Allisyn Snyder and Dylan Snyder Capture the Journey Behind CAT MAN

When Allisyn Snyder and Dylan Snyder set out with their longtime friend Joey Luthman on his cross-country OneWheel journey, their first priority was not making a movie. It was getting their friend safely across the country. The cameras came along because the adventure sounded almost too unbelievable not to capture.

“When the trip was coming up and we were telling people about Joey’s plan, they had so many questions,” Dylan says. “We knew we needed to document it or no one would believe us.”

What began as documenting an extraordinary road trip ultimately became CAT MAN: Journey to Save Cat Kind, a documentary following Luthman’s cross-country adventure while raising awareness and funds for feline chronic kidney disease and cancer research through EveryCat Health Foundation.

For Allisyn and Dylan, who have known Luthman for years, the filmmaking process was inseparable from their friendship. Joey served as Best Man at their wedding, and all three share the unusual experience of having grown up as child actors. That familiarity helped strip away some of the self-consciousness that can come with putting a camera in front of someone.

“All three of us grew up as child actors and tend to put on exaggerated personalities when performing in public or being interviewed on camera, but I think being so close broke down those walls,” Allisyn says. “It made it feel more like we were recording the adventure for ourselves so that we could look back and remember it, not worrying in the moment about how it would present to audiences.”

That informal approach became an important part of capturing the trip. The filmmakers brought several cameras and often shot from two angles, but their days were dictated by the realities of getting Luthman safely to his destination.

“Our role as the support vehicle kept us busy,” Dylan says. “We didn’t wake up feeling like we were shooting a documentary, we were focused on getting Joey across the country safely.”

That meant scouting roads, looking for smoother routes and finding stretches with larger shoulders where Luthman could ride more safely. When the cameras came out, they captured whatever was happening without worrying about how the footage might eventually fit together.

The journey itself presented a constantly changing set of challenges. Rain could bring a day to an early end, forcing Luthman to start earlier the following morning to regain lost time. Despite the variables, Dylan says Luthman completed the riding portion of the trip in exactly 45 days, as planned.

“It constantly felt like we were battling new challenges, but looking back, it went surprisingly well and according to plan,” Dylan says.

Along the way, the filmmakers were also helping spread the message behind the journey. At gas stations and motels, conversations frequently turned toward cats.

“At every gas station and motel we stopped at along the way, we turned the conversation towards cats and handed out cards with the QR code to donate,” Allisyn says.

One stop in St. Louis would ultimately help define the documentary. Luthman had intentionally scheduled a lighter riding day so the group could visit The Cheshire Grin Cat Cafe. There, they met with Virginia Rud of EveryCat Health Foundation and filmed an interview about her career as a veterinarian and the foundation’s process for selecting research grants.

For Allisyn, the conversation changed the way she understood the story they were documenting. “The information she shared about her career as a vet and how the foundation selects grants really opened my eyes to the underfunded world of feline health research,” she says. “I walked away from that day knowing we had the meat and potatoes of our documentary, everything else would be gravy.”

The film itself came together almost as quickly as the journey had unfolded. While traveling through Indianapolis, the group met KJ McGlinn, who told them about the PopCon Film Festival taking place in May 2026. The submission deadline was approaching quickly. After returning home from their 57-day road trip on Thanksgiving, Allisyn began editing through the holidays.

Rather than letting months pass before revisiting the footage, she began while the experience was still fresh. “I have friends who have documentaries that are sitting on hard drives, taking them years to edit,” Allisyn says. “Sitting down with it right away while the trip was still fresh in my mind was a game changer.”

With little time to review everything they had captured, she started by cutting down the interviews and then searched for footage she remembered that supported what was being said.The Snyders also have a collaborative editing process. Allisyn generally takes the first pass before Dylan comes in with fresh eyes to refine the assembly. That second perspective sometimes means making difficult choices.

One section of the original edit focused on the roadkill the group encountered while traveling from state to state. The experience was particularly difficult for Luthman because his slower speed and position near the shoulder made those encounters difficult to avoid. Dylan ultimately removed the entire sequence.

“When I showed Allisyn she agreed with my decision,” he says. “Having multiple perspectives and a clear mission statement to raise awareness for feline chronic kidney disease helped us stay on track.”

Music became another important storytelling tool. The film’s score was created by Allisyn’s father, Steve Arm, and helped connect the documentary’s emotional, educational and adventurous sides.

“His tracks brought heart to the tender parts, kept the energy up in the dense informative parts, and matched the excitement of the adventurous parts,” Allisyn says.

For Allisyn and Dylan, CAT MAN ultimately became more than a record of an unusual cross-country adventure. It became a way to bring viewers into a cause that the three friends spent thousands of miles talking about, promoting and supporting.

Allisyn hopes the documentary encourages audiences to take the next step after watching.“I hope people watch the film and are inspired to donate, or to volunteer for EveryCat Health Foundation,” she says. “The work they’re doing is improving the lives of cats, and they need grant money and more boots on the ground to spread the word.”

Allisyn Snyder can be found on Instagram and X at @AlwaysAllisyn. Dylan Snyder can be found on Instagram and X at @DylanRSnyder.