If you get a chance this Thursday check out a new documentary that we worked on called Dirty Driving. The film is produced and directed by Jon Alpert and takes place in the midwestern former industrial boom town of Anderson, Indiana.
Auto racing is an obsession in Anderson, Indiana. Even with local auto factories closing down and jobs being lost, the town's residents continue to flock to the local speedway every Friday night--and its drivers continue to pour their dwindling resources into their Thundercars. Since the closing of a GM plant and the loss of 33,000 jobs, the once-thriving town of Anderson now stands witness to empty factories, shuttered stores and abandoned homes--but also to packed houses at Anderson Speedway where people put their troubles on hold to watch the cacophony of screeching tires and crashing metal as drivers vie for Thundercar supremacy.
With the few manufacturing factories that are left in the US moving overseas, and with the auto industry in a deep crisis this film could not be more relevant. Jon Alpert does a great job of telling the tough story of the people most effected by this crisis, like our friend in car #26 Sammy Hawkkins, while taking the viewer on the wild ride that is Thundercar racing.
http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/dirtydriving/index.html?ntrack_para1=insidehbo4_image
