Classic Trucks in the movies and starring in television Commercials!
Owners of old trucks would never deny permission for somebody to take a picture of their vehicle. Do you want to take a picture of my truck? Go ahead. Next time don’t even ask!
Let’s suppose somebody came up to you and asked for permission to take a picture of your classic truck to publish in a entrepot or a website. Would you refuse? Of course not. You’re chesty of your truck and you want the whole world to see it.
But there are people who don’t want to have their classic trucks photographed or filmed. They spend a lot of time fixing their trucks, they go to automobile shows to show off what they have and yet they refuse to have their trucks filmed or photographed. It doesn’t make sense and it’s not very smart either. Maybe they don’t need the money…
Now let’s suppose you had a chance of having your truck filmed for a television commercial or, superior yet, for a movie! How great would that be? Let’s also suppose that some television producer decided to create a new series based on the 1940’s, 1950’s or 1960’s. Wouldn’t he(she) need a lot of automobiles from those eras? And if the series became a hit the automobiles would be used again and again.
Yeah. It it doable and it’s not even too hard. You just have to promote your automobile in the right places. There are companies out there looking for automobiles exactly like yours. Many companies in fact. They look for classic trucks for understanding and they purchase them. They look for classic automobiles of all types and they pay rent to the automobile owners in order to film the cars. There are companies that go after owners of classic cars, old trucks and hot rods in order to list these automobiles in massive databases. Advertising agencies place ads in the papers when they need an old automobile or pickup truck for a television commercial. Keep your eyes open because your huge chance might come from that direction.
If you have a good set of photos of your tiny jewel you’re one step closer to fame and fortune. Well, might be not fortune but fame is possible…
A motion picture production company might need classic trucks just like yours. They might need your truck to spend, say, three days in Hollywood and a week on location in New York. They would make the arrangements to have the automobile transported to both places and might even be willing to pay for your expenses to go along. You would see how a motion picture is prefabricated and you could even end up meeting a couple of famous motion picture stars just because you own an antique truck.
The producer of a motion picture or a television commercial might be looking for a beautifully restored old car, one that looks like it came out of the showroom a couple of days ago. But directors want their films to look real. Therefore they might need a regular classic vehicle, one that shows it’s been used. And they might even need a real wreck, a rust bucket so to speak. Your chances are real, no matter what condition your truck is in. Don’t be ashamed of it. Go ahead and try.
And how does this thing work? First you have to find an agent, a company that has the contacts and knows where to go with your truck pictures. Get listed on their databases and be patient. You might get a call the following morning but it could also take a couple of years.
Here are a few recommendations of sites you can visit to learn more about this:
MovieVehicles.com
OldCarLocator.com
Cornwell & Sheridan Motor Cars
TVParty.com
Classic-Chassis.com
If you’re really committed to the intent of having your automobile on a motion picture or a television commercial you might do what actors do. Have a professional photographer take a series of shots of the automobile and send them to advertising agencies or talent agencies. Or have a nice video produced, send it to talent agencies and upload it to YouTube, Google Video, Yahoo Video and so on. Even wedding planners might be interested in your old truck or classic car. Promote it well and one day you’ll get your huge break.
And here’s another very important thing to keep in mind: don’t hide your prized possession in your garage. Take it to shows, go to swap meets and take your chances at show prizes. You might win a easy trophy and you might also get some prize money. But you’ll have to make sure your truck is in show condition before you do that. Nobody will grant you enter your classic automobile or old truck in a automobile show if the automobile or truck is not worth showing. Movies and television commercials might look for regular old trucks or classic cars, but automobile shows don’t. Automobile shows want the cream of the crop, so to speak.
All of this is true all over the world. Movies are prefabricated everywhere these days and so are television commercials. Classic automobile and old truck shows are common in nearly each country and you can take advantage of that to make money with your truck or classic car.
Money? With old trucks and classic cars? Yep. It’s doable mainly because nobody is making trucks like yours anymore.
Joseph Ceschin is a journalist with over 30 years of experience in the automotive field as well as on Radio and Television. He publishes the website www.we-love-old-trucks.com and also owns a nicely restored 1954 Chevy truck.
