2 years ago (2007) I teamed up with a film Company (Abandon Films) and a good friend (Tim Grahl) to put together a pilot of a greater experiment. The idea was to travel Route 66 from Chicago to Santa Monica, but that didn’t work. Too costly, too inexperienced and maybe just too much. We called that project The Great American Road Trip.

Last month NBC launched their show Great American Road Trip, a reality show that pits families against others with the idea of fame and fortune will be in their future should they win. The show is complete with road trip tension and tough talk from Dad like, “Don’t make me come back there!” and “we’re not lost!”.

Please don’t think I’m sad at all that NBC would make such a show, there’s no sour grapes here! I was thrilled with the extra traffic that was generated as a result. So much so that we re-released all of the episodes. I learned so much through that project, interestingly enough most of it was what NOT to do. I’m so thankful to have that experience, I got to know the guys at Abandon Films a lot better and Tim Grahl, has been, and still remains one of my best friends. (I think he’s the best part of the series but don’t tell him, it’ll be our secret)

If you haven’t already seen the web series that was out before it was cool to have a web series, check out www.thegreatamericanroadtrip.net