American Road
A film by Peter Shapiro with music by Phish
We're proud to present the webcast premiere of Peter Shapiro's American
Road. Many of our readers know Pete as the owner of Wetlands Preserve
and co-creator of the Jammys but he also maintains a thriving career as
a filmmaker. Most recently, he produced the IMAX film All Access. His
other credits include And Miles To Go: On Tour With the Grateful Dead,
1993 and "Conversation with Ken Kesey," which is appended to the film
Tie-Dyed. He is currently working, among other things, on a documentary
that will capture Chick Corea's December residency at Manhattan's Blue
Note as well as an ambitious, expanded version of American Road. Pete's
thoughts on American Road appear below.
In order to watch American Road you'll need
RealPlayer. You can download it for free by clicking
here
The film lasts 7 minutes and for maximum impact, we recommended you
view it on a high speed connection. Thanks to DCN
for working with us to present American Road.
Click here to watch.
Notes on American Road by Peter Shapiro
A couple of days after I graduated from Northwestern University in
Chicago, I drove home to New York City. The drive from Chicago to
New York is only about 12 hours so I pretty much made it home in a
day. The night I got back to New York, I visited a friend and ended up
listening to Phish's live album, A Live One. When "You Enjoy Myself"
came on, I started seeing images in my head from the road trip I had
just completed. For me, the first instrumental part of YEM reeked of
imagery. I called a cinematographer friend of mine the next morning
and pitched him on an idea for a film: "Let's drive through every state
in America (at least the 48 continental states), and set the images we
capture on film to the first seven minutes of YEM." I was starting my
first job six weeks later, so we only had a month to shoot the film.
My friend dug the concept, and 10 days later we began our cross-country
trip outside Nectar's in Burlington, Vermont.
Over the month that we shot the film, the two of us drove just under
14,000 miles. We made it to each of the 48 continental United States. I
almost fell asleep at the wheel a couple of times. We almost got arrested
a couple of times. Sometimes we slept on a bed, sometimes in our rented
van. And, everyday in between sunrise and sunset, we were in a mad dash to
film the places that we were driving through, as well as the people that
we were meeting. The idea behind American Road was pretty simple. Just
capture on film (super 16mm film stock) what someone would see if
they drove across America, visiting places that in some way reflected
a specific region of the country. From Martin Luther King's church in
Alabama, to the license plate on the Further bus at Ken Kesey's Oregon
farm, to Seattle's Pike Fish Market, to Harry Caray outside Wrigley Field,
to former President Clinton at a labor rally, to kids getting stoned on
the steps of 710 Ashbury, our intent with American Road was to capture
America off-guard, and set the images to really good music.
American Road premiered at the 1997 Sundance Film Festival. Thanks to
Phish for providing the soundtrack, and to everyone who helped us out
along the way. A great road trip is unlike anything else. It's always
moving. The scenery around you is always changing. Hopefully, after seeing
American Road you'll want to get in a car, turn on the stereo, and drive.
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