For Justin Wallin, a gift given evolved into a gift discovered.
“When I was 9 or 10, my parents got us a video camera,” he said. “My whole family has always been really into film, and I started writing and filming skits with my brothers and our friends right away. A lot of those guys are part of Beaver Lake Productions now.”
In an era when anyone with a cell phone can become a TikTok star, The Beaver Lake boys have taken a slower, steadier approach to their art.
“We were just doing silly, crazy videos that didn’t make sense to anyone but us, but we were putting real effort into them,” he said of the team’s more than 120 YouTube submissions. “There’s an understanding in film that you can shoot good video, but if you have bad audio, it’ll ruin the film. Even with our budget limitations and time constraints, we are putting a lot of work in pre- and post-production to get the sound, the lighting, the effects all dialed in and to make these worth watching.”
While Beaver Lake Productions puts a great deal of forethought and effort into each of their collaborations, it was a prank they pulled on Wallin’s unsuspecting mother in 2009 that gave them their first brush with viral fame.
“We took ‘Toy Story 3,’ the part where the toys are all in the incinerator facing their death, and we edited out the rest. We essentially killed the toys,” Wallin recalled. “We imposed really sad music and ran the credits, then shrink wrapped it, and gave it to our mom for Christmas. Then we filmed her watching it and posted that, and the next time I signed on it had millions of views.”
While working their regular jobs, the company continued to collaborate on short films and trailers, honing their abilities and building their brand. The Beaver Lake crew consists of a revolving cast of characters from the lives of the four main members: Justin Wallin, Eric Roloff, Nick Rainey, and Ryan Peterson.
“A couple of years ago, we made a goal to release a video every week leading up to Halloween,” said Eric Roloff, a co-creator on the Beaver Lake Productions team. “We managed to make and release five videos that were up to our standard, and we were really proud of them.”
One of these videos garnered a lot of attention for BLP, good and bad.
“The ‘Mister Vala’s’ video was originally going to be tacked onto the back of one of our other videos, ‘Wolf Bite,’” Roloff explained. “But we ultimately put so much effort into both that we felt like they each deserved their own release. I’m so glad we did that, because I think that has helped create a lot more traction for us.”
The “Mister Vala’s Pumpkin Patch” skit was a cheeky homage to the 400-acre fall attraction, a beloved annual tradition for countless families.
“There are a lot of jokes and Easter eggs baked into the final product that really underscore the fact that we attend Vala’s every fall,” Wallin said. “We love it there, and it’s such an Omaha tradition. But the response we got from the video showed us that people really got it. Not that anyone was planning to stop attending, but they felt seen and were glad that someone finally called it out.”
For the uninitiated, the video in question is a three-and-a-half-minute, high-tension parody trailer about the rising cost of the pumpkin patch. The mini-film comes complete with a sinister pumpkin-headed villain who hoards cash and subjects wayward guests to the ultimate consequence.
“We hoped the good-naturedness of it would come through, and Vala’s would laugh along with us. But they didn’t, they blocked us and made a counter video instead.”
While the joke may not have landed with the titular character, the feedback was positive from the rest of the community.
“We got a lot of job offers from that video,” Wallin added. “There were so many businesses who really liked the quality of what we did, and I started doing a lot of videos for local bands.”
Wallin is no stranger to the music scene and is a member of the local band Saltwater Sanctuary. This new opportunity brought two of the filmmaker’s passions together, and he was soon in high demand.
“One of the main bands we do a lot of work for is called Alyeska,” Wallin said. “We’ve been working with them for a long time, and they just got signed to a major record label, and they’ve got the big budget now. But they still asked for us. That was a big moment—being chosen when they could have chosen anyone.”
The team is currently collaborating in anticipation for the fall season, balancing the work that pays with the work that gets them plays.
“We argue and get annoyed with each other sometimes,” Roloff reflected, “but I think that’s just the brotherly nature we’ve built. There’s no conflict with these guys, just a bunch of creative guys who love what they do and have a great time doing it.”
To learn more and see Beaver Lake Productions’ work, visit beaverlakeproductions.com and YouTube.com/justinwwwalin.
This article originally appeared in the October 2024 issue of Omaha Magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
