As a young girl in Prague, Ester Brym would listen in awe as her father talked about Route 66, and how it stretched across the United States from Chicago to Los Angeles. Ester had her mind set on becoming a film director, and also dreamed of one day hitting Route 66 herself. At thirty-three, she has achieved both. Her film Autumn of Route 66, is set for release in early 2012. Alan Dean caught up with Ester at her Los Angeles home. 

Ester -- with her Route 66 memories

Alan
How did you get Autumn of Route 66 on the road? What was the catalyst?
Ester
It’s a long story, but I’ll give you the short version. The director’s cut. I came to the US, New York to be exact, to push my career in filmmaking and was fortunate to pick up work as an editor in independent cinema. Then I decided to switch coasts and went to Los Angeles, where I directed my first feature film, Butterflies. It was while I was working on Butterflies, that I started planting the seeds for a Route 66 movie.
Alan
I take it that Butterflies wasn’t a nature film. What was it about?
Ester
It’s about ‘weblebrities’. A documentary that follows the lives of six young people who are prominent on YouTube. These guys are the new communicators. It was fascinating talking to them about their approach to making films. The whole social media bit. The success of Butterflies made me all the more fired up to tackle Route 66. Eventually, producer Tom Duty and me just hit the road. The rest happened. Tom, by the way, is also Czech.
Alan
You mentioned the success of Butterflies, which I know won an award, so was getting finance for Autumn of Route 66 a little easier? Do you want to tell us what the film has cost to put together?
Ester
I do indie movies so getting finances is always an uphill battle. However, I learned with Butterflies that if you do things right, the dollar can go a long way. So we got a Volkswagen Passat that doesn't eat up so much gasoline, and we got a camera that doesn't cost that much money, and we just went ahead and did it. The big advantage of documentaries is that you don't have to hire actors, so you can shoot almost anything for under $100,000 – there are no Spielberg-type production millions involved; no big-name actors. We are talking real people, real time.

Ester sets the scene

Alan
So how big was the crew? And did any of them have any prior interest in Route 66?
Ester
The crew started small and grew – and it keeps growing as we get further into finishing the film. But I'm used to working with less than ten people -- if you don't count the talent and the music artists. It was mostly me who introduced the Route 66 idea to the group -- but then again that's how it usually is with our subjects. Things then evolve.
Alan
Route 66 is not the road it used to be. It was replaced by the Interstate Highway System back in 1985. So how much of the original road did you drive in making Route 66 have you actually driven in making Autumn of Route 66?
Ester
We drove the full route, even though there are lots of alternative roads, some fairly rough these days that are just all impossible to follow in one trip. It’s a shame to see how some small towns were pushed into near obscurity by the highways of the mid-Eighties. We kicked off in Chicago drove through the rest of Illinois, then continued to Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California, ending up back here in LA. We covered a total of more than 3,900 kilometres, but it sounds a little less when you talk in miles.

Editing -- the hardest part

Alan
That’s a lot of road tripping. How much of the footage you shot made it into the film?
Ester
We ended up using about fifteen to twenty percent of our footage. Editing has not been the easiest task. There was so much good stuff, digital anecdotes: so much scenery, some of it kind of weird, good weird; and so many wonderful people along the way.
Alan
What thoughts passed through your mind as you travelled through long stretches of the American landscape?
Ester
Every stretch is really different, so all the thoughts in my mind kept changing. Sometimes it was just so incredibly beautiful, that we only admired and said very little. Sometimes it was really sad: places falling apart – luckily some are getting dollars to safeguard the heritage. But it was always more interesting than anything I have done in my life before. Driving Route 66 is a real experience. It was once Main Street USA: it’s still the Mother Road. Someone will tell you to show your pictures or your videos, but the way to understand Route 66 and all it stands for is doing it. In Autumn of Route 66, we are not trying to document every single landmark we came across. We are just trying to convey the message: you have to experience Route 66. And everyone's experience will be different -- that’s the way it should be.

Every stretch is different

Alan
Route 66 travels through what is often referred to as America’s Heartland. What does America’s Heartland mean to you? Where is it?
Ester
For me the whole of Route 66 says America’s Heartland. It's the disparate cultures of all the different states, the different people, foods, lifestyles and the truly incredible history. I think Route 66 epitomises what America used to be about -- and I really want to believe that that's what America will always be. It was how my father saw it, and I’m no different.
Alan
Which American state, in your opinion, best reflects the spirit of Route 66, and why?
Ester
That's a really tough question. I don't think there is one state better than another. And I’m not trying to be diplomatic. Each state is so completely different: it’s like comparing apples and oranges. I really loved Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Arizona. The Kansas stretch is really short but also super fun. I guess California was the least interesting to me, but that's only because I live here, so I already knew all the places and there were not many surprises – though there would be lots of fresh experiences in Calfornia for people who don’t know the West Coast.
Alan
You mentioned people being different from state to state. Who were the most memorable local characters you met on your travels along Route 66?

Ester with Gary at Gay Parita

Ester
Unfortunately, we did not meet as many locals as we would have wanted to, just because we were often little bit pressed for time. But there are some people I will never forget. I enjoyed talking to Gary Turner at the Gay Parita Sinclair filling station and meeting Lowell Davis of Red Oak II. And then there was Rich Henry at Henry's Rabbit Ranch. These were my absolute favourites.

Rich Henry's rabbit ranch

Alan
What makes them stick out in your mind?
Ester
Gary rebuilt the old Sinclair filling station at Gay Parita. It’s in Missouri. Don’t you love the name? It sounds like a setting for Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. Can’t believe I just said that.  It’s not a true replica of the original, but its facade shouts 1930s. Gary doesn't sell anything --no gas, no sundries, no tourist kitsch. He just spends his days chewing the fat with road trippers from around the world, telling Route 66 yarns. A true ambassador. A real gentleman.
Alan
And Red Oak II? What’s the story there?

The filling station at Red Oak II

Ester
It’s also in Missouri. Another of Route 66’s many wonderful time warps. There’s a blacksmith shop, where Lowell's great-grandfather once shoed horses, the feed and seed store, an old Phillip's 66 gas station and a general store which was run by Lowell's father. Lowell’s an artist, a sculptor and one of Route 66’s great philosophers. And then there’s Rich Henry’s Rabbit Ranch in Staunton, Illinois – a vintage gas station and visitors’ centre overrun by rabbits It’s something else: surreal even.

El Rancho -- once a Hollywood favourite

Alan
If you had to choose one hotel or motel as the quintessential Route 66 property, which would it be?
Ester
Another hard question. But I think my favourite place to stay was El Rancho, a fabulous hotel in Gallup, New Mexico. It’s a little different to the typical motels you imagine along Route 66. They are very proud of the VIP guests that stayed there years ago: people like Humphrey Bogart, John Wayne, Errol Flynn and Gregory Peck: it’s like a Hollywood roll call. And presidents as well. Eisenhower and Reagan. A close second has to be the Blue Swallow in Tucumcari, also in New Mexico – it takes you back to the early days of motel life in the 1940s. Lots of neon. Bakelite phones. Tucumcari was a location for Sergio Leone's For a Few Dollars More back in the Sixties with Clint Eastwood and Lee Van Cleef. And if you have a passion for old automobiles, the Route 66 Auto Yard, just east the town, has a great collection: Edsel, Metro, Nash, Studebaker, they are all there.
Alan
How did you find the food along Route 66?
Ester
Mega-cholesterol, mostly. Retro diners dishing up dare-you hamburgers and lots of hot-dog stands. There was a great BBQ place on the border between Missouri and Kansas, but I can’t recall the name. And I really enjoyed the Luca Grill in Normal, Illinois, which served an amazing homemade soup, best I’ve ever tasted: and a true Italian mamma’s lasagne. Luca’s has been around since the mid-1930s: imagine its old mahogany bar and ornamented tin ceiling. The place has been written up in papers like The New York Times and Washington Postover the years: the yellowed clippings are framed on the wall. Normal and Bloomington are very close together, and the area was once the home of a migratory Native American tribe called the Kickapoos. Another wonderful name. I was told it translates as ‘stands here, stands there’. Or ‘wanderer’. So I guess the Kickapoos were real Route 66 kind of people.

The Luca Grill in Normal, Illinois

Alan
Did you come across many overseas visitors while travelling on Route 66?
Ester
Not many. Mostly because we drove it in late fall, or autumn, and most visitors hit Route 66 in the summer. I love autumn, always have: I think everything is so much more beautiful; strong colours. We wanted to show people something they probably haven’t experienced – that’s the secret of Autumn of Route 66.
Alan
Is Route 66 a nostalgia trip for old timers, or does it have a lot going for it when it comes to young travellers? Who is Autumn of Route 66 aimed at?
Ester
The road is for everyone, young and not so young. I guess that Route 66 is not so much for travellers who prefer luxury, a very healthy diet and who have a diminished sense of adventure. I suppose you could say the film is mainly aimed at bringing the Route 66 closer to young viewers, but we believe it will be interesting for anyone who has an urge to drive Route 66, and there are lots of them around.
Alan
Are there any books that you would recommend for someone wanting to set out on a Route 66 adventure?
Ester
There are so many great Route 66 books out there. I don't claim to know all of them, so I wouldn't want to overlook an author. However, I was recently given Ghost Towns of Route 66, which I am so in love with. And the new edition of Route 66 Lost & Found is also my fav.
Alan
Scenery, getting close to nature, meeting up with native Americans: these are the three things most overseas visitors put on their ‘wish list’ for Route 66. Would they be disappointed? Or is it all there waiting to be discovered still?
Ester
No, they wouldn't be disappointed. It’s all there and so much more. They could expect to fulfill their wish list, but they still won't understand, until they drive Route 66, what a big presence all three have. Just remember that Route 66 kind of hibernates in the autumn and winter. Lots of places are closed. Even though I would only drive it in autumn, tourists would probably get most out of it in the summer season.
Alan
Thanks, Ester, we all look forward to the film’s release. Meanwhile, let’s take a look at the trailer of Autumn of Route 66