Jason Louro says he’s wanted to be a filmmaker since he was 10 years old. In the summer of 2018, he decided it was finally time to sit down and write his own screenplay.

There was only one problem: He didn’t know how, or where, to start.

“I looked online for software to help me plan my screenplay, but nothing fit the bill,” says Louro, a third-year computer science and philosophy major at Northeastern. “So I figured I could play around and try to create the software myself, and I managed to make something I think people could really use.”

Louro created Campfire, computer software designed to help novelists, screenwriters, and game designers develop characters, outline plots, and build their own unique worlds.

Since Louro launched Campfire in October of 2018, he says he’s made more than $150,000 in revenue and amassed nearly 4,000 users.

“We have a really diverse set of users that use our tools for different reasons,” says Louro, who has hired six people to work with him. “At the end of the day it’s a planning tool that anyone can use to expand a story before they know what the medium is going to be.”

Louro says that he will soon begin a self-directed co-op to develop the next iteration of his product: Campfire Blaze. This updated version, he says, will have an improved user interface, a cloud-based subscription model, and a payment system in which users pay only for the features they need.

“It’s crazy to me that halfway through my college experience I am able to take six months off classes and work to develop this company,” says Louro. “I don’t know another school where I could do that.”

Louro says that his professors and peers at Northeastern have encouraged him to pursue side-projects and opportunities when they arise. Now his goal is to make Campfire the best software in its field.

“It’s an achievable goal to make Campfire Blaze the best writing software out there,” says Louro.

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