Today we’d like to introduce you to Landon Castro.
Hi Landon, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
When I was growing up, I had always been, in some capacity, surrounded by something creative; be it art, music, film, etc. As I got older, I would try to be involved with more creative things and by the time I was in highschool I gave theatre acting for our school’s production of Rumors a chance; while it was the only chance it was still a memorable and wonderful time.
After highschool, I became interested in 3D animation after seeing Wreck-It Ralph ,and attempted my first run at college for a 3D animation program. Unfortunately, there were some issues with my financial aide and I had to drop out, but through that experience I learned that absolutely wanted to be involved in the entertainment industry.
Nearly 10 years later in 2021, during the Covid 19 pandemic, my wife (then fiancée) had encouraged me to start a long time interest of content creation and live streaming on Twitch; during that time I became a partnered Ubisoft Creator for titles like Rainbow Six Siege, the Assassin’s Creed franchise, The Division Franchise, and more. Having Grown up as a gamer since I was a small kid, this was and still is a dream come true! From playing Super mario 64, to Halo Combat Evolved, all the way to now playing Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, its so cool to say that I get paid to play not just any games, but my favorite games.
Following that encouragement and advice though, I quickly realized that this was a space I really enjoyed and met so many incredible people along the way. Doing this for a few years there was just one thing that kept coming back though, I really wanted to learn filmmaking so after another session of encouragement, my now wife suggested I make the push for that too in late 2024/early 2025.
Since then, I’ve learned so much from the local filmmaking community, had the opportunity to work on incredible projects, and find what I believe to be my favorite job I’ve ever had! Naturally though, I couldn’t JUST only start on the path to my dream job, but I also ended up enrolling in a BS program for Marketing at the same time, of which I’m going slow but strong on!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
There have been plenty of struggles along the way, be it financial trouble, complete failures, or just moments of doubt and uncertainty. Losing my financial aide at the school I had spent years thinking about attending really hurt, and when I first made the jump to full time filmmaking, I almost immediately was hit with a mountain of unexpected expenses and unsure how to pay my bills and everything else.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am a content creator that streams and covers a variety of games across various platforms both modern and retro. When I’m live streaming, I love interacting with my incredibly supportive community! I know everyone says this, but I truly mean it when I say that I couldn’t do this without them. We’ve laughed, we’ve cried, and learned so much about the games we all love as well as finding new games for each other!
When I create content on games, I typically do video essay style pieces that cover the history of the game, the story, mechanics, mutiplayer, and really anything else that I can find on it that is interesting or something that most people may not know. Currently I’m working on a video that is about Toys to Life Games and how they have shaped video games over the last 20 years.
Outside of content creation, I work many different roles in the film/tv industry. Most of the time I work as a Grip or a Production Assistant, but on occasion I act as well. I also am always learning what my friends and colleagues do, so I can be ready to help however I can on a project when the time comes. I really love the indie film scene here in Jacksonville too, because everyone is so willing to help, teach, and uplift each other!
So maybe we end on discussing what matters most to you and why?
As I’ve gotten older, the answer to this question has changed quite a bit, but I feel that right now in my life what matters most is being happy. Be it spending time with my wife, going on an adventure near or far, or working on an incredibly hard but rewarding project, I feel that its incredibly important that I’m happy doing it.
Money, fame, and material items come and go, but the time we have is very short so why not spend as much of it as you can feeling good about it!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thechipmunkpunk.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/landon_castro/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/landoncastro/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@thechipmunkpunk
- Other: https://www.twitch.tv/thechipmunkpunk
