For the screenplay of "Dhampus", Rick took a research trip to Kathmandu in 2011. He found a country that was both absolutely foreign and yet strangely similar to his home state of Utah. Once the script was finished, casting and filming began in 2012. Highway to Dhampus was the first independent feature film shot entirely in Nepal by a foreign director and crew. It is also a deeply personal film for Rick, drawing much from his own experiences and transposing them into a Nepali setting.