Kickstarter

In a country where car is king, roadside attractions are a cultural phenomenon. Have you ever wondered about Evel Knievel’s failed attempt to jump the Snake River Canyon? Or been curious about the location of the first artificial insemination of a turkey? Our radio and film documentary stories will fill you in on some of the inane trivia dotting the landscape along rural highways in Idaho and Oregon.

For example, we’ll ask why America is seemingly obsessed with superlatives. Elk River, Idaho is home to the “Largest Known Tree in North America, east of the Cascade Sierra Crest,” which stands a whopping 202 feet shorter than the nation’s tallest tree. In this project, we’ll explore the history, the hyperbole, and the fascination with roadside attractions, and we’ll speculate about the future of the industry.

Travelling by car from Jackson to Portland, OR, we will stop at 6 pre-planned locations as well as several spontaneous spots. We will create the final narratives by augmenting the back stories of each site with the insight of locals, vendors, and visitors.

Christie is the Program Coordinator at Jackson Hole Community Radio as well as a freelance documentary filmmaker, with aspirations of progressing in this field. Becky is a conservationist with experience with radio production and also aspires to a career in storytelling. We both have a passion for exploring fringe subcultures and creating compelling content. We think that this will be an awesome project with two distinct products; a radio segment and a short documentary film.

We hope you’ll join us on what is sure to be a fascinating exploration of an American subculture.

Special Thanks to the Center of Wonder in Jackson, Wyoming for their generous support!