Jeff Krulik & John Heyn
Filmmakers Jeff Krulik and John Heyn join Mark Snyder to discuss their documentary work, particularly their 1986 film focusing on heavy metal parking lots. They share insights into the origins of their collaboration and the challenges of independent filmmaking before the widespread availability of video.
Jeff Krulik & John Heyn
creators of “Parking Lot”
on Trio Network Sundays at 9pm
www.triotv.com
www.planetkrulik.com
About Jeff Krulik & John Heyn
Jeff Krulik and John Heyn are documentary filmmakers who co-directed the cult classic Heavy Metal Parking Lot in 1986, a sixteen-minute film capturing fans in the Capital Centre parking lot before a Judas Priest concert. Their collaboration expanded into a series of parking lot documentaries including Neil Diamond Parking Lot and Ernest Borgnine on the Bus, as well as the Trio cable series Parking Lot. Krulik graduated from the University of Maryland in 1983. Their grassroots work predated the independent film movement and spread through tape trading before gaining wider recognition.
In this interview
- Recalls starting as fledgling documentary filmmakers in 1986 seeking unusual subject matter
- Explains video was in its infancy with no film outlets for independent work
- Describes how their work spread through grassroots tape trading before wider distribution
- Discusses tailgating culture and entertainment happening in parking lots before events
“We made something that would be considered an independent film now but back when we started there were no film outlets.”— Jeff Krulik & John Heyn, in this interview
Since this interview
Heavy Metal Parking Lot continued to gain recognition, with Rolling Stone naming it one of the forty greatest rock documentaries in 2014. The filmmakers released Heavy Metal Picnic in 2010, documenting a 1985 field party. As of 2026, forty years after the original filming, Krulik and Heyn continue to discuss their influential work.
