around the world. “Megan’s
Christmas Miracle,” a Christmas movie,
was shot in Beckley and Bridgeport, and
to date more than 1 million people have
watched the film.
“We highlight West Virginia in all our
films if the story allows,” he says. “In ad-
dition, each of our films are represented
internationally and are each translated
into multiple languages, which provides
enormous exposure to West Virginia.”
Creating Opportunities for Youth
When JCFilms shoots in West Virginia,
the company wants to create more oppor-
tunities for young people to get involved
in the industry. “Teens who are interest-
ed in filmmaking may never make it out
to Hollywood, but they can get engaged
in what we are doing,” says Campbell.
When making a film, JCFilms usually
has more than 100 people involved.
“One thing I love about the process of
filmmaking in West Virginia is the par-
ticipation of the people here,” he says.
“Making an opportunity for people to
get involved in a feature film is part of
our mission.”
This past summer, JCFilms shot “The
Zombie Club,” an anti-bullying film for
teenagers, with Cain, and there were more
than 200 teens from all over the state of
West Virginia who were involved in the
process. The film is now part of an anti-
bullying program through which the
movie has been shown in more than 30
schools around the country.
“Bullying is a huge problem, and this
film is just one example of how we are
involving teens and challenging them to
make a difference,” says Campbell.
The Future of Film
Looking to the future, Campbell is
aiming to create more chances for aspir-
ing filmmakers in the Mountain State to
exhibit their talents.
“We need to encourage more filmmaking
opportunities here,” he says. “No matter
what the production budget is, we need
to encourage more filmmaking, more
theater and more music opportunities
for our young people.”
Campbell also has a dream to make
West Virginia the go-to location for film-
ing faith and family films over the next
few years. “To me, nothing echoes faith
and family more than the many commu-
nities represented here in the Mountain
State,” he says.
In 2020, he plans to produce six new
films in his adopted state.
“Unfortunately, the majority of feature
films produced in West Virginia are
negative,” he says. “The Mountain State
is home for me and it’s where I’m raising
a family, so you can bet I am going to do
everything I can to rewrite the narrative
and eliminate unwarranted stereot ypes
about this state. One way I can do that
is by making more uplifting, positive
and inspiring films depicting the beauty
and goodness of West Virginia.”
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