Live Free’s seeds were planted in 2013 when Mike Barkhoff and Conner Paulsen made a short film for their seventh grade technology class. The short film, Timeline, was written by Barkhoff years prior and was described as “Back To The Future” meets “Ben Affleck’s The Town”.

In 2014, Barkhoff continued short film efforts and also divulged into a handful of web series. During this timeframe, combined with Paulsen’s moving away for some time, Barkhoff began to collaborate almost extensively with Jarrod Van Hauen.

In 2016, the duo – longtime best friends beforehand – made the production banner Barking Vans, under which numerous short films and web series were released. Barkhoff’s first feature film was also release under this banner. In the spring of 2018, Barkhoff decided to add skillsets to his resume using the banner and began signing musicians who he helped distribute music for.

In 2019, Barkhoff and Van Hauen decided to make Barking Vans a production banner and create a distribution platform. This was so Van Hauen’s name was distanced from projects and artists he had no connection to, as he was hesitant on working with musicians but allowed Barkhoff consent to try the idea. Barkhoff’s idea for the name was inspired by the Mac Miller song of the same name, and he had the idea to make a distribution platform that allowed artists almost complete creative control (only stepping in for small business matters or to clear up content that may be overly divisive).