A math major who transferred from community college to Dartmouth, creates films in his spare time and sports an impressive mountain-man beard might sound like a description of a quirky film character. However, Cooper Stimson ’13 is indeed real, and “Paddling Like the Dickens,” his latest and most ambitious film endeavor, features characters who are every bit as quirky as he is.

Stimson is an accomplished playwright and short filmmaker who has won numerous awards. He has had a film screened in the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival, and “Paddling Like The Dickens” is his first feature-length film.

Stimson found inspiration for the title “Paddling Like the Dickens” in an interview of English actor Michael Caine.

“When you write a script, there’s always a point where you have to save it for the first time, and you have to think of a title,” Stimson said. “And so I thought of an interview that I saw with Michael Caine. He said his mom used to tell him, ‘Live life like a duck; serene on the surface, even if you’re paddling like the dickens underneath.’”

The quote seemed like an apt description for his characters, who struggle with various forms of failure, Stimson said.

“It’s a romantic comedy following two young couples and why their relationships don’t work,” he said. “I like romantic comedies, but I have some problems with how the genre plays out, most of the time. I wanted to try writing one that did the character interactions realistically.”
Ben Randolph ’15, an actor in the film, said Stimson is known for his original scripts.

“Since he’s a math major, I feel like that brings something different to the table,” Randolph said. “He also designs computer programs and apps and stuff like that; he’s kind of a genius.”

Math is not as different from film as one might think, Stimson said.

“Studying math is a lot about studying connections and patterns between things, and that’s the kind of storytelling that most interests me,” he said. “The main thing for me is just to tell a good story, to come away with some insight about how people work.”

Stimson’s film grew out of his entry in the College’s annual 10-minute play festival. The play, which he wrote in six hours the night before it was due, became the first ten minutes of the film.

Randolph described the film as smart, subtle and absurd.

Diane Chen ’14, an actress in the film, called the the project as a witty anti-romantic comedy.

“He has such a crazy way of manipulating language,” Chen said. “There’s a lot of wordplay; he’s a major jokester.”

Chen said she appreciated Stimson’s new spin on the romantic comedy genre.

“The characters are nerdy, strange, quirky: not typical romcom characters,” she said.

The film’s soundtrack will be provided by various folk artists Stimson knows from his native California as well as Jeremy Whitaker ’15 and Clark Moore ’13.

The cast consists of 16 students and other crew members from the Upper Valley.

Crew member Amanda Granizo is a Norwich resident who attended film school at McGill University. Granizo and Stimson met through the organization Stories Growing Films. Granizo will be a producer and assistant director but she is not receiving payment for her work.

“It’s profoundly important to me to see it succeed because it will be a touchstone for the community and for Dartmouth students to see that they’re able to pursue a dream and find creative ways to support it,” she said.

Jacqui Calloway ’14, an actress in the film, agreed.

“I want people to see you can take on a huge project like this and make it happen,” she said. “I think people are often so focused on classes that they forget to pursue other interests, so props to Cooper for taking all this on.”

Stimson launched a campaign on April 15 to support his endeavor through Kickstarter, a popular online platform designed to fundraise creative projects. If the project does not meet its fundraising goal within the time specified on the site, the money is returned to the project’s donators. As of press time, Stimson’s film has received 19 backers and raised $790 of its $12,000 goal.

“It’s a great way to finance independent, heart and soul projects, where people otherwise wouldn’t have the means,” Camille Van Putten ’14, an actress in the film, said.

Stimson has contributed to numerous Kickstarter campaigns in the past.

“As an artist who is not good at thinking about the finances, its nice to have a platform like this where the funding is coming from the audience,” Stimson said. “It seems like a more honest way of advertising.”

If all goes according to plan, the final product will be a 110-minute film shot over nine weeks. Stinson always enjoyed writing and filmmaking, but considered the film a side project.

“As I was starting this project, I realized I’m surrounded by all these incredibly talented actors,” he said. “The theater community at Dartmouth is a resource that I’m not going to get the chance to use again.”

The Kickstarter campaign ends on May 15 and the film is projected to be screened in December.