A picture car is any vehicle that will appear on film. The picture car
coordinator locates, arranges for, and supplies camera and picture cars,
which can be classic cars, vintage cars, period correct cars, special interest
cars, stunt cars, or any other requested vehicle.
Special Skills
Excellent driving ability and quick reflexes are a necessity.
Advice for Someone Seeking This Job
If you have a collection of cars that you want to rent to movies, photo-
graph them, and send a copy of the prints with a letter of introduction to
companies that provide picture cars. If you want to be a camera car oper-
ator, contact companies who already provide vehicles and apply to work
for them. Working for an existing company will afford you the opportu-
nity to see how the industry works and to make contacts, before ventur-
ing out on your own.
Professional Profile: Gary Duncan,
Picture Car Coordinator/Camera Car Operator
"I never really chose this profession; I fell into it," says Georgia native
Gary Duncan. The owner of an automotive body shop, Duncan repaired
wrecked cars and provided special fabrication work on race cars. "In the
mid-70s, Georgia was becoming a hot spot for location filming. [For
Smokey and the Bandit], I was approached to paint and repair the stock
cars they damaged during the day of filming. I rebuilt them overnight so
they could be used again the next day.
"They had that gold and
black TransAm. There were
five of them. One was the
beauty car, the car that you
saw Burt Reynolds and Sally
Field in for their close-ups. It
looked spotless and immacu-
late. The rest of them were
stunt cars and they had
various degrees of roll cages
on them, just like a race car . . .
Instead of having 50 cars, you
have five that have various
types of rigging for the stunts,
What do you like
least about your job?
"All jobs have things you
don't like about them."
--Gary Duncan
What do you love most
about your job?
Duncan enjoys "the travel and meeting
interesting people."
VOICES OF
EXPERIENCE
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