SIMI VALLEY, Calif. – Many gather dinosaur toys and collectibles growing up, but few turn their passion into a feature length film.

James Pinto is a high school senior and his love of dinosaurs started at a young age.

“A lot of people have called me the kid who never grew out of it,” said James Pinto.

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It’s not just a hobby. It has changed the course of his life. His parents decided to start homeschooling him in high school so he could teach himself more about dinosaurs.

“I was even somewhat of a skeptic, not that they don’t exist, but just like why spend time studying them,” said his father, Tony Pinto.

Tony Pinto owns a small production company. With his video know-how and James Pinto’s dinosaur knowledge they decided to make a movie.

At first it was going to be something short, then thousands of people started following their journey on Instagram. When they put it out there that they would like to make a longer film the pair raised more than $20,000.

“It’s really sort of surprising honestly,” said James Pinto.

The duo crisscrossed America conducting interviews. They have been on faraway fossil digs. With this funding they are planning a few international shoots.

They want to release the movie this year before James Pinto graduates.

“He’s going to go away to college in six, nine months and so this was kind of my last hurrah,” said James Pinto.