Like Atlantis, El Dorado and Waukesha’s own Haunchyville, Shangri-La is a mythical place seemingly too wondrous to be real but too tantalizing to be left alone as fiction. While many have searched and hypothesized its existence, its worldly perfection has remained somewhere between reality and fantasy over the ages.

Now, with their Internet comedy series "Shangri-L.A.," Milwaukee-grown filmmakers Drew Rosas and Nick Sommer ("Billy Club," "Pester") are the latest to go in search of the worldly utopia. Well, kind of, as the project’s search for dreams takes them to the very real city of Los Angeles.

"It’s this myth of a utopia, and we’re trying to put that same sort of idea to Los Angeles as a city, as this place where people have come for centuries to follow dreams – whether it’s the gold rush, oil, immigration from Mexico to find a better life, people coming to Hollywood to make it as a star," Rosas explained. "It’s a city that has a long history of offering up these ideas of dreams, where at the same time they may just be a myth. It may just all be a part of the myth of Los Angeles."

That’s the guiding force behind "Shangri-L.A.," which, over the course of 11 planned seven-minute episodes, follows a collection of quirky wanderers, desperate actors, wannabe singers and more (including Beth – AKA Jew-C-Pop – and a tarot therapist played by Milwaukee film icon Mark Borchardt) trying to find their dreams in the hyper-competitive climate of the city of angels. Many of the characters are inspired by the creators’ own experiences out in Los Angeles, none more so than the one at the center of the series: Nick, played fittingly enough by Nick Sommer himself and inspired by his philosophies of living, happiness and freedom. 

"What’s always appealed to me is the idea of nothing in your future and complete freedom," Sommer explained. "There’s no job to go back to. I’ve always kind of lived my life that way; I work in production, which essentially is job-to-job basis, and anytime you’re not on a job, you’re completely free. That’s the feeling I’ve always kind of strived for."

"It’s really about a guy who decides to fall off the grid in L.A. and find a different way to live on the streets, not necessarily in the homeless realm – he actually builds his own house – but more of a survivalist living off the streets of L.A. and looking for a different sort of paradise in freedom," Rosas added.

Freedom is something Rosas, Sommer and "Shangri-L.A." as a whole has been seeking out throughout its production process. As with their previous productions, much of "Shangri-L.A." was shot guerilla-style, snagging shots around the very production-conscious Los Angeles area without permits and even sneaking through a gate to secretly build the small shack for Nick’s character (one with a tremendous downtown view).

More freedom – for themselves as well as their viewers – is also part of the reason why the duo decided to go away from making a feature and go for an Internet series. While a feature length films requires more of an imposing one-time investment from the viewer, Sommer said, a seven-minute episode delivered weekly has an easier chance of quickly hooking what might be an on-the-fence audience member. The investment from producers and distributors is even more costly for Rosas and Sommer’s intentions.

"The realm of the film distribution all revolves around the dollar," Sommer said. "The investors need money; your distributors need money. We’re independent filmmakers. We’re not looking for money; all we’re trying to do is make something creative that people have access to."

"We’ve been making stuff on our own terms through every phase of the process and then, for like ‘Billy Club,’ you suddenly you have to go to film markets and sign a sales agent – and they’re taking a big cut – and they find a distributor, who has their gimmick to make money," Rosas added. "By the time you get to the release, it’s two years after you finished it, and then all your friends have to buy it to even see it."

To help finish "Shangri-L.A." the way they imagine it and at the right price for their audience – that price being $0 – the guys have turned to Kickstarter. As the guys explain in their video, the project still needs money to pay for a filming trip here in Milwaukee, a soundstage, logistical needs like food and gas for cast and crew and the editing process – not to mention some funds to give the series some backing and some reach in the crowded Internet entertainment market. The Kickstarter’s goal is set at $12,000; as of writing, it’s currently raised $9,849 with five days remaining in the campaign to earn the final chunk of funding.

With a little more help, the duo's "Shangri-L.A." dreams can become a reality – with 11 episodes of comedy as everyone's reward.