- Nicknames
- Gabe
- Babe
- Gabe the Babe
- Height5′ 5″ (1.65 m)
- Gabriel Campisi is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker who shot his first movies on Super-8mm and 16mm as a teen, the more elaborate ones going on to win national competitions. Proficient in creating practical and optical special effects at a time when computer-generated imagery was not yet available, he was recognized early on by national film festivals and magazines for his stop-motion animation and split-beam cinematic techniques.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, California, he spent many years working in the high-stakes world of motion picture finance, subsequently writing the bestselling The Independent Filmmaker's Guide to Writing a Business Plan for Investors (McFarland Publishers), presently in its second edition. His book contains interviews with independent as well as high-profile filmmakers, including Oscar-winner Gerald R. Molen (producer of such notable hits as Jurassic Park, Minority Report, Twister, Hook and Schindler's List). His newest book, The Independent Filmmaker's Guide to the New Hollywood - Success in the Era of Netflix and Streaming Video (McFarland Publishers), also contains interviews with industry executives and veteran filmmakers, including Val Hill (Blade Runner 2049, 12 Strong), Larry Kasanoff (Terminator series, True Lies, Mortal Kombat series), and Pen Densham (Harriet, The Last Full Measure).
Campisi studied with UCLA's screenwriting professor Richard Walter, and has written for industry publications and genre magazines, including Hollywood Reporter, Variety, and Fangoria Magazine. He is a member of the Producers Guild of America (P.G.A.).
- IMDb mini biography by: Allen Gentry
- Gender / Gender identityMale
- Race / EthnicityHispanic / Latino / Latina / Latine
- Nationality / Religious or Ethnic identityItalian, Mexican
- Was on the board of directors of a billion-dollar hedge fund that specialized in international film financing, until it dissolved in 2012 due to effects from the housing market collapse of 2008.
- Worked as uncredited crowd-control production-assistant in Rocky IV and Over the Top with Sylvester Stallone. In Rocky IV, when Iven Drago (Dolph Lungren) says, "If he dies, he dies," of Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), you can clearly see a very young 16-year old Gabriel Campisi sticking his head over Lungren's shoulder. "They were doing pickup shots, and most of the audience extras had left after a very long day," says Campisi. "They called some of us production assistants to fill in the gap behind Dolph. At 5' 5", I had to literally stand on my tip-toes to peek over his shoulders."
- Attended UNLV where he wrote for the campus newspaper (then called "The Yellin' Rebel") for three years. Two of those years he was editor of the Opinion/Editorial Section. It was his job to get people thinking and sending in "Letters to the Editor," so he purposefully wrote controversial editorials. His strategy worked. Not only did the Letters to the Editor spike, he also received over a dozen death threats during his tenure.
- Appears on the cover of the book Making Movies On Your Own, written by Kevin J. Lindenmuth.
- Won his first filmmaking award from Chicago's Photographic Society of America - Motion Picture Division - Teenage Film Festival at the age of 15.
- Breaking all the rules!
- You have to be willing to give it your all and sacrifice to make your dreams come true.
- My tombstone would someday read I died keeled over at my computer writing a screenplay or a business plan.
- Get back up, shake the dust off and keep going. Keep going, because Hollywood is set up to make you fail.
- Several years ago, as I was transitioning from film finance to film production and writing again, someone asked me how long I would try to get back into filmmaking before I gave up? My response was "giving up" was not an option.
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