From the opening moments of "Slide America: A Nationwide Documentary on Drifting in North America," it's clear the film's makers are interested in creating something other than a copycat piece of J-spec auto culture. The intro, and indeed the entire movie, plays more like a skateboarding video than something branded by Option or Best Motoring, with its strategic use of slow motion and adrenaline-inducing heavy metal montage. Even to the casual drift observer, there is no mistaking the movie's origins; they're the same ones that produced "The DC Video" and all those nutty "Crusty Demons of Dirt" flicks.

But then that was the plan: giving folk a bigger helping of action sport, instead of conventional motorsport. Or so says Joey Redmond, one of the film's three architects.

We would say Redmond is something of a newcomer to the drifting scene, but then everything that has to do with drifting in North America is relatively new. Following US competitions as a sport compact journo in 2005, he became enamored with the Japanese autosport export and began to promote it through events and the website livedrift.com. Interestingly, though, the idea for the film seemed to come from a simple desire to road trip rather than provide the sport with a medium for proving a point.

If the premise – driving in a small van across the country to 19 cities in 30 days to film people doing insane stuff – sounds familiar, it's probably because many a surf/skate/snowboard/BMX/in-line/motocross film were born from the same lunacy. And like flicks that showcase extreme sports, "Slide America" possesses all the elements from the formula: the right edgy "underground" visuals mated with the appropriately rebellious punk rock, hip-hop auditory stimuli. Even pro drift icon Vaughn Gittin, Jr., who is interviewed in the film, makes a case that drifting is more like snowboarding or motocross than traditional motorsport, and by that logic the movie does a commendable job at being a corresponding media extension.

The true test for the movie is composition, though, or how those elements are assembled and presented, and Redmond and co-conspirators Andy Sapp and Jason Small deliver a compelling narrative that accurately captures a moment in the sport's stateside history. Through shop profiles, local scene outreach, and a comprehensive series of interviews that includes the likes of Gittin, Enjuku Racing's Bill Sherman, and voice of Formula D Jarod DeAnda, "Slide America" provides a snapshot of drifting's current health, which appears to be strong, as well as pays homage to the early organizations that got organized sliding off the ground in the US. The most tape, however, is devoted to the grassroots-level oversteerers and the next generation of drivers trying to make a name for themselves in a sport that has yet to completely ingrain itself in American auto culture.

While the movie excels at being an honest piece of counterculture art, what's more impressive is the wide-eyed enthusiasm producers have succeeded in capturing. In an exceedingly short timeframe (the earliest West Coast events started in '03), a committed base of hardcore fans, many on display in "Slide America", managed to grow drifting in a very organic fashion to what we see in the movie, and to what exists today. It isn't a glamorous life, by any stretch, but for most of the people you see on screen, they wouldn't have it any other way. The scene's evolution isn't blazing any new trails in terms of the growth of a motorsport, but theirs is an infectious passion that leaves viewers wanting to get behind the wheel as soon as the closing credits start rolling.

In a rare pleasure, we had the opportunity to pose a few questions to Redmond and learn more about "Slide America." What follows is a transcript of our exchange.

Conversation with Joey Redmond Creator, "Slide America"

UrbanRacer: Why do a drift documentary?
Joey Redmond (joking): I don't think many people in the sport compact industry would have watched a documentary about stalking Lindsey Lohan, but then again I might be surprised.

Andy Sapp has been driving for quite a few years and I met him back in 2005 at Road Atlanta shooting photography for the now defunct "Import Racer Magazine". 2006 came around and he wasn't running Formula D and we really wanted to go on a road trip.

URC: After the idea, what happened next to get the ball rolling?
JR: One really early morning somehow or another "Hoax II: Anarchy Across America" got put into the VCR. There was a VCR where we were, but how and why was beyond me. The next day I plotted out a tour and we kinda rolled with it, spent the next month working out logistics and found some funding and hit the road about two months after the idea came about.

URC: And the rest is history, on the road for 30 days...
JR: We spent 30 days living on the road in a minivan. It was pretty much the most awesome experience ever except when we were in that van. It ran out of gas in Nebraska, got pee'd on several times. I made everyone car sick with my awesome car maneuvering tactics. We spilled an unknown amount of Rockstar all over the car, which left a horrible stain. I ate at more 7-Elevens than I thought existed in the United States. We filmed that whole thing in a month window, with the exception of one chapter (Laughlin, NV), which was filmed later in the year.

URC: What kinds of production hardships did you encounter?
JR: Outside of being busted on federal property, nothing too crazy happened. I know in Los Angeles we had everything taken, our cameras and tapes from the first half of the country. After laying my hands on the hood of this cop car for about an hour I surely thought they were going to confiscate something, but they were slacking City of Industry sheriffs and we got let go.

We had some logistical nightmares which you wouldn't believe if I told you. One night I had to pick up a car in Washington, DC, load all of our equipment in it and drive to Chicago. [Then I had to] drop it off at my friend Jim's house, go to the airport, fly to Atlanta and pick up Jason and another rental car. [After that I] drive back to Chicago and then drop Jason off at the airport so he could get back for a wedding and meet us like five days later in Houston, Texas.

That was all accomplished in like 72 hours, and somehow in between all that I went to a bar in Chicago with some friends and got suckered into being the designated driver. Well, on the way home things got out of hand and a certain female friend of mine ripped the keys out of the ignition while I was doing about 50mph down a road in the city. Then things calmed down and we finally get to my friend's apartment and the police show up.

Oh, the things we should have had on film.

URC: Were there any difficulties in tapping into the local scenes and hooking up with native talent?
JR: We were pretty lucky. Andy knew a ton of guys from traveling around to events and we came across a ton of people who helped out and made sure we got footage in the short time we hit up each city.

URC: Were there any scenes or regions of the country where it's clear they are the future of drifting?
JR: We found a ton of really dope and dedicated drivers about everywhere, which I think is a great sign for the sport. I don't think by making our film I have earned the title to declare someone or some area the future of drifting. I would like to think I am the future of drifting, but then I realize keyboard drifting doesn't count for much and the late night menacing in downtown on rainy nights in my G35 won't exactly get me winning the Pro Am soon.

The guys that stay dedicated and focused will come out on top, but that is really just the case for anything you do.

URC: How about police run-ins beyond what you showed viewers in the movie? Johnny Law cart anyone off to jail?
JR: We nailed all of the cop scenes in the film pretty well. I will admit that our rental car was used to chase a girl riding a bicycle through a couple of people's lawns in one city, but luckily the law never caught up to us on that one. The girl was a friend of ours and she was … let's just say, under the weather.

I was amazed when cops were running our plates that they didn't freak out [because] our van was a rental and had like 250-plus stickers on it. In fact, Warren Shim-Quee gave us an UrbanRacer sticker, I know we rocked on the minivan! So go UR!

URC: As a filmmaker, who and/or what are your biggest influences?
JR: I am always watching really bad ‘40's and ‘50's films and I don't know if I will namedrop because I don't want to embarrass myself. As for current influence, I would say McG; he has done everything from an Offspring music video ("Pretty Fly for a White Guy"), Cypress Hill music videos, "Fastlane" and "The OC". As for Andy, I think he still watches [Powell Peralta's classic] "Bones Brigade" videos on the regular.

URC: "Slide America" has a definite skate video feel to it – why was that approach taken? Did you have any desire to emulate what the Japanese have done with drifting vids (like Option's)?
JR: I don't think we want to emulate what the Japanese are doing. They have their own thing and you have to love it. I don't think we want American drifting defined by someone else's methods and culture, however. I think our American approach to the sport and film came about through skateboarding because it's so blended into youth culture today. The skate videos of yesterday are awesome and you can just watch them over and over again – how is that not a perfect model for your own film?

Look into our sport, you can find skate influence about everywhere. Andy Hatley just this weekend was skating all around the course and his title sponsor is Retaks, which is Skater spelled backwards. Rhys Millen is even sponsored by DVS Shoes, which is a skateboarding shoe company.

URC: As this is a flick that documents American drifting, what do you say to critics who think a drift doc can't be complete without tracing the sport's roots back to Japan? Was that even a goal?
JR: I think many West Coast guys made it clear they learned how to drift in Japan. The movie really was focused on American drifting and how these guys came about. It is kind of like stating the obvious that drifting started in Japan; I don't think you can find many people in the sport who aren't aware of that. Hip-hop started in New York city in the 1970's, but I don't hear people reminding me every time I turn on the radio.

URC: What message, if any, did you hope to express with the film?
JR: We really just wanted to show something that represented the American drift scene that you cannot find on ESPN2 or Speed TV, just taking a hard look at the dudes who are the future of drifting in America. We are still in a stage with the sport that you really have to be doing it for the love of the game, so to speak, and we wanted to capture that before we all go corporate and sell our souls to companies like Target and Home Depot.

URC: Do you drift? In which car?
JR: I do not, but our sugar daddy, editor and graphics master Andy drifts a BMW 3 series with "Slide America" down the doors! You cannot miss it at an event, I promise.

For more information on "Slide America: A Nationwide Documentary on Drifting in North America," please visit www.slideamerica.com.