Here’s my e-mail question-and-answer session with Lauren Cardillo, director of “The Mother Road” documentary that airs on PBS-TV stations this month. In the film, Cardillo and her mother, Irene, take a full-length trip down Route 66 together. I contacted Lauren shortly after I watched an advanced copy of the film.
Here are the questions and her answers in their entirety, with minor edits:
Q: I noticed the footage on Route 66 was shot several years ago. Is there a reason for the long period between the production shoot and the broadcast?
A: Independent films always take a while to finish, and personal independent films take even longer. Since we shot the film, I worked in a great job at National Geographic, gave birth two daughters, did many great projects, and started a successful production company, Running Down Dreams Productions. But “The Mother Road” was always there in the back of my mind, simmering away. We would go through a new cut every few years, and it would cook a bit more until now — when it’s finally done.
Q: Was filming that documentary with your mother easier or more difficult than anticipated?
A: Doing anything with your mother is always harder than you imagine. It means telling HER what to do, and she has to listen! It is liberating in a certain way, but frightening in another! She tolerated me at best. However, she took direction brilliantly.
The only scary moment was at the start of the road when the two of us really hadn’t talked through the trip. It was always just a “cross country” adventure with a few friends. Once we gathered the vehicles, crew and camera in Grant Park (in Chicago), we realized this wasn’t just an adventure anymore.
Q: In that time you had to stop your trip because your mother wasn’t feeling well, did you fear it was something potentially serious?
A: I didn’t fear it was potentially serious because my mother is a total trooper. It did put a crimp in our schedule, though. I think her dislike of Mexican food and some very long days finally got to her. A day’s rest, and she was ready to rock ‘n’ roll again.
Q: How’s your mother doing these days?
A: My mom and dad are both doing great. In fact, we’re going on a family vacation to Alaska in August. No cameras allowed.
Q: Did Route 66 hold any surprises for you and/or your mother?
A: Route 66 always holds surprises for travelers. I have been down it a few times, and there is always something new around the corner. Turn off your PDA, slow down, and just soak it in. Take your time, and stop wherever you want.
There is so much cool stuff out there, and every trip has that moment that is not in some tour book, like meeting cowboy Cotton Mouser on the road in Oklahoma, cooking with Marian Clark, or talking about the lack of rabbits around the area with the folks at the Jackrabbit Trading Post, or even the neon lights that beckoned us into towns everywhere.
Q: What’s your favorite memory of that trip?
A: My favorite memory? I have a book full of them. The quirky attractions — the Blue Whale, the Oatman burros, and the Cadillac Ranch. The stunning scenery in each state, and the people. Without the people, the road wouldn’t be the same. It could be the families along the route who work and live together on the road, like the folks at the Red Cedar Inn in Missouri, the Wallises in Oklahoma, and Angel Delgadillo‘s clan in Arizona. I don’t know if I could ever do that. However, they were wonderful.
(To find a PBS station in your area that’s airing “The Mother Road,” go to the station finder here. You can also find listings at the TV Guide Web site.)
Just finished watching this on my local PBS station. I didn’t realize how old the video was at first. When I saw the Blue Whale in disrepair (which I saw in great shape in 2003), I was startled. Then when I saw how young Michael Wallis looked, then the Lillian Redmond interview… I knew something was up. (The low cost of gas on passing signs was a clue too.)
Not a bad show, thought Mom was neat, thought Lauren a little snotty, and was a little dismayed that it portrayed some Route 66 icons in their more shabby former selves.
However, it was the Mother Road, and that’s always a good thing.
Oh, and I date the video from somewhere pre-2000 (despite it’s 2006 copyright), based on what and who’s in it. (Maybe 1997/1998, since that’s about the time Lillian sold the Blue Swallow.
Seems strange it took Lauren almost 8 years to get this produced.
Neat seeing Stanley Marsh 3 being himself though!