Adam Manley's camera has seen the end, and it is yellow. As he explains in a recent YouTube video on his "Adam The Alien" channel, while at a Seattle meeting with fellow YouTube partners in May, his workhouse camcorder just randomly decided to begin painting the world in a sickly hue.

"Fuck yellow," growls Manley in voiceover. "It'll eat your babies."

So it came to pass in 2011 that the mantle of Tacoma's Best Filmmaker fell to an artist recently bereft of his very tool of expression. But don't fret - Manley's dad has chipped in his High-Def handycam until Son can afford his own.

Not many forces on Earth can stop this 26-year-old from doing what he loves. The story above says two things about Manley: he takes on minor catastrophes with a warped, yet strangely irresistible sense of humor, and he simply cannot go too long without a camera in his hand.

This man comes to us from Clackamas, Ore., and though only a T-town resident since 2007, he has already made his mark on the community. Manley performs frequently with two local improv groups, the Tokens and Small Change, and nearly every Friday for the past four years has tirelessly filmed the Frost Park Chalk Off. No small feat, since by now that amounts to hundreds of hours of footage.

Manley credits the experience for plugging him into the neighborhood art network. "Most of my connections in Tacoma, whether video or art, or even Spaceworks have come out of (the Chalk Off)," he says. Currently Manley is working with the Tacoma Arts Commission to produce videos promoting Spaceworks, a citywide program.

If you know Manley then you probably have met his alternate public persona, Adam The Alien. What started as an innocent AOL username way back in the fifth grade has stuck, and grown steadily into Manley's calling card, his trademark and - dare I sound too commercial for this independent artist - his brand.

Though one may purchase a plethora of products like emblazoned T-shirts and posters through Manley's web portal, adamthealien.com, money doesn't much matter to this filmmaker. Inside a modest house that sits in St. Joseph Hospital's looming shadow I meet his girlfriend, Shannon, who doubles as his business manager. "One of my biggest problems with finances is that I've been undercharging people (for my video services)," Manley admits. 

"I just want to do the work," he adds, then laughs, "but I seem to have trouble with the survival side of it."

The work ahead doesn't faze Manley, which is a good thing as he has plenty to keep him busy. He's come a long way since his first upload in 2006; YouTube made him a partner a few months ago, and his list of subscribers has swelled to more than 1,500. You'll usually find him like so: talking to the camera in a squeaky voice, fedora perched on his crown, the occasional alter ego and/or puppet stopping by to chat. He continues to draw in new fans with an engaging presence and a wit as rapid-fire as his editing.

Manley's successes, both at home and online, return us to that basic truth: Technical wizardry alone doesn't produce a good filmmaker, but a story told right does.

And a working camera never hurt.