alumnispotlight
The Quest for the Dale: A Film Director’s Earnest Adventure
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et busy living, or get busy dying.” (Ellis Boyd “Red” Redding, The Shawshank Redemption) If you were to spend any time talking with Nick Cammilleri ’05, you’d discover that he’s done anything but sit around waiting for life to happen. Since his graduation from Bridgton nearly 20 years ago, Nick’s perseverance and determination—often in the face of adversity—have motivated him to stay busy truly living his best life. In January of this year, a four-part documentary, The Lady and The Dale, aired on HBO. The series was directed by Nick Cammilleri along with Zackary Drucker. This intriguing story traces the life of entrepreneur Elizabeth Carmichael, who rose to prominence when she released a fuel-efficient, three-wheeled vehicle called 12 bridgton academy today
the Dale, during the height of the 1970s gas crisis. As she won over major carmakers and investors, a web of mystery unfolded as well, regarding not only the car’s technology, but also Elizabeth’s surprising past. For Nick, it was a story ten years in the making, with beginnings that took root in North Bridgton. During his Academy year, Nick was introduced to the film The Shawshank Redemption in one of his classes. It instantly became one of his all-time favorites. Nick recalls purchasing a DVD player and a copy of Shawshank. “I watched it every day until I was done that year.” From that moment on, Nick knew that he wanted to pursue a filmmaking career. Although his time at Bridgton had been filled with highs and lows, Nick’s newfound desire to pursue screenwriting motivated him. He was eager to take his next steps. His
destination? California—the place where movies are born. In 2005, anxious as he was to get to Hollywood, Nick “struck a deal” with his family that he would stay in New England for a single year, ultimately deciding to matriculate at Plymouth State. As luck would have it, Plymouth partnered with Cal State during this time in a type of campus exchange program that afforded Nick a fast-track out West, with a degree in screenwriting soon to follow. Life was moving quickly for Nick: he was busy forming connections with people and gaining real-life experience that only fueled his filmmaking pursuits. Whether it was meeting directors or working on sets, Nick was hungry for opportunities that would enable him to grow and learn. The filmmaking stage was set, but Nick still needed a story. While watching a rerun of Unsolved Mysteries one day, inspiration hit. Nick was reeled in by a tale that was ready for the taking—the story of Mrs. Elizabeth Carmichael. Seeing himself as a “custodian of history,” the aspiring filmmaker knew that he could be the one to tell Mrs. Carmichael’s story to the world. Nick describes her as an “incredibly fearless woman who lived her truth, despite knowing what she would face.” He concluded that she “was the living embodiment of survival as heroism.” Nick was inspired to share this intriguing story with others before it simply vanished into history. For Nick, unraveling the tale of Carmichael and the Dale was a decade-long journey—a time filled with seemingly more downs than ups and moments when he was simply ready to call it quits. In pursuit of his story, Nick financed his work by driving 80 hours a week with Lyft. When he wasn’t driving, he spent countless hours making calls and sending correspondence to discover more about Carmichael’s life. Despite the huge amount of time and effort Nick was putting in, he just wasn’t finding the information he needed and found himself questioning if he was chasing a ghost. As he traversed the country researching, writing, and filming, the miles on his car were adding up. Many nights, he found himself crashing on someone’s sofa; other times he rested in even less desirable places—including the floor of an old tattoo parlor. Eventually, Cammilleri found himself broke and forced to move back to his parents’ home in New Hampshire. In spite of this hardship, Nick knew that he had to continue what he had started and work towards his ultimate goal of becoming a director. “I am good at spotting the story that others have overlooked,” Nick shares. “This incredible story was just sitting right there and no one had done anything with it. If I told this tale, I knew people would watch it.”
