NOMAD Cinematics: Potatoes save local film

PALMER — Three Palmer High grads who formed their own independent film company will release their second feature-length film with Chad Carpenter of Tundra comics. Sudsy Slim Rides Again is set to debut April 20 at the Valley Cinema in Wasilla. Crowdfunded and community driven, the heart behind the film is the hard work and brotherhood of three Palmer filmmakers eager to get their hyperlocal work out into the community and tell its stories. Logan Dillinger, Raymond Chapman, and Andrew Phillips are known collectively as Nomad Cinematics.

“I think anybody who likes Alaska will love this movie,” Dillinger said. “I think anybody who likes comedy, action, and westerns will like this movie. If you’re local from the Valley, definitely check it out because you’ll probably recognize somebody or recognize a place that we shot at or in.”

Logan Dillinger first saw Lord of the Rings when he was 10. Two years later, he met Tundra creator Chad Carpenter at the Alaska State Fair. He notes both as defining moments in the birth of his filmmaking. Dillinger went to school with Chapman, the lead actor in Sudsy, and Andrew Phillips, in IB Film class at Palmer High where they graduated in 2009 and 2010.

“I just caught the bug instantly and i have always loved filmmaking ever since,” said Chapman.

Chapman saw his older brothers make movies in middle school and later attended a film course at Academy Charter School. Phillips recalls watching Shaun of the Dead over and over again with his family, delighting in the unspoken comedy.

“It takes a lot of time and effort to be able to tell that person’s story in a unique way that’s different than what other people are doing,” said Phillips.

“It’s kind of the dream really because nothing beats Hatcher Pass to me. It’s one of the most beautiful places you can be and we got to film a movie up there.”

The three went their separate ways after high school, with Dillinger attending film school in California to learn from professionals. They made their way back to the Valley and originally released Moose: The Movie in 2015 as their first feature length collaboration with the Carpenters. They have since blossomed, finding projects to film with Bleeding Heart Brewery and even producing a ski film before their second project: Sudsy, came about in 2017. At the heart of the trio is a love for storytelling. Phillips will make the assembly edit, Dillinger will fine tune the project and previous to his lead role in Sudsy, Chapman engineered audio and graphics.

Both Moose and Sudsy are crowdfunded projects. The group could not have put the film together without countless hours of work from Valley residents and donated funds.

“There’s a lot of interesting things that are happening right here in Palmer. I would love to be involved with that. I would love to show the world that this small town has a lot to offer,” said Chapman. “There’s so many stories here that need to be told and we’re just surrounded by beauty, it’s hard not to be involved in an art form that can showcase the beauty that we’re surrounded by.”

Sudsy is described as ‘bigger, faster, stronger’ than their first feature film. The Nomad team praises the increased production value. The group has also produced documentaries with Alaska Picker owner Kelley Turney and post a vlog on the making of Sudsy to their YouTube page with more than 40 installments and three hours of content, along with Twitch streaming video game play by Chapman. Phillips says it is hard to find people who want their stories told through videos, but talks continue on a collaboration with Downtown Deli for a food show. However they come about their next project, they want to remain local and tell the stories embedded in in the Valley like silt.

“A lot of the locations that we shoot at, we chose them because they match the story, but we also wanted to highlight places in Alaska that we love,” Dillinger said. “There have been places that we have actually tweaked the story because we have a location that’s really cool… It gave it so much more production value that we couldn’t buy with money because it’s already there and it was absolutely stunning to shoot it.”

Chapman describes the tools of the trade that the group has learned to keep the film project moving through the years. They built a dolly for their scene inside Independence Mine with $25. Chapman used a sack of potatoes to hold down a C-Stand in likely the most heroic move not caught on camera. The collaboration of Valley talent including Katy Schmidt and CTHS teacher Zack Lanphier graces the film from the opening credits to the final curtain. Production Assistants came in from Anchorage to help with the project, and a local casting call resulted in loads of local talent getting their opportunity to showcase what they’ve got on the silver screen.

“There’s not really a rolodex of talented people in the Valley,” said Dillinger.

Most of the film takes place in picturesque Hatcher Pass, with a nod to the Dorothy Page Museum for the cabin shots in Old Town Wasilla. Chapman credits the group with taking the writing of the Carpenters and making it filmable.

“We want to keep doing this, but also we want to keep doing it here if we can, because this is home for me,” said Dillinger. “We don’t want to put ourselves in a box. We’re open to whatever happens, but I don’t ever want to forget where we came from because we couldn’t have done any of this without the help of where we live now.”