300 miles of open road, from backyard BBQ to indie-pop, from the speedway to the Blue Ridge Mountains, this short film is being released by Superhero Pictures and Abandon Films in weekly installments starting September 3rd exclusively through The Great American Road Trip Website. The feature will be split up into 5-7 minute shorts and be released “webisodically” (ie, in video podcast form) at www.thegreatamericanroadtip.net

In an effort to experience americana in it’s most raw form, our travelers hit the road. In doing so they are harkening back to a time when it was common to travel the roads and cross paths with all types of people. We live in an age of dichotomy, on one hand we live in constant connectivity and yet most Americans say they feel more isolated than ever before. This trip is the pilot for what we hope is a much bigger idea – to encourage individuals to get out and travel America, to meet people, to hear stories and try new things.

No script, no timelines, just adventure.

The Great American Road Trip features the music from a who’s who from up and comers in the Indie Music world. With such acts a Andy Zipf, Kyle Andrews, Pattern is Movement, and Lynden the weekly installments of The Great American Road Trip will be entertaining to the ears and the eyes. Also featured is The Watson Twins whose music aired in last seasons Grey’s Anatomy.

The film project although small is aiming at embracing new media technology by allowing individuals to download the weekly installments via iTunes or other podcast aggregator. As a part of the digital age the film will also be released exclusively to VIRB.com a new social networking site designed for those who think that the internet can be functional but also look beautiful.

Weekly episodes start releasing on September 3rd

Several weeks ago I hit the road with some friends for an adventure and we filmed the whole thing to see what would happen. This is a trailer for the full feature that will release over the next six weeks. As far as Hollywood is concerned, “ROAD TRIP” goes up against Transformers and Harry Potter – No big deal, right?

The feature will be split up into 5-7 minute shorts and be released “webisodically” (ie, as in video podcast form) and exclusively at Virb.com

The Cast of Characters
The Trip features some very talented friends of mine:

Tim Grahl – Often referred to as the “Rupert Murdoch” of the mountain bike world. Tim has been leading the way in how the mountain bike industry is covered as a sport and an industry. Several years ago Tim created a network of sites (The Crooked Cog Network) As a way of keeping up with the fast paced world of cycling.

Justin Snyder – As part of Abandon Films he’s the force behind how the film is shaped. Working closely with actors and copy writing, Justin really understands a story. In a very short amount of time, Justin has a few dozen short films and informational shorts under his belt.

Won Novalis – Also as part of Abandon Films, Won is a fierce editor with the uncanny knack of taking countless tapes of footage and the ability to bring a story to life. Through his composition, Won sets the stage to really capture the drama of any scene.

Check out the trailer at Virb 

I asked the gents in Abandon Films for a synopsis on who they are and what they do. So they gave me this:

Abandon Films began with movie parodies and light sabers, and has since grown into a network of skilled filmmakers with a vision to go far beyond conventional entertainment. The indi-production company was first conceptualized with a page on Blogger in the spring of 2005. Combining viral marketing and interactive media strategies to share dramatic cinema, AF is a forerunner on the battle lines of new media. But at its very core, AF’s passion is story-telling. As the name suggestions, Abandon Films’ purpose is to create movies that inspire us to seize every moment; and to tell stories that make us think and challenge us to live.

After reading this… I can’t wait for April.

The Lone Ranger had Silver and Micheal Knight had K.I.T.T. but when it came to thinking about what we would ride in there was a big debate brewing between me and the fellas.
The first thought was to get a rental car from one of the majors, like a big SUV and travel in style.  After some thinking we made the move to buying a van, like something vintage and enjoy the road.  The only trouble with a vintage van is the breakdown factor.  So we went back to the rental factor but we weren’t thinking big enough.  So we moved onto the obvious choice when traveling cross country – An RV.

I sent petitions to any and every RV rental dealer in a 250 mile radius to aid us in our quest to document Route 66.  I was able to find that info from a Go RVing.com  I had no idea how big this past years Robin Williams film vehicle (Coincidentally called RV, some are calling it the comedy of the year) would be so crucial for the RV world.  This movie was being promo’d everywhere, which is great for them. But of course I’m biased to 4 guys hitting the road like Jack Keroac, so we’ll see how the companies respond to the idea.