After completing short films as a student at Saint Catherine's High School for class projects, Collum received his first paid film job as the writer/director of the horror sequel Mark of the Devil 666: The Moralist (1995) for Moore Video.
He went on to make two additional films, 5 Dark Souls (1996) and 5 Dark Souls, Part II: Roots of Evil (1998) for Moore, and also worked as a writer, producer, and director of commercials (some of which he acted in as well) for TCITelevision/Warner Cable.
Collum moved to West Hollywood in 1998, where he met actress Brinke Stevens, who introduced him to J.R. Bookwalter and David DeCoteau. He worked on a series of films for both directors and continued to direct and write other indie films.
His short film, Julia Wept (2000),became a popular cult success, leading to big-screen showings at numerous film festivals.
