Lilling is finishing a documentary about legendary Georgetown nightclub the Bayou, which he hopes to air on Maryland Public Television next year. Lilling has owned Silver Spring production company Metro Teleproductions since 1989. This is his first documentary. How did the Bayou project get started?

Back in ’98, [C-SPAN Producer and co-producer of the documentary] Bill Scanlan said, “Hey, the Bayou’s closing down.” We got permission to do a documentary and started shooting almost immediately. We didn’t realize what a rich history the club had. It started as a Dixieland club in the ’50s and had, in the early ’60s, the first vestiges of rock and roll. The Bayou heyday was probably the ’70s and ’80s. It drew to its conclusion in the ’90s, so the Bayou had a 45-year run as a club, which is unusual.