Every Frame
Tells a Story.

Christopher Chamberlain has been chasing stories through a camera lens for over two decades. His professional journey has taken him all over the map, logging endless miles between Washington, D.C., Minnesota, the Cleveland Clinic, and Denver. As someone who’s shared his adventures from the beginning, I can give you a first-hand account of the numerous challenges that Chris experienced while starting his business and can reflect on some of the risky, yet creative strategies that drove Top5 Productions’ success. You can see Chris’ dedication praised in many of his 5-Star reviews, but I’d like to share some insights on the origins of Top5 Productions that many people don’t know. As the Big Lebowski would say, Chris can “look back on a life of achievement, challenges met, competitors bested, obstacles overcome.”

Chris’ movie-making journey began in 1998 at Gordon High School. In his Speech class, his teacher, Jodi Larner, assigned her students a video project that would be used for a presentation on a topic of their choice. Not knowing what to film, Chris decided to show his class what it was like to work for The City of Mingus, his summer job. So, he grabbed his parents’ Compact VHS camcorder and made a comical “How To” video where he and his brother, Frank, explained all of the “thrills and spills” of road maintenance. In the video, they discussed the proper way to prune trees, while also demonstrating the proper procedures in patching pot-holes. The movie was a hit among the students and teachers at Gordon High School and Chris realized that he had a talent that was unrealized up until that moment. As a freshman at that time, I remember my teacher wheeling in a TV on a cart and showing us a VHS copy of “The Blunder Years,” the second movie that Chris made for Mrs. Larner’s class. Although it was obviously an amateur production, my classmates and I laughed at the ridiculousness and absurdity of it. On a side note…a decade later, a filmmaker saw this student movie and cast the Chamberlain brothers in his own film. While other working actors had to audition for roles, Frank and Chris were written into the script as the maintenance men from these videos. Unfortunately, trying to find a copy of that movie is as difficult as Indiana Jones’ search for the Ark of the Covenant.

Over the years, when students have shown interest in making movies but don’t know where to start, Chris encourages them to draw from their own life experiences by making movies about familiar topics. As a teacher, he readily admits to his students that they might forget his exact assignments, but hopes they will remember him and the way he led them toward their potential. That’s the exact guidance Mrs. Larner gave him.

Chris carried his passion for filmmaking into adulthood. He’s told me more than once that he would “do anything for the shot”, and I’ve seen him take risks most people wouldn’t even contemplate. I saw him perform a stunt where his maintenance-man character was electrocuted and fell 25 feet from a telephone pole onto a thin mattress. Even though he was clearly concussed, Chris wanted a second take after learning the camera angle failed to capture the true height of the fall. We wouldn’t let him do it, though. Then, there was the time that Chris was directing an infomercial for a Christian Biker Gang and wanted to capture a shot from the biker’s perspective. Although he had never ridden on a motorcycle before and was visibly scared to death, Chris climbed on the bike and filmed one-handed while hugging the driver and clinging for dear life with his other arm. I guess we didn’t use GoPros back in 2008. In hindsight, mounting a compact camera on the bike would have been way easier.

Nowadays, Chris is the videographer for one of the most renowned high school football programs in Texas, the Stephenville Yellowjackets…a position he has held since 2015. He says that it is his job to “tell the tale” of each game, win or lose. He continues to direct corporate videos and shoot weddings, earning WeddingWire’s Couples Choice Award on three occasions. He has also directed One-Act Plays for Gordon High School, having recently won the District Championship. Over the years, Chris has been hired to direct mini-documentaries about Thurber, Texas. These projects, along with an interview with a WWII veteran who gave a first-hand account of his harrowing experiences fighting in World War II, are Chris’ favorite artistic endeavors to date.

In his spare time, Chris has many hobbies. He enjoys screenwriting, having written 3 or 4 feature film-length screenplays. While looking through his book collection, I noticed some of his writings tucked into binders, which were stacked among the books on his living room shelves. I would like to see him either attempt to film or publish them one day.

He also enjoys writing songs…a talent that he developed during Covid. He picked up his guitar for the first time in over a decade and was shocked to learn that he could write and perform music. While his screenplays are unknown to the world, his music aspirations are not. In his poetry and song book, you will find a smorgasbord of would-be classic tunes such as “The Law’s On My Side,” “Racecar In The Red,” “Don’t Mow My Lawn,” “Honolulu,” and my personal favorite—“Cheese Sticks in Lometa.” I’m sure that any of these songs could be a bonus track on the Beatles’ White Album. If I had to describe the nature of his poetry, I might go as far to say it’s like “Shel Silverstein with an Edge.” Actually, I wouldn’t make that comparison but Chris wanted me to include that in his bio. When describing his voice, I’m sorry to say that Barney Fife and Alfalfa would be comparable. Chris knows this to be true and often laments the fact that it doesn’t make any sense why he can impersonate voices but can’t sing. Nevertheless, Chris continues to publicly harmonize anyway and hopes that his fictitious band, “Mr. C. and The West Mingus Three,” will one day trigger a musical revival reminiscent of a middle-age Beatlemania.

In closing, it is clear that Chris has a deep passion for capturing memorable moments. Whether he’s climbing to extreme heights, dodging sideline collisions, finding Bigfoot (yup!), or traveling across the country for just ten seconds of valuable footage, his relentless pursuit of shooting the perfect frame defines Chris’ legacy as a videographer. As a witness who has worked for Top5 Productions since its inception, I can vouch for the validity of Chris’ motto: “Anything for the shot.” I’ve seen it.

Written by Chris Alejo-Waits