Michael Imperioli, Natalie Merchant, and Director Ebs Burnough on Novelist Jack Kerouac's Impact at Premiere of New Documentary on the Trailblazing 1950s Figure

LifeMinute.tv

Director Ebs Burnough's insightful documentary, Kerouac's Road: The Beat of a Nation examines how Jack Kerouac's iconic novel 'On the Road' continues to resonate in contemporary America, interweaving stories of modern-day travelers with insights from those influenced by or connected to the legendary author. The film retraces Kerouac's restless journey across America while exploring how his emphasis on experience over material success, as well as authentic connection over digital convenience, speaks powerfully to our screen-saturated era. We spoke with actor/writer Michael Imperioli and singer-songwriter Natalie Merchant, who both are featured in the documentary at its Tribeca Festival debut at the SVA Theater in New York City last night. Keep tuned in to LifeMinute.TV for daily coverage of the fest running from June 4-15.

Transcript

00:00This is Michael Imperioli, you're watching Life Minute TV.

00:12My manager, she asked if I was a fan of Jack Curry.

00:15I said, very much, for many, many, many years, which is really true.

00:19He's someone who has really made a big impact on my life, to be honest,

00:23you know, from the time I was about 18 years old.

00:25In his work, there's a lot of compassion,

00:27there's a lot of openness and understanding.

00:30The opportunity to read his words, you know,

00:32for a movie and voiceover was very appealing.

00:36I wrote a song about Jack Kerouac in 1987.

00:40Many people who were influenced by Jack's work were asked to be part of the film.

00:44I think what appealed to me was that there was this core group of artists,

00:49and that's kind of a fantasy.

00:50Artists tend to work very independently,

00:52and this idea that you could be part of this,

00:55to be on the inside of a really hip group of people

00:58that all share some of the same ways of looking at the world.

01:04Gosh, my producer, John Badsek, came to me and said,

01:07what do you think of Jack Kerouac?

01:09And I said, I didn't really bond with the book on the road,

01:13but I think there's something still interesting to be done

01:16about how do you reclaim the road for all the people who,

01:1965 years ago, couldn't go on it.

01:22And so that was really, from my standpoint,

01:24what I was, what I've been trying to do with the film.

01:27.

Category

Transcript

Recommended