The Accomplishments of a Hollywood Director: A Conversation with Gary Ross

Gary Ross is a renowned film director, producer, and screenwriter who has been active in the entertainment industry for over three decades. His accomplishments are numerous, and he has proven himself to be one of the most talented and versatile directors working today. In this article, we will delve into his experiences, mentors, and approach to filmmaking.

Ross's journey to becoming a successful film director began at a young age. He started making short films in high school, which eventually led him to attend Sarah Lawrence College where he studied English literature. After college, Ross began working as an assistant to several notable directors, including his idol, Steven Spielberg. This experience not only helped him develop his filmmaking skills but also gave him invaluable insights into the industry.

One of Ross's earliest successes was directing "Spencler" (1993), a short film that caught the attention of Hollywood executives. This led to his first feature film project, "Pleasantville" (1998), which received critical acclaim and commercial success. The film's unique blend of humor, drama, and fantasy resonated with audiences worldwide.

Ross's subsequent films have been equally impressive. He directed "The Human Stain" (2003), an adaptation of Philip Roth's novel, and "Seabiscuit" (2003), a biographical sports drama starring Tobey Maguire. Both films received critical acclaim and earned Ross several award nominations. His next film, "Pleasantville", was released in 2009.

Ross has been open about his passion for filmmaking and the importance of finding a subject that truly resonates with him. He believes that great storytelling is essential to creating a compelling film. "It's always a story," Ross explained. "Whether it's black, white, or whatever, if the characters are compelling and it's human, that's what makes it fascinating." This approach has served him well throughout his career.

One of the most significant challenges Ross faced was adapting Philip Roth's novel "The Human Stain" for the screen. He worked closely with the author to ensure that the film stayed true to the original story while also making it accessible to a wider audience. The result was a critically acclaimed film that earned several award nominations.

Ross has been fortunate to have had the opportunity to work on projects that have allowed him to explore his passion for storytelling. His latest film, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" (2013), is another example of his unique approach to filmmaking. The film tells the story of a man who escapes his mundane life through daydreams and features an all-star cast, including Ben Stiller and Kristen Wiig.

Ross's experiences as a filmmaker have been shaped by his mentors and colleagues in the industry. He has had the opportunity to work with some of the most talented people in Hollywood, including Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, and Francis Ford Coppola. While he didn't have traditional mentors, Ross has learned from his experiences and the lessons he's taken from working with other directors.

Ross's love for cars is another aspect of his personality that shines through in his work. He is an avid car enthusiast and has a deep appreciation for vehicles that are both functional and beautiful. His latest film, "Urban Assault Vehicle" (2015), features a real 10,000-pound vehicle that Ross has brought to life on screen.

The film's production was not without its challenges. The vehicle required significant modifications to be used in the movie, including upgrades to the brakes. However, Ross and his team were determined to make it work. "We didn't need to upgrade the brakes because we're actually underweight," Ross explained. "We're about 4,000 pounds under the weight rating." This allowed the vehicle to perform comfortably even with the added weight of the film's equipment.

Ross's passion for filmmaking and his commitment to using real vehicles in his films have earned him a reputation as one of the most innovative and talented directors working today. His latest film, "Urban Assault Vehicle" (2015), is just one example of his unique approach to storytelling and his love for cars.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthis is great for driving your kid off at soccer practice if your kids on the prison team you pull up in this nobody's going to mess with you welcome to another episode of Jay Len's garage next to me here see2 specialty Vehicles which are actually built by the US Specialty Vehicle company this one is featured in the new fast8 movie The opens uh well this week we'll meet F Gary gray the director of the film uh this is another one of the vehicles this is not in the movie but we're going to drive this a little bit later let's meet the man in charge of these uh Ernie Salazar Ernie come in you're the uh sales director client relation guy all that kind of stuff yeah that's cool so how did you hook up with the fast8 guys to get this vehicle in the film well you know they saw the vehicle at the LA Auto Show here locally and uh next thing you know they approached us about the vehicle if we could let them use it for the movie and two days later it was on the road very cool now us specialty Vehicles a lot of people might not know that uh company you're a licensed manufacturer here in Southern California that's correct and you take production vehicles and modify them correct that's right okay yeah we give them a whole new look okay now this one is based on the Jeep okay and uh well they're both rhinos aren't they yeah we have the Rhino GX which is our Flagship Car and then we have the Rhino XT which this is a prototype that was used in the movie and production of the vehicle is actually just started okay now uh I imagine powertrain drivetrain completely stock or you modify that as well yeah they're completely stock um this one here is four-wheel drive 67 L right uh Ford Superduty F450 right and we changed the suspension on it and put a hydraulic instead of the leaf spring on this vehicle here it's a stock four-door Jeep chassis underneath here with a stock motor V6 and we supercharge it just to give a little more power cuz we're putting the bigger Toyota tires on it and you guys do quite a few of these correct yeah these are not one-offs I mean I don't think most people are familiar with your company but you've done a few hundred Vehicles already yeah we've done close to 300 of these vehicles here behind you okay uh this one here we're getting ramped up to do uh 150 or so this year okay and these are 100% street legal it's not one of those you're not waiting for certification no no okay so totally straight legal does do you buy the complete vehicle from Ford and modify or you just buy the cab in the chassis how does that work we buy the regular cab in chassis right so it's just a two-door regular cab with a bench seat a chassis with dually wheels on the back okay that's what we get from Ford we cut the back wall out the roof and we put the steel body completely together in our facility okay if somebody had one of these stock Vehicles they wanted could they bring their car to you to modify only goes through the manufacturer no they could bring us the vehicle if they have that exact spec vehicle because all our panels are made for that uh chassis okay now what is this is this steel is it carbon what do we steel It's All Steel okay it's all steel body from the doors back the fender flares are composite right uh but yeah it's all steel body I mean the steps in the door is just a look thing but it they actually function it'll hold up to about 300 50 lb okay this vehicle is tough as it looks it does everything that you think it would do right but still you can drive it on the road and be very comfortable in it now those Wheels uh don't look like any Wheels I've seen are those aftermarket you make them yourselves yeah those are aftermarket wheels we those are custom made just for us okay uh it's a one piece forged uh wheel we actually had to make the forgings then have the wheels made and then because it was a dual e chassis we had the wheels machined and finished on both sides okay so you can actually rotate the tires on this thing I got you so you have full cooperation with Ford right absolutely okay so that's I think that's important to people because these are not inexpensive what's this about a quar million bucks something this about $249 retail 249 so a little little L right just right under $49.95 so not quite A4 million dollar okay well it's and what is it weigh about 10,000 lb this is actually sits right now at about 9600 lb 5 tons that's unbelievable I mean how tall is it it's about 7' 2 in tall okay and it's about 8T wide okay well it's it's it's hilarious it's just a it's it's almost I mean people might mistake it for a Hummer or one of those Vehicles had you know when I was younger the Lamborghini lm2 that seemed huge it seemed enormous right but I realized that's not much bigger than this one no it's not okay it's not and lamorghini did a great job with that car too bad they didn't continue it but uh yeah this is you know we wanted to have that military off-road look Beast of a vehicle right but at the same time we really wanted it to be comfortable and practical on the inside now are these popular overseas as well or you just sell them in the states actually overseas is where it started for us yeah uh in China especially and the uh Saudi Arabia Dubai area but China being our biggest Market really oh yeah it's very popular over there they love americanmade vehicles and they love luxury so you build them here you send them to China absolutely we send about uh yeah about eight Vehicles a month to China wow okay very cool well I it's we're going to drive this one a little bit later absolutely all right very good very good all right well let's bring in uh F Gary Gray he's the director of that new Fast eight movie and uh I can't imagine a logistical nightmare of doing a film FM like that where is he Gary Come On In hey good to see you my friend good to see you again now Gary has done some amazing films The Italian Job And across the hugely critically claim straight out of compon that that is that the biggest movie to date just about um yeah just in terms of uh yeah size scope uh response you know Compton Italian job now let me ask you about the fast a movies cuz that's probably the most popular franchise since what the James Bond films star absolutely of course in Star Wars sure sure okay so you come along and they give you this job it's this job right is it just mind B I mean I can't imagine the logistics I know just getting a few cars here to do our stupid little TV show people are late trucks break down when you're dealing with hundreds of cars in right different continents and it's insane it's it's it's in some ways a logistical nightmare but it's all worth it yeah yeah we are created a lot of cars we destroyed a lot of cars literally hundreds of cars don't say destroy no but listen some of them were shells of cars no but you know it's just for entertainment but we uh had a lot of fun with cars obviously I mean what is there any point doing this film you set your oh man I'm over my head is crazy this is like nutty you know what I I'd say they there's a lot of pressure always you know always a lot of pressure but do you like that do you like pressure you work better you know what I I I I work better under pressure I don't like pressure it's just kind of that weird dichotomy where it always turns out really cool but it's still a lot of pressure I mean when you take on a global franchise um you want to make it better you want to satisfy the fans but you want to go beyond so that's a lot of pressure um you know making and designing new cars for the audience is um fun for me though yeah I'm a car guy and uh once you get Beyond kind of all right I'm doing Global franchise let's have some fun it's like being a kid now I walked in this place and I'm like oh my God this is a man's dream and uh so much so that in our movie there's a place like this it doesn't compare to this but we call it the toy shop right and we have millions of dollars worth of cars uh different types of cars but I'm going to have to say hands down yours is cooler than ours oh no and what was what was your first car my first car yeah it was a 4 Granada oh oh I'm sorry yes but I was you know poor and uh I didn't real I wouldn't even have brought it up man feel so bad but it was it was it was you know what it was my first car it was a four-door I was four-door it was I was uh living in Illinois and uh there was rust at the bottom and I could see the street and um I think the radio was more expensive than the car really proba you come a long way now you ordered one of these right yes yes um I put this in the movie right and um you know we have a lot of great cars in the movie Lamborghinis Corvettes Bentley's things like that but this one stood out to me it's a rhino XT and um it's something really cool about it and I told my picture C guy Dennis McCarthy and uh Leonard Jefferson I'm like you have to get one of these for me yeah you know and and and with all the cars special cars on the movie this one actually stood out I'm a off-road guy I'm a Harley guy I love riding um it fits my lifestyle um it's got a lot of cool lines and just like sounds like a commercial I'm really I'm really impressed well the cool thing is sounds like a commercial right now so fun to have a car cuz I have so many cars that low to the ground every speed bump you got to tiptoe over you always worry about scratching stuff I mean this is an off-road vehicle there's not a lot you you know you hose it off and you're ready to go that's right well I spent a lot of time off-road yeah and so when I saw it um It's a combination of luxury and off-road yeah and I love the design and I just uh afterwards said listen I love that we put it in the movie for the character he's he's a wildling at Game of Thrones his name is Christopher hi you yeah uh this is his car in the movie I said when we're done you got to get me one of these right very cool so you haven't taken delivery yet yeah well probably in the next pretty soon couple days yeah pretty soon pretty soon yeah very cool now when you doing the movie like the fast eight movie is there certain car go nah I don't like that car I don't what I mean of course so you so you I imagine you cast cars the way you cast actors that's absolutely right yeah as a matter of fact in order for the audience to have a new experience I wanted to make sure that the cars were tied to the characters and the way that the characters are tied to the story so Roman piis who's played by Tyrese Gibson has a two-tone crazy Bentley GT right um I gave uh Michelle Rodriguez a 1966 Corvette Stingray that sounds like Michelle it sounds like Michelle compact but aggressive right right right that's man you're a good PR guy compact but aggressive so woman goes I don't know is that good I guess that's good it's good it's good sexy sexy you got have sexy compact yeah yeah you got can't get to yeah yeah got right add that to it thank you for that yeah very cool yeah you know what you got very cool no but I just think that's fascinating so do you before the movie starts you have cars in your head you would like to see what what I do is I build kind of a a war wall I have a room that has the film on the wall and then I put the vehicles next to the film so I can look at the movie at a glance and see all these kind of pictures and get some sort of visual sense of what the movie's going to feel like then I have a wall filled with cars and then the characters next to the cars and so I just have this kind of holistic um approach to tie it all together and um I start to pick the paint colors the rims the um the Interiors based on how the movie feels and based on what the characters are doing it sounds really weird but um no not at all when you have when you have 40 50 cars it's very easy to overlap you know you'll end up on the set if you're not careful with 10 black cars or 10 red cars and they're all in the same scene and all of a sudden they just kind of melt into the background so we have this um zombie car sequence in New York and I have to be really conscious of the color of the cars and because of the color of the buildings so now you have a lot of gray buildings if you have a lot of gray cars or black cars now all of a sudden you're shootting an action sequence and they disappear right right sure you know so when you see um the the the New York sequence we have lighter brighter cars with exception of um Dom's GTX um it's a process and it's like casting you I mean you you're right about that um but it's fun and what is just the automotive budget for a movie like this I could not tell you I'm sure my producers are still in a fetal position from uh the amount of money it took to to to to to buy purchase and and and and do these cars we shot a sequence in Cuba right uh with a h Skyliner and a fair length these are um vintage cars that we raced through the streets of savann did you bring them to Cuba or were they cars in Cuba we brought them to Cuba but and we had which is the first time Americans were able to actually put cars on a ship and take them to Cuba so you bring a 59 Fair Lane to Cuba they go hey it's a new car right that's right that's right is this a 2017 no no right right right and it and it had a real engine and and not a boat engine so we we we actually had to build a bunch of those cars yeah and um they're very rare obviously to and hard to find but um we had to Retro prom for the stunts cuz you imagine taking those cars 100 plus miles an hour through the streets Havana really tough so Dennis McCarthy I had to give a shout out to my picture C guy we've done Dennis he's been featured on this thing he's a genius um it just took a lot to ship everything there and um get them up and running make them safe um you know hitting Corners at you know 40 50 60 mph in a 1950s cars car without the suspension and breaks is really really tough and you had to pave the roads correct well they paved the roads for us you know after the negotiating just to get there with the the two governments the Cuban government and the US government um we told them everywhere we wanted to shoot and when we came back all those roads were paid wow yeah will this movie even play in Cuba will they are they allowed to see it I believe so yes okay I believe so I mean it would be a shame for them not to see it but I think that um yeah I think they will they will play it there so you you did Cuba obviously United States what other countries did you go to for this we went to rikic Iceland oh and that was crazy because they had never had a Lamborghini on their soil or on their ice before ever so we and then even an orange one at that right an atomic orange Lamborghini on Ice very first time and um that was cool because we had to figure out a way to get that up to 170 mph on ice as the ice is melting so that was um kind of an engineering feat and a crazy Challenge and in onto itself besides the movie you've also got to have fleets and mechanics and people there in case these cars break down fuel all of that isn't it oh man well we started with a ship we had a ship and we it was this huge tanker ship that we filled with cars and military vehicles and sent it to Iceland because you can't just throw a car on a plane and and sent it out there given the amount of cars that vehicles that we sent up there um but yeah we had mechanics Engineers uh environmental guys it was really tough because it's one thing if you have a car chase on Ice it's a whole another thing when you have 500 people on ice with 75 cars just the weight alone was a problem and it was a safety issue so we had Engineers Drilling in the ice every day to see if we we we could um it could withstand the weight of our crew on our cast so it was a lot did you ever a lose a vehicle through the ice yes really yes we we we didn't lose any of the exotic cars but I think we lost a tractor it just it just yeah the ice melted it collapsed and we had to move to another place that was that was that that that was a little stronger than uh where they where we had the tractor so how long from when they said Gary you want to do this movie till it's completed how much time we talk uh a year and a half oh okay well that's pretty quick actually that's actually really quick I you know normally you would have a little more time but um I have a great relationship with universal we just finished straight out of confidence so I was already up and running had had the momentum he move quick well we moved really quick yeah yeah you I always remember uh Clint Eastward told me he you know Matt Damon did that evict this movie yes and Matt Damon said to clany swi as the Director uh you want me to try this again and heast would said why she can waste everybody's time right keep moving just keep moving well he he's I'm I'm a big fan because he shoots eight hour days yeah and he just kind of goes couple takes and he's out um that's actually really impressive and you know that's somebody to look up to actually have you been in this one um no but I actually wouldn't mind seeing what's inside that thing that thing is massive take it for ride want take it for ride and see what it does and it's a it's just a big diesel right how many horsepower it's about uh 690 uh foot pounds of torque and about 340 horsepower and it weighs 5 tons wow let's take it for a spin I feel like I'm in some Urban Assault Vehicle it it does feel like a tank a cool tank though but you got some comfort yeah no it's very comfortable and you know the in LA are so bad this is probably what everybody be driving right a luxury tank I mean the number of times I have I've got that Tesla in there with those big rims in it the stock rims and I would say in 5,000 miles I've blown out three tires just bang hit a pothole you know just the tire bubbles on the on the on the side wall boom you blow it out sure three times I mean it's crazy so you got so many potholes I got the Porsche CR DT that front splitter you just get on the road just rip it off because the road is cracked and it's awful this truck can go over traffic yeah so you're not going to worry about potholes no not wor about Pooles or anything else it's extremely comfortable it is I like the interior too uh what's the story behind the interior well the the interior I mean we got uh full power seats in the back this seats actually six people comfortably yeah uhhuh uh the front center console can lift up and you can fit another person up there if you need to wow but yeah we wanted to build a car that was just really aggressive looking but yet really comfortable for the driver and anybody in it this thing mean it looks bulletproof oh it does you know and and back here I'm 6'2 and I I can fit a guy back here that's literally 6 and Lincoln could drive this thing look at you got all kinds of headro right with the top hat yeah with the top hat I do the whole B yeah yeah this car we we when Hummer went out of business it was Hummer was a huge brand in China they loved it and then they ran out of buying all the H2S that were out there with low miles so then they were like okay we got a problem here can you guys make us a car that looks Hummer right off-road is but put a luxury interior in it right so we pretty much drew it on a napkin they said build it so we built the car shipped it to China they took it to the Beijing auto show a prototype and it pretty much took off from there they sold 43 vehicles at the show right I don't know I don't know if this is blasphemy or not but this is cooler than uh Hummer to me oh yeah I think it is I I I think it's cooler I think it's it looks cooler it's sleeker and you realize if Hummer had been doing things the right way they'd still be in business oh yeah a good point yeah I mean so the fact is all they did was screw up somewhere marketing I don't know what the problem what was the problem do you know I don't know what the problem was I really don't but if they that brand was out here today they would be killing it yeah yeah do you get a lot of looks when you drive this thing oh yeah this is a magnet it it's just a magnet stupid question I what's the question you get the most um is it armored right right is it armored uh and what is it to mean the logo in the front is ussv right and it's got a raino on it yeah it looks like uh what they used to do in uh in the Old Mission Impossible TV show when they wanted to something that looked like it was from Russia they just changed one letter you know right like telephone z Oh that must be a telephone remember remember they you so it looks like something like that that's my movie right there oh there you go look at that yes there's a submarine yes are your folks still with us yes oh so how proud are they you like the cool Sun now uh you know they're they're they they are proud um they honestly are not Hollywood people yeah yeah so so they they they they're they're they're proud for a number of reasons obviously it's an accomplishment but also my patients they they they're like you have to be pretty patient to do what you do I'm sure they're just happy knowing that you know you found something you really like to do and and you're good at it yeah now did they think you were C oh our son's going to movie build why can't he get a real job he's get a did you go through that did you get a lot of that no you know what I I I was really supported my mom my mom said I could do anything I wanted to do um and I know that sounds cliche but it's true not at all not at all um but you know I decided at 16 this is what I wanted to do and um Direct my first movie at 23 um and the rest is history so who were your mentors did you have some mentors you know what I didn't have mentors in the um truest sense uh but you know they kind of came along a little later yeah you know I had to learn on the Fly I didn't go to film school so um you know how in this business you're only good as good as your last job so right you know you do one movie hope it does well your last job was really great that was straight out of conf comp that was a great movie I like really terrific and it and that the fact that it cross mainstream audiences who maybe didn't know the story right you know the thing you know it's always a story you know whether it's black white whatever rap whether a subject you know nothing about if the if the characters are compelling and it's human that's right that's what makes it fascinating you know and that's what was good about the uh about cuz I know people know nothing about rap music hard to believe but yes and they said well I really like that movie because it was explained to them what it was about right it was a story it was it was a story and that that's what I thought was really cool about it it was really really good thank you and the fact that I have had the real guys on the show which is crazy you know like 25 years ago so you know it's just funny to see a movie about something I saw happen unfold in my lifetime you were right there yeah you know just when you when they first broke and all that kind of stuff so it's kind of cool so it had to be interesting for you to watch the story right now knowing that um you were right there and all the stuff was happening behind the scenes right with Dr Dre and end of way and all the stuff that's going on yeah that's that's what was really cool that's what was really cool about the movie but even with uh what 600 how many foot- pounds of torque 640 even with 640 foot lbs of torque moving 10,000 lb is still 10,000 lb but it gets out of its own way let me put my foot in it here we go we moving Comfort driveability is very good did you have to upgrade the brakes with the extra weight no we didn't because actually we're underweight we're about 4,000 lb under the weight rating wow yeah the vehicle's rated for about 16,000 PB up to 16,000 lb M uh comfortably at about 14,000 lb so uh and we can also tow about 15,000 lb with this vehicle so tow a small house at the same time this is great for dropping your kid off at soccer practice if your kids on the prison team you pull up in this nobody's going to mess with you hey that's an idea for another movie there you go prison team prison soccer team that's a good idea well very cool I want to thank Gary and Ernie appreciate it and uh congratulations on your new movie man it's quite an accomplish what was the budget of that movie like $180 $200 million it was a lot it was a it was a lot it was a lot it was a lot was bigger than Str company well it's amazing it's amazing you could pull it off and it opens this week and go see the movie I me you know if you're a car guy you see the movie it's incredible Ernie thank you very much for bringing this vehicle this a little different episode this week a little taste of the personalities and uh you learned how a little bit about how they make the movies and you saw a vehicle was actually in the film and Gary is a real car guy so that's what makes the film work and this is uh a real 10,000 pound vehicle this thing is uh actually drives great I mean it's it's amazing how comfortable it is so it's uh this is the world we live in now folks right urban assault vehicles see you next week athis is great for driving your kid off at soccer practice if your kids on the prison team you pull up in this nobody's going to mess with you welcome to another episode of Jay Len's garage next to me here see2 specialty Vehicles which are actually built by the US Specialty Vehicle company this one is featured in the new fast8 movie The opens uh well this week we'll meet F Gary gray the director of the film uh this is another one of the vehicles this is not in the movie but we're going to drive this a little bit later let's meet the man in charge of these uh Ernie Salazar Ernie come in you're the uh sales director client relation guy all that kind of stuff yeah that's cool so how did you hook up with the fast8 guys to get this vehicle in the film well you know they saw the vehicle at the LA Auto Show here locally and uh next thing you know they approached us about the vehicle if we could let them use it for the movie and two days later it was on the road very cool now us specialty Vehicles a lot of people might not know that uh company you're a licensed manufacturer here in Southern California that's correct and you take production vehicles and modify them correct that's right okay yeah we give them a whole new look okay now this one is based on the Jeep okay and uh well they're both rhinos aren't they yeah we have the Rhino GX which is our Flagship Car and then we have the Rhino XT which this is a prototype that was used in the movie and production of the vehicle is actually just started okay now uh I imagine powertrain drivetrain completely stock or you modify that as well yeah they're completely stock um this one here is four-wheel drive 67 L right uh Ford Superduty F450 right and we changed the suspension on it and put a hydraulic instead of the leaf spring on this vehicle here it's a stock four-door Jeep chassis underneath here with a stock motor V6 and we supercharge it just to give a little more power cuz we're putting the bigger Toyota tires on it and you guys do quite a few of these correct yeah these are not one-offs I mean I don't think most people are familiar with your company but you've done a few hundred Vehicles already yeah we've done close to 300 of these vehicles here behind you okay uh this one here we're getting ramped up to do uh 150 or so this year okay and these are 100% street legal it's not one of those you're not waiting for certification no no okay so totally straight legal does do you buy the complete vehicle from Ford and modify or you just buy the cab in the chassis how does that work we buy the regular cab in chassis right so it's just a two-door regular cab with a bench seat a chassis with dually wheels on the back okay that's what we get from Ford we cut the back wall out the roof and we put the steel body completely together in our facility okay if somebody had one of these stock Vehicles they wanted could they bring their car to you to modify only goes through the manufacturer no they could bring us the vehicle if they have that exact spec vehicle because all our panels are made for that uh chassis okay now what is this is this steel is it carbon what do we steel It's All Steel okay it's all steel body from the doors back the fender flares are composite right uh but yeah it's all steel body I mean the steps in the door is just a look thing but it they actually function it'll hold up to about 300 50 lb okay this vehicle is tough as it looks it does everything that you think it would do right but still you can drive it on the road and be very comfortable in it now those Wheels uh don't look like any Wheels I've seen are those aftermarket you make them yourselves yeah those are aftermarket wheels we those are custom made just for us okay uh it's a one piece forged uh wheel we actually had to make the forgings then have the wheels made and then because it was a dual e chassis we had the wheels machined and finished on both sides okay so you can actually rotate the tires on this thing I got you so you have full cooperation with Ford right absolutely okay so that's I think that's important to people because these are not inexpensive what's this about a quar million bucks something this about $249 retail 249 so a little little L right just right under $49.95 so not quite A4 million dollar okay well it's and what is it weigh about 10,000 lb this is actually sits right now at about 9600 lb 5 tons that's unbelievable I mean how tall is it it's about 7' 2 in tall okay and it's about 8T wide okay well it's it's it's hilarious it's just a it's it's almost I mean people might mistake it for a Hummer or one of those Vehicles had you know when I was younger the Lamborghini lm2 that seemed huge it seemed enormous right but I realized that's not much bigger than this one no it's not okay it's not and lamorghini did a great job with that car too bad they didn't continue it but uh yeah this is you know we wanted to have that military off-road look Beast of a vehicle right but at the same time we really wanted it to be comfortable and practical on the inside now are these popular overseas as well or you just sell them in the states actually overseas is where it started for us yeah uh in China especially and the uh Saudi Arabia Dubai area but China being our biggest Market really oh yeah it's very popular over there they love americanmade vehicles and they love luxury so you build them here you send them to China absolutely we send about uh yeah about eight Vehicles a month to China wow okay very cool well I it's we're going to drive this one a little bit later absolutely all right very good very good all right well let's bring in uh F Gary Gray he's the director of that new Fast eight movie and uh I can't imagine a logistical nightmare of doing a film FM like that where is he Gary Come On In hey good to see you my friend good to see you again now Gary has done some amazing films The Italian Job And across the hugely critically claim straight out of compon that that is that the biggest movie to date just about um yeah just in terms of uh yeah size scope uh response you know Compton Italian job now let me ask you about the fast a movies cuz that's probably the most popular franchise since what the James Bond films star absolutely of course in Star Wars sure sure okay so you come along and they give you this job it's this job right is it just mind B I mean I can't imagine the logistics I know just getting a few cars here to do our stupid little TV show people are late trucks break down when you're dealing with hundreds of cars in right different continents and it's insane it's it's it's in some ways a logistical nightmare but it's all worth it yeah yeah we are created a lot of cars we destroyed a lot of cars literally hundreds of cars don't say destroy no but listen some of them were shells of cars no but you know it's just for entertainment but we uh had a lot of fun with cars obviously I mean what is there any point doing this film you set your oh man I'm over my head is crazy this is like nutty you know what I I'd say they there's a lot of pressure always you know always a lot of pressure but do you like that do you like pressure you work better you know what I I I I work better under pressure I don't like pressure it's just kind of that weird dichotomy where it always turns out really cool but it's still a lot of pressure I mean when you take on a global franchise um you want to make it better you want to satisfy the fans but you want to go beyond so that's a lot of pressure um you know making and designing new cars for the audience is um fun for me though yeah I'm a car guy and uh once you get Beyond kind of all right I'm doing Global franchise let's have some fun it's like being a kid now I walked in this place and I'm like oh my God this is a man's dream and uh so much so that in our movie there's a place like this it doesn't compare to this but we call it the toy shop right and we have millions of dollars worth of cars uh different types of cars but I'm going to have to say hands down yours is cooler than ours oh no and what was what was your first car my first car yeah it was a 4 Granada oh oh I'm sorry yes but I was you know poor and uh I didn't real I wouldn't even have brought it up man feel so bad but it was it was it was you know what it was my first car it was a four-door I was four-door it was I was uh living in Illinois and uh there was rust at the bottom and I could see the street and um I think the radio was more expensive than the car really proba you come a long way now you ordered one of these right yes yes um I put this in the movie right and um you know we have a lot of great cars in the movie Lamborghinis Corvettes Bentley's things like that but this one stood out to me it's a rhino XT and um it's something really cool about it and I told my picture C guy Dennis McCarthy and uh Leonard Jefferson I'm like you have to get one of these for me yeah you know and and and with all the cars special cars on the movie this one actually stood out I'm a off-road guy I'm a Harley guy I love riding um it fits my lifestyle um it's got a lot of cool lines and just like sounds like a commercial I'm really I'm really impressed well the cool thing is sounds like a commercial right now so fun to have a car cuz I have so many cars that low to the ground every speed bump you got to tiptoe over you always worry about scratching stuff I mean this is an off-road vehicle there's not a lot you you know you hose it off and you're ready to go that's right well I spent a lot of time off-road yeah and so when I saw it um It's a combination of luxury and off-road yeah and I love the design and I just uh afterwards said listen I love that we put it in the movie for the character he's he's a wildling at Game of Thrones his name is Christopher hi you yeah uh this is his car in the movie I said when we're done you got to get me one of these right very cool so you haven't taken delivery yet yeah well probably in the next pretty soon couple days yeah pretty soon pretty soon yeah very cool now when you doing the movie like the fast eight movie is there certain car go nah I don't like that car I don't what I mean of course so you so you I imagine you cast cars the way you cast actors that's absolutely right yeah as a matter of fact in order for the audience to have a new experience I wanted to make sure that the cars were tied to the characters and the way that the characters are tied to the story so Roman piis who's played by Tyrese Gibson has a two-tone crazy Bentley GT right um I gave uh Michelle Rodriguez a 1966 Corvette Stingray that sounds like Michelle it sounds like Michelle compact but aggressive right right right that's man you're a good PR guy compact but aggressive so woman goes I don't know is that good I guess that's good it's good it's good sexy sexy you got have sexy compact yeah yeah you got can't get to yeah yeah got right add that to it thank you for that yeah very cool yeah you know what you got very cool no but I just think that's fascinating so do you before the movie starts you have cars in your head you would like to see what what I do is I build kind of a a war wall I have a room that has the film on the wall and then I put the vehicles next to the film so I can look at the movie at a glance and see all these kind of pictures and get some sort of visual sense of what the movie's going to feel like then I have a wall filled with cars and then the characters next to the cars and so I just have this kind of holistic um approach to tie it all together and um I start to pick the paint colors the rims the um the Interiors based on how the movie feels and based on what the characters are doing it sounds really weird but um no not at all when you have when you have 40 50 cars it's very easy to overlap you know you'll end up on the set if you're not careful with 10 black cars or 10 red cars and they're all in the same scene and all of a sudden they just kind of melt into the background so we have this um zombie car sequence in New York and I have to be really conscious of the color of the cars and because of the color of the buildings so now you have a lot of gray buildings if you have a lot of gray cars or black cars now all of a sudden you're shootting an action sequence and they disappear right right sure you know so when you see um the the the New York sequence we have lighter brighter cars with exception of um Dom's GTX um it's a process and it's like casting you I mean you you're right about that um but it's fun and what is just the automotive budget for a movie like this I could not tell you I'm sure my producers are still in a fetal position from uh the amount of money it took to to to to to buy purchase and and and and do these cars we shot a sequence in Cuba right uh with a h Skyliner and a fair length these are um vintage cars that we raced through the streets of savann did you bring them to Cuba or were they cars in Cuba we brought them to Cuba but and we had which is the first time Americans were able to actually put cars on a ship and take them to Cuba so you bring a 59 Fair Lane to Cuba they go hey it's a new car right that's right that's right is this a 2017 no no right right right and it and it had a real engine and and not a boat engine so we we we actually had to build a bunch of those cars yeah and um they're very rare obviously to and hard to find but um we had to Retro prom for the stunts cuz you imagine taking those cars 100 plus miles an hour through the streets Havana really tough so Dennis McCarthy I had to give a shout out to my picture C guy we've done Dennis he's been featured on this thing he's a genius um it just took a lot to ship everything there and um get them up and running make them safe um you know hitting Corners at you know 40 50 60 mph in a 1950s cars car without the suspension and breaks is really really tough and you had to pave the roads correct well they paved the roads for us you know after the negotiating just to get there with the the two governments the Cuban government and the US government um we told them everywhere we wanted to shoot and when we came back all those roads were paid wow yeah will this movie even play in Cuba will they are they allowed to see it I believe so yes okay I believe so I mean it would be a shame for them not to see it but I think that um yeah I think they will they will play it there so you you did Cuba obviously United States what other countries did you go to for this we went to rikic Iceland oh and that was crazy because they had never had a Lamborghini on their soil or on their ice before ever so we and then even an orange one at that right an atomic orange Lamborghini on Ice very first time and um that was cool because we had to figure out a way to get that up to 170 mph on ice as the ice is melting so that was um kind of an engineering feat and a crazy Challenge and in onto itself besides the movie you've also got to have fleets and mechanics and people there in case these cars break down fuel all of that isn't it oh man well we started with a ship we had a ship and we it was this huge tanker ship that we filled with cars and military vehicles and sent it to Iceland because you can't just throw a car on a plane and and sent it out there given the amount of cars that vehicles that we sent up there um but yeah we had mechanics Engineers uh environmental guys it was really tough because it's one thing if you have a car chase on Ice it's a whole another thing when you have 500 people on ice with 75 cars just the weight alone was a problem and it was a safety issue so we had Engineers Drilling in the ice every day to see if we we we could um it could withstand the weight of our crew on our cast so it was a lot did you ever a lose a vehicle through the ice yes really yes we we we didn't lose any of the exotic cars but I think we lost a tractor it just it just yeah the ice melted it collapsed and we had to move to another place that was that was that that that was a little stronger than uh where they where we had the tractor so how long from when they said Gary you want to do this movie till it's completed how much time we talk uh a year and a half oh okay well that's pretty quick actually that's actually really quick I you know normally you would have a little more time but um I have a great relationship with universal we just finished straight out of confidence so I was already up and running had had the momentum he move quick well we moved really quick yeah yeah you I always remember uh Clint Eastward told me he you know Matt Damon did that evict this movie yes and Matt Damon said to clany swi as the Director uh you want me to try this again and heast would said why she can waste everybody's time right keep moving just keep moving well he he's I'm I'm a big fan because he shoots eight hour days yeah and he just kind of goes couple takes and he's out um that's actually really impressive and you know that's somebody to look up to actually have you been in this one um no but I actually wouldn't mind seeing what's inside that thing that thing is massive take it for ride want take it for ride and see what it does and it's a it's just a big diesel right how many horsepower it's about uh 690 uh foot pounds of torque and about 340 horsepower and it weighs 5 tons wow let's take it for a spin I feel like I'm in some Urban Assault Vehicle it it does feel like a tank a cool tank though but you got some comfort yeah no it's very comfortable and you know the in LA are so bad this is probably what everybody be driving right a luxury tank I mean the number of times I have I've got that Tesla in there with those big rims in it the stock rims and I would say in 5,000 miles I've blown out three tires just bang hit a pothole you know just the tire bubbles on the on the on the side wall boom you blow it out sure three times I mean it's crazy so you got so many potholes I got the Porsche CR DT that front splitter you just get on the road just rip it off because the road is cracked and it's awful this truck can go over traffic yeah so you're not going to worry about potholes no not wor about Pooles or anything else it's extremely comfortable it is I like the interior too uh what's the story behind the interior well the the interior I mean we got uh full power seats in the back this seats actually six people comfortably yeah uhhuh uh the front center console can lift up and you can fit another person up there if you need to wow but yeah we wanted to build a car that was just really aggressive looking but yet really comfortable for the driver and anybody in it this thing mean it looks bulletproof oh it does you know and and back here I'm 6'2 and I I can fit a guy back here that's literally 6 and Lincoln could drive this thing look at you got all kinds of headro right with the top hat yeah with the top hat I do the whole B yeah yeah this car we we when Hummer went out of business it was Hummer was a huge brand in China they loved it and then they ran out of buying all the H2S that were out there with low miles so then they were like okay we got a problem here can you guys make us a car that looks Hummer right off-road is but put a luxury interior in it right so we pretty much drew it on a napkin they said build it so we built the car shipped it to China they took it to the Beijing auto show a prototype and it pretty much took off from there they sold 43 vehicles at the show right I don't know I don't know if this is blasphemy or not but this is cooler than uh Hummer to me oh yeah I think it is I I I think it's cooler I think it's it looks cooler it's sleeker and you realize if Hummer had been doing things the right way they'd still be in business oh yeah a good point yeah I mean so the fact is all they did was screw up somewhere marketing I don't know what the problem what was the problem do you know I don't know what the problem was I really don't but if they that brand was out here today they would be killing it yeah yeah do you get a lot of looks when you drive this thing oh yeah this is a magnet it it's just a magnet stupid question I what's the question you get the most um is it armored right right is it armored uh and what is it to mean the logo in the front is ussv right and it's got a raino on it yeah it looks like uh what they used to do in uh in the Old Mission Impossible TV show when they wanted to something that looked like it was from Russia they just changed one letter you know right like telephone z Oh that must be a telephone remember remember they you so it looks like something like that that's my movie right there oh there you go look at that yes there's a submarine yes are your folks still with us yes oh so how proud are they you like the cool Sun now uh you know they're they're they they are proud um they honestly are not Hollywood people yeah yeah so so they they they they're they're they're proud for a number of reasons obviously it's an accomplishment but also my patients they they they're like you have to be pretty patient to do what you do I'm sure they're just happy knowing that you know you found something you really like to do and and you're good at it yeah now did they think you were C oh our son's going to movie build why can't he get a real job he's get a did you go through that did you get a lot of that no you know what I I I was really supported my mom my mom said I could do anything I wanted to do um and I know that sounds cliche but it's true not at all not at all um but you know I decided at 16 this is what I wanted to do and um Direct my first movie at 23 um and the rest is history so who were your mentors did you have some mentors you know what I didn't have mentors in the um truest sense uh but you know they kind of came along a little later yeah you know I had to learn on the Fly I didn't go to film school so um you know how in this business you're only good as good as your last job so right you know you do one movie hope it does well your last job was really great that was straight out of conf comp that was a great movie I like really terrific and it and that the fact that it cross mainstream audiences who maybe didn't know the story right you know the thing you know it's always a story you know whether it's black white whatever rap whether a subject you know nothing about if the if the characters are compelling and it's human that's right that's what makes it fascinating you know and that's what was good about the uh about cuz I know people know nothing about rap music hard to believe but yes and they said well I really like that movie because it was explained to them what it was about right it was a story it was it was a story and that that's what I thought was really cool about it it was really really good thank you and the fact that I have had the real guys on the show which is crazy you know like 25 years ago so you know it's just funny to see a movie about something I saw happen unfold in my lifetime you were right there yeah you know just when you when they first broke and all that kind of stuff so it's kind of cool so it had to be interesting for you to watch the story right now knowing that um you were right there and all the stuff was happening behind the scenes right with Dr Dre and end of way and all the stuff that's going on yeah that's that's what was really cool that's what was really cool about the movie but even with uh what 600 how many foot- pounds of torque 640 even with 640 foot lbs of torque moving 10,000 lb is still 10,000 lb but it gets out of its own way let me put my foot in it here we go we moving Comfort driveability is very good did you have to upgrade the brakes with the extra weight no we didn't because actually we're underweight we're about 4,000 lb under the weight rating wow yeah the vehicle's rated for about 16,000 PB up to 16,000 lb M uh comfortably at about 14,000 lb so uh and we can also tow about 15,000 lb with this vehicle so tow a small house at the same time this is great for dropping your kid off at soccer practice if your kids on the prison team you pull up in this nobody's going to mess with you hey that's an idea for another movie there you go prison team prison soccer team that's a good idea well very cool I want to thank Gary and Ernie appreciate it and uh congratulations on your new movie man it's quite an accomplish what was the budget of that movie like $180 $200 million it was a lot it was a it was a lot it was a lot it was a lot was bigger than Str company well it's amazing it's amazing you could pull it off and it opens this week and go see the movie I me you know if you're a car guy you see the movie it's incredible Ernie thank you very much for bringing this vehicle this a little different episode this week a little taste of the personalities and uh you learned how a little bit about how they make the movies and you saw a vehicle was actually in the film and Gary is a real car guy so that's what makes the film work and this is uh a real 10,000 pound vehicle this thing is uh actually drives great I mean it's it's amazing how comfortable it is so it's uh this is the world we live in now folks right urban assault vehicles see you next week a\n"