Meet Karl Pfeiffer | Filmmaker & Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Karl Pfeiffer and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Karl, what are you inspired by?
I am inspired constantly. It’s a huge part of my creative process. Ultimately, I’m a consumer first. Whether it was being a bookworm as a kid or a cinephile as an adult now, I’ll fall in love with various books, movies, and shows. And for me, when I find something that sparks that adoration, it’s not enough to re-read it or re-watch it, that desire becomes a desire to engage with that media even further by creation. I become inspired to create my own version of that thing.

There are some artists and creatives out there who appear to be bastions of ideas, and that’s never been me. I’ve always struggled with ideas for stories, art pieces, photos, and video. That’s probably due to my love of the thing coming before the formulation of some exciting idea. So, for me, everything is inspiration. I’ve been keeping folder upon folder on my computer for the past ten years of photography, poster design, and videos that spark something in me. Any shows or movies that I fall in love with get mentally filed away. Over time, that becomes something of a “mood board” for my creative leanings. They’re often the inspiration for education, for me trying to learn how these creatives achieved that result and how I can achieve something similar. And over time they become a bit of a glimpse into my psyche. And with a large enough grouping, my own personal style and tase begins to sift out from them via what I’m capable of, what my circumstances are, and what these disparate elements become when fused together. Those things that inspire me become something of a palette to draw from. The rest is just a matter of finding a great story to tell.

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.
These days I mostly consider myself a filmmaker who does the occasional photoshoot on the side! My career for the past ten years has really been something of a creative obstacle course. I went to college for Creative Writing and self published a novel and short story collection, but I burned out on that after a year or so. That transition opened the door to taking my photography hobby much more seriously. This dovetailed into video production a few years later, and I’ve been dedicated to that ever since. So everything I know about filmmaking is self-taught. You could say I’m another graduate of The University of YouTube!

As a solo shooter, I’m the guy working the camera, arranging the lights, editing, and coloring a project. It’s a lot to learn, and even harder without any kind of mentor figure to guide me. And I really believe that process is a testament to the passion for the craft that I have. I think anyone can do it, but to know your craft so inside and out takes a dedication that only a true love for the work (and not just a desire for clicks) can produce. It takes time and a lot of sacrifice.

Though I help pay the bills with commercial gig work, my main drive is in my personal projects, which focus almost exclusively on paranormal non-fiction content. In 2017 I teamed up with a few friends to shoot what became (so far) a two season doc series called Hellier, which we released on Amazon Prime and YouTube that follows an investigation into strange creature sightings in rural Kentucky and quickly falls down a rabbit hole of UFOs, mothmen, and occult rituals. The premiere episode has racked up somewhere north of 2.5 million views.

Overall, it’s really been a journey of ups and downs. I’ve never been particularly business-minded — everything for me is about trying to let my work speak for me, which is a risky approach, and has led to a very feast-or-famine, starving artist existence throughout most of my twenties! But it’s been extremely gratifying to see my personal work take off the way it has since Hellier. I really believe that it’s testament to the results you can achieve by putting your whole heart into a project. The unscripted paranormal world has become very cookie cutter, with too many decisions being driven by business rather than creativity. With Hellier (as well as future projects moving forward), we’re creating the content that we’ve always wanted to see ourselves — something that’s cerebral and artistic, thoughtful but exciting, and challenges many of the more traditional perspectives on the supernatural. I shot the first season when I was VERY wet-behind-the-ears in terms of video work, and despite that, the reception has made it something of a cult favorite. I think that really speaks to the quality of our crew, the quality of our story, and the heart we put into it.

Though COVID and various life things have interrupted our momentum a bit, things really feel poised to finally start taking off again! We have a new feature length documentary called The Unbinding that will be releasing this summer, I’m working on two possible television projects, the third season of Hellier, and starting to think about our next documentary. We have a lot of plans and we’re excited to finally have the wheels greased up again.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Oh, man. This is a hard question! I tend to be a pretty solitary creative type so I don’t get out much, and when I do it’s pretty low key. I’m a big fan of coffeeshops, so we’d have to hit up some of my favorites. I really like Dark Heart in downtown Loveland, and I can’t drive through Fort Collins without picking up a Chai Shake or Red Eye Cat at the Alleycat. Swinging by The Social in downtown Fort Collins for an Old Fashioned is mandatory. And the hole-in-the-wall Arte Pizza in Loveland is the best East Coast style pizza I’ve had this side of Ohio.

The rest starts to get more preferential! Catching a concert or summer movie at Red Rocks is a Colorado staple, but I wouldn’t say no to a good metal band at the Gothic or the Ogden. But my background always prefers the weird, so if we needed a paranormal fix, we’d no doubt have a blast swinging down near Alomosa and do a little skywatching at the UFO Watchtower or some low-key ghost hunting at the Stanley Hotel. And since we’re up there, we’d definitely have to pop in at my dear friend Aiden Sinclair’s Underground theater for a little live magic.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
As a solo shooter in the filmmaking space, I’m absolutely dependent on those people that help me bring stories to life, and my most successful projects could not have been done without our featured leads Greg and Dana Newkirk, our sound guy and researcher Connor Randall, and our composer Anthony Cistone. Without these great people, I’d just be a guy sitting at home admiring my camera.

Website: https://www.karlpfeiffer.com

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/KarlPfeiffer

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@PlanetWeird

Other: https://www.hellier.tv