PICTURE CAR COORDINATOR

When asked to write about picture cars in film it opened my Pandora box. As a young child my mother said at the age of two I was able to name the make, model, and year of any vehicle traveling down the road. I remember those September Sundays debuting the new television season, with Chevrolet unveiling their new models.

I spent the first twenty years of my life trying to convince myself that the automobile was not a way to make a living. My passion for wheels continually steered me back. I have found that the knowledge and passion has helped me to work alongside many production designers. With all of the technological changes throughout the years I find the information I have retained about automobiles is invaluable to protecting the authenticity of the production. Tires, wiper blades, bumpers, and seat belts are a few items that create the era we are trying to represent. I find myself constantly critiquing shows to make sure the wiper blades are correct for the period.

It is interesting to see how the people viewing the shows respond and hold us responsible to make sure the car is period correct. In this day and age of social media, any and all mistakes on camera are brought up and discussed. On the production of “Mad Men” there were sites dedicated to the look of the vehicles and all mistakes were posted online. I have become obsessed to make sure our productions are as authentic and period correct as budget allows.

The setting of the town, economic status and type of town determine the look. Very rarely can the look be set by back round extras. Most of the vehicles owned are anything but period correct which can destroy the look. I argue fervently to steer clear of this path and work hand in hand with the production designer to win the budget battle.

This is just a small look into the picture car world. I could write for hours of the experiences, builds, and people I have worked with. I have been asked if I had goals and dreams in my youth. After much thought I replied, “I have landed the dream job I didn’t even know existed".