HISTORY
1992 - Present
VACATION VIDEO
1992
The original story idea for Welcome to Alaska came about when the family went on a road trip up the Alaska Highway. The story followed Roger Johnson as he drove to Alaska to get a picture of himself next to the Welcome sign at the border. Along the way he is helped and hindered by characters played by family and friends.
FILM SCHOOL PROJECTS
1995-1996
While in Film School at Minneapolis Community and Technical Collage (MCTC), Rodney made several film projects on super 8mm and 16mm film that were connected to the Welcome to Alaska story idea. The most ambitious was a 16mm short film exploring the back story of Lloyd Kennedy called Photographic Evidence.
WELCOME TO ALASKA 16MM TRAILER
1992
Just after film school Rodney and Roger made a 16mm film trailer as a test run for a feature length version of Welcome to Alaska.
WELCOME TO ALASKA 16MM FEATURE
1997
Having gained confidence on a 16mm trailer we jumped into a very ambitious feature length version of Welcome to Alaska. Filmed in Minnesota and Colorado, which stood in for Alaska. Two versions of the finished movie were made an 81 min film and one that was slightly less than feature length running 51 min long.
2020
With a lot more experience, better technology, and more filmmaking resources we have begun the process of re-imagining Welcome to Alaska. In addition to rewriting the script we also shot a short digital practice film following Lloyd Kennedy as he hunts for the Sasquatch. Filmed in Alaska and Minnesota in June of 2020 this short film gave us a chance to try out new gear and to explore what a more ambitious telling of Welcome to Alaska could be like.