NOPI Street Performance Compact Magazine, Dead?

[yarzan]

which reminds me... an element drift car would be a good idea.

hey craig, you noticed how many civics you have on your moviecarz site? you also have benson hsu's sileighty, USE IT IN A MOVIE . also use that classic 70's skyline.

[craiglieberman]

Its not up to movie...its up to the producers. Rarely, if ever, do I get the deciding vote.

They pick cars usually on the following criteria, and this applies whether they're doing a movie about the 50's, muscle cars, or a sci fi scene set in the future:

Does it fit the stereotype of what people expect to see?

Is it authentic to the time period depicted on film?

Is it flashy enough (black and white cars do NOT do well on film, so for hero's cars, they tend to avoid them);

And yes, I've noticed how many Hondas there are...now do a search under BMW. There's way more BMW's than there are Civics.

If people here think its' worth there while, I'll set up 20 free coupons for Californians so you can post pics of your drift cars for free so that the movie's producers can consider your vehicles.

What do you think?

[yarzan]

too bad im in Israel . so.. has your site ever really helped someone's car get a big role in a movie?

what do you know so far abtou 3f3f? anything that you can tell us...

another question... that car that they were going to use in 2f2f... was it a focus? .

PS. one more thing (sorry if im annoying) was it an EVo 7 or EVO 8? cuz on your site you switch between them...

[craiglieberman]

The car they were going to use was not a Focus.

I helped place ALL of the main cars for FF1. The Jetta, RX7, Eclipse, Integras, all of them.

It was an Evo 7 done up with Ev 8 tail lights to look like the soon-to-be-launched in the US Evo 8.

[driftersilvia]

If you are really Craig. Then you sir *Censored**Censored**Censored**Censored*ed up the import scene big time. Nos isnt used like ever freaking 4 seconds like you guys made it seem in the movie. Oh and that supras wing...what was it getting ready to take off like a plane. Next time leave cars like the Supra, Rx8 and Skyline alone and keep dealing with your shitty Hondas and your stickers.

Oh and i hope TFTF3 doesnt exploit Drifting just like you guys exploited street racing. Last thing we need is stupid ricers in Hondas drifting. You know how many people will die from idiots doing that but wait you guys dont care about that do you you only care about making a shitty *Censored**Censored**Censored* movie to make money.

[craiglieberman]

Hey Newbie; Read this, taken right from my site, www.moviecarz.com.

THE FAST & THE FURIOUS: EXCLUSIVE BEHIND THE SCENE PICTURES!!

The following is a commentary provide by Craig Lieberman. The views expressed are the opinions of the author who was the credited Technical Advisor for both Fast and Furious movies.

Like many enthusiasts, I was delighted to see Hollywood finally take notice of our humble little hobby. Like most purists, I wished for even more emphasis on the performance aspects of the cars and on the positive aspects of modding tuner cars.

As of late, I’ve grown concerned about the opinions of my peers who seemingly look to affix some sort of “blame” for everything from an increase in illegal street racing to the resurgence of the neon light trend. As a result, I’ve put together this document to answer most commonly asked questions.

What did Craig Lieberman do for the movie(s)?

I was asked to help find the cars for the first movie, including all of the extras and even the main character’s cars. I actually built and owned the orange Supra and blue Maxima that starred in part 1, however, the Supra was yellow and featured a cleaner, more subtle Stillen body kit when it was rented to the studio. It was Universal’s choice to paint it orange and the wing choice.

In any case, the producers had final say in the actual body kits, wings and graphics used. I also provided script consultation services in an effort to help the producers to be as accurate as possible. In some cases, the “menu” of technical terms I provided in writing was often mixed and matched with other technical terms…the result was several inaccuracies which I did not see until a rough cut of the movie was shown. Several people felt that “no one would notice the errors.” They didn’t count on having an audience as smart as the tuner audience is and in their eyes, the movie made $145M for $38M invested so it was a success.

After the movie was completed, I helped several other departments of Universal, including the marketing department, special events, sound editing departments, even the international marketing departments. I did more than 150 TV and Newspaper interviews for media outlets around the world. All of these departments treated me like gold. I also appeared in the first movie…I was the pudgy (but oh so sexy) race flagger guy near the end of the movie. I loved every minute of the entire experience.

During the production of part 1, some of the story elements didn’t sit well with me. I counseled against the 4 way drag race, the flames out the exhaust, the tires spinning at 140mph, the Hashimoto tires reference (done because these tires were on bad guys cars and we didn’t want to associate a known brand with bad guys’ cars), the use of the term “naawwwsss” among other things. However, as a lowly advisor, sometimes, it was simply not possible or necessary to make these changes and to their credit, there’s a unique story to each of these topics (read on).

Soon after the first movie wrapped, I was asked to co-star with Dalene Kurtis (2002 Playmate of the Year) to do a special feature for the DVD re-release and for an in-theatre promo piece that played all over the Globe. I loved that, too, and the production team (New Wave Entertainment) and Dalene was a joy to work with.

For part 2, my wife and I moved to Miami to service the movie along with the crew for 3 months. We got them to agree to run better tuner cars, such as the Skyline and Evo 8. All of the AWD cars were changed to RWD to accommodate easier stunt slides. We fixed the “NAWWSS” blunder of TF & TF 1. We rented our Skyline out, which was blue at the time. We helped them line up “licensing” deals to incorporate brands such as Nitrous Express, K&N, Turbonetics and others, most of whom paid fees/royalties to sell TF & TF branded merchandise.

I did not write, produce, direct, star in or create the idea, the story, pick the actors, etc. I WAS AN ADVISOR.

Did I enjoy it? Hell yes. My goal was to have my client make money, to create enthusiasm for the tuner market and to help the companies who helped us by creating excitement for their products. From this perspective and having received feedback from many companies that provided products for the movie, I achieved my goals…my clients made money.

What was the deal with the graphics on these cars?
Ok…I know what you’re saying:Some of the graphics were, well, not normal.

The graphics (for part 2) were done by a talented Art Director, Keith Brian Burns. From the start, I was very opposed to the look, feel and stereotyping that I believed was going on in the overall look of the cars. One car had an afro pick graphic…the car belonged to an African American actor.

In both movies, the producers felt that the graphics and body kits needed to be radical and different enough from those that would appear on the “extra” cars (cast from real sport compact car owners). They had to be so different and so wild that a 10 year old from Montana with no prior knowledge of the tuner world would be able to see that our main cars (the hero’s cars) were different than the background (extra’s) cars.

They certainly accomplished that, right? In the first movie, Troy Lee, a famous designer from the Moto Cross world played a huge role here.

In the first movie, the whole concept of making the hero cars stand out was further bolstered with the use of brightly colored primary colors (green, orange, red, turquoise) and that filters used on the camera lenses were intended to make those cars pop off the screen more.

Imagine my surprise when people worldwide started copying the graphics from the first movie. It was an interesting case study in how anything that winds up on the big screen could be deemed “cool.” Guess that’s why so many companies associate with no-talent rappers. Kidding aside, the sole purpose of having “unique” graphics was to differentiate the main cars from the “extra” cars we recruited. It was a love or hate thing for most.

What was my personal opinion? The graphics used on the cars in both movies were very creative…but not to my liking, any more than VeilSide’s “Cherry Blossom” themed graphics recently introduced.

People sometimes “blame” you for “selling out.” If you knew certain things weren’t going to be accurate,why did you continue to work on the movie(s) if you disagreed with some of the core components?

During the production of the first movie, there was actually little to disagree with. To the contrary, I loved what they were doing and their commitment to authenticity seemed sincere and very strong. Rob Cohen (and the production team of the first movie) was a joy to work with…they treated my wife and I like gold. As importantly, you have no idea how a project is going to turn out until you see it on film so while I had my doubts, the energy on set was so electric, I was swept up in the passion and enthusiasm for the project. You had to be there. These were the coolest people you could even imagine. Even the stars were nice, humble and down to Earth. Would I do it again? In a flat second. It wasn’t until we started to see edited versions of the movie that we began to identify some inaccuracies.

In both movies, I was a paid contractor, paid to provide “advice” under a contract. I take such commitments very seriously and was not about to walk away. Even if I didn’t agree with certain plot points, I can compare it to being a vegetarian working at McDonalds: I don’t have to swallow it, I just have to make sure that the parts I touch are the best they can be.

For the second film, from early on I was convinced any technical errors would be fixed, so I signed on, a decision made easier by Universal’s terrific and kind treatment of both my wife and I. The director, John Singleton, was committed to making a more accurate film and this was clearly evident. I had concerns over scenes like the barrel race, the insane bridge stunt, the use of neon lights (again), that silly nitrous-for-an-ejection-seat gag and many other things, not to mention the graphics

But little is known about some of the great things they did. It is a little known fact that at one point, they were considering a certain cheap car (think: cheap rental car) for the MAIN car of the film. This wheezy little rental car would NOT excite audiences, but its’ manufacturer was willing to pay big money to make this car the main car of the movie. I expressed my concerns…and the Evo 8 took its’ place. Universal, in my opinion, deserves tons of credit for caring enough to at least attempt to be authentic and for caring more about pleasing the audiences than lining its’ pockets. To me, this was enough to set the tone and to convince me that more attention would be paid to producing an authentic piece of film.

If you have the time, email me back so I can point out the hundreds of technical inaccuracies in movies like “Midway,” or “Wyatt Earp.” Who cares? Exactly my point…these movies were FICTIONAL PIECES, NOT DOCUMENTARIES. I was very clear on this…I was paid to make a fictional piece of film contain as many accurate references as possible. Many people overlook things like the praying sequence at the backyard bbq (all written by yours truly), the use of authentic parts during the build up of the Supra, the use of authentic car sounds (they really recorded all of those cars). I had a big role in ensuring that these components were the way they were.

Why did they call it “naawwwsss?”

This is the funniest story of the experience. One of the transpo guys, John Feinblatt (terrific guy) saw the “NOS” label on the bottles as we were preparing to shoot the original movie. When labeling the steering wheel buttons (so that the stunt guys wouldn’t press the wrong button when on camera), he simply carried over the “NOS” from the giant decal on the bottles. From there, the stunt guys referred to that button as the “naawwwwsss” button, and this term stuck with the cast and crew….and found its’ way into the script. This is an error I fixed in 2F2F (you’ll notice all the nitrous buttons in that movie were labeled “N20.”) John and I worked together on 2F2F at which time I explained to him that he had started a hated craze in the tuner scene….and made real tuners cringe whenever they here some dumbass say “I need naaawwwsss.” We had a good laugh about it and everytime I hear someone say it incorrectly, I throw something at them.

Why did fire shoot out the tailpipes?

I showed the production team some JGTC video tapes and some Option video tapes. The production team was fascinated with the flames that came out of certain race cars, especially the rotary engine cars, and wanted this for some sequences in the film.

I raised some concerns and explained the conditions under which one would expect to see flames. I tried at the very least to only have the RX7 shoot flames, as this is a condition common to rotary engines running too rich.

During the production, it was fascinating to watch how the special effects team pulled this off using propane mixtures, MSD ignition boxes, Blaster II coils and a whole lot of spark plug modifications (don’t try this at home…unless you want to die). Without seeing the edited context in which the gag (a term used to describe a stunt) was to be played out, it was impossible to object. It was hard to argue with the finished product and the scene was very cool, albeit slightly inaccurate.

Why did they choose XX car for a role?

From early on, it was clear that Universal had done tons of research to seek out what were the cool tuner cars. At the time, EVo’s and WRX’s were not on US soil. But it was also clear that certain cars written into the script could have been changed out for cooler ones. This is where I came in.

You must also remember too that for every car we built, we needed to build 3-5 EXACT replicas. Since we had a tiny budget and could not afford to replicate interiors, we tinted the windows dark on each car. This was also technically accurate, since all of us tuner “gangstas” roll with limo tints anyway, right?

The original script called for a 3000GT to be the main car (Eclipse) followed by an Eclipse. I explained that I thought that this would be a trade down and counseled them to start Brian off with an Eclipse and have him move up to a Supra (which they rented from me), which had a targa top which would be needed for a stunt sequence later in the film.

From there, the rival to the Supra was the RX7, so that seemed a natural choice for Dominic.

Any good movie about import cars needs an Integra, so that was selected as “Edwin’s” car and as “Mia’s” car.

The Jetta was supposed to be a BMW…at the time, used E36’s were deemed too expensive for our meager budget. Scotty from Wings West had a wild Jetta ready to go, as his was the most modified example and so we used it.

Civics were used as the bad guys’ cars for obvious reasons: they were cheap and available and Wings West was willing to donate all the parts….and they fit the stereotype of the typical “rice rocket.”

A Maxima (my wife’s car) was used for Vince’s car because it too was available to the production team and as importantly, it was large enough to accommodate the size of the actor.

The Dodge Charger was not my idea. In fact, I counseled them to use an NSX. I was overruled but the finished scene didn’t look all that bad to me, so I guess it worked out…and I liked the idea of a Supra beating up on a muscle car. The Charger we used was a bastard car…part of it was a 1969 car, part was a 1970 car.

Cars like the WRX, 350Z and Evo 8 were not out yet, so they weren’t options.

Skylines were too expensive and although one appeared briefly, we couldn’t use it as a main car because each main car needed four exact replicas and Motorex could not deliver (they’re pretty useless as I can attest first hand).

Why was your Supra so wildly built?

Most people don’t know that my Supra was yellow and very subtly modified prior to its rental to Universal. Universal picked the paint, the wing and the graphics. I actually liked it better yellow, which is a big reason why I sold it…that and the fact that no matter where I went, some clueless 15 year old wanted to argue with me at a gas station as to how my car was a poor replica of the movie car. In fact, my Supra’s motor was very mildly modified and various magazines made claims of 700hp. With the T66 turbo we had on the car, the Supra never dynod at more than 547 hp.

What about all of the technical errors?

There’s an amusing story behind each. For example:

Motec system exhaust: The producers were given a list of technical terms, such as “Motec data logging system” and “cat back exhaust system.” However, they viewed the list like a grocery list where they could combine terms and have it still make sense. By the time we saw edited footage, they were committed and could not change it.

If you really have no life and simply must get more information on the technical errors and how they happened, email me directly at liebermc1@cox.net and I’ll email you back.

I read an interview where some guy named Eddie Paul took credit for building the cars. Is this true?

In my opinion, Mr. Paul has seriously overstated his role in the movies, or he was tragically misquoted.
In reality,he was the landlord of the building in which the cars were built. Two of his mechanics assisted 20 of the Universal crew’s mechanics in building a handful of the cars for the first movie. For the second movie, he had a similar role, touching about 20 of the 280 cars we ended up building. The REAL credit belongs to the staff of mechanics Universal hired, people like Tim Woods, David Marder and Ted Moser….true geniuses and hard workers.

For nearly all of the import cars, I was sort of a professional shopper…I created the look of then shopped for the parts for the cars. Universal had final say in the colors and graphics and in SOME cases, we were REQUIRED to use parts from companies who PAID to put products on these cars….in most cases, it wasn’t that big a deal, except for that APC decal on my Skyline. Mr. Paul, however, did make many important contributions and engineered solutions to help us produce special features on the cars and in rapid fashion. He and his team and network of resources proved very valuable on the first movie.

He went on to write a book on the topic for Universal…a book in which he did credit many people, including my wife and I, so I give him great credit there…I reciprocated by proofing the book at Universal’s behest.

Why didn’t we use more JDM stuff?

Simple. Your favorite companies such as HKS, Toda, Spoon and such flat out refused to help us when we first asked them. They couldn’t provide the free parts. After some finagling, Bomex supported the Supra and slowly others jumped on board. For the most part, these cars HAD to be built using donations as we simply did not have the huge budget we needed to build these cars. In the second movie, things changed dramatically. Everyone wanted to be a part of it so getting higher end companies to participate was much easier. To their credit, many companies we approached for the first movie were afraid to participate in a movie that THEY felt might focus on street racing.

Why was there such a great APC presence used in part 2?

Again, simple. This is called “paid product placement.” Universal’s licensing and product placement departments work hard to get such agreements in place. APC ponied up, companies like GReddy didn’t. In my opinion, Japanese companies that continue to “take” from this industry and don’t give back are doing themselves a great disservice. I give credit to APC for choosing to support the project…and am disappointed that other companies did not. As for APC, well, while I truly admire the owner and think he’s brilliant, I’m not a big fan of non functional accessories…enough said...but I give great credit for them having the presence of mind to "give back" to the hobby.

With that said, certain other companies also deserve a whole bunch of credit for supporting 2F2F: Apex, RoJA, Nitrous Express, Toyo Tires, CWest, HRE Wheels, Sparco, Clarion, Panasonic, Stop Tech, Turbonetics, Versus Motorsports, Passport and others.

We must remember that it is a standard practice for companies to pay to place their products in movies. Comically, somehow I’m sure that the people who love Coca Cola don’t email the technical advisor of a film to complain that Pepsi was used. My point? If you think that we should have used Toda, or Spoon or Mugen or some other tuners parts, sorry…I was just an ADVISOR. I didn’t write either movie, nor did I have final say in anything. Many of these companies were asked for support, most turned us down…twice. Call them directly if you have something to say about that.

Who picked all of the “extra” vehicles?

In part 1, we had a difficult time finding extras. I used my network to recruit friends and they in turn took it upon themselves to call their friends. For the most part, that was a big help. None of these extra cars were changed by Universal, so you saw them exactly as they roll around on the street. If you find their style objectionable, take it up with their owners as I didn’t “create” any of those cars. One such self-appointed recruiter, Marck Fernandez allegedly went on to claim that he was the car pimp for the original movie. At the time, he was doing a video called “MaxItOut.” He allegedly wound up discredited after allegedly scamming a car from Hyundai that was supposed to star in part 2 and of course, no such agreement was ever in place.

For part 2, it was a different story. My new company, MovieCarZ.com put out the word once on the west coast, once on the east coast and ran two casting calls. We saw more than 1100 cars and picked about 300, mostly from Florida where the movie was filmed. Once again, Marck Fernandez took his "story" to the masses and ran a bogus casting call at a Hot Import Nights event in July of 2003…no word on how many suckers bought into this and last I heard, he was in hiding from the repo man. As for the cars we found in Florida, let’s just say that the taste of locals down in that part of the world sucks…lots of Toyota Corolla 4 doors with dangly flags from Caribbean nations hanging from the rear view mirror with 16 inch chrome wheels and giant aluminum wings.

It is important to note that many of the cars left over from part 1 were rebuilt under my supervision for roles as extras in part 2. Examples were the MRS Spyders, Eclipses and Civics.

The Supras and RX7’s were likewise rebuilt for part 2 but again, while I picked the parts and styles, the colors and graphics were all done by the art department.

Why was the second movie more of an action movie?

To sell more tickets... It seems logical to derive that a car movie draws car audiences while an action movie draws more. The second movie made more money than the first movie, so its’ hard to argue over a success.

Where are the cars now?

Almost all of the cars used in part 1 were rebuilt and reused for part 2. All of the cars from part 1 that were privately owned (remember: for each car they cast, 3 replicas were built), these original cars have been sold to private collectors. My Supra is in Belgium and my Skyline is now in Tennessee.

About 20 of the replica cars, including the S2000’s, the Civics, the Supras, the Skylines, etc. are now owned by my former boss Ted Moser, in a joint venture with Mr. George Barris. Most of the cars built in part 1 were rebuilt for part 2, so they don’t exist in part 1 trim anymore, except for the Maxima (owned by John Tysseline), the RX7 and “Hector’s” Civic. Mia’s Integra was totaled by the private owner in 2002.

For awhile, the cars were stored in Saugus, California. Interestingly, the caretaker, Mike Filonsiak , no longer works for Universal. Therefore, I believe that I am the only person with the vin number and full parts lists for these cars…I don’t even think Universal kept copies for themselves.

What’s going on with part 3?

I’ve read some things and I’ve heard some things.

Supposedly, part 3 is in the works, but has stalled until Vin Diesel’s deal is finalized. I’m hearing that it’ll be put together in 2005, will include some components of drifting, possibly touge and Wan gan racing, with portions possibly filmed in Japan. No Paul Walker, no Jordana Brewster. These are the RUMORS I’ve heard or read. Will I be involved? I don’t know yet. Other than to answer some scripting questions (that I’ve already done), I simply don’t know. This of course, assumes that I’ll even be askedto participate above and beyond the early script consultations I’ve already done.

Whatever the case, I’ll support the film…it has been great fun and if nothing else, it gets people who don’t know about this world excited about it. I’m thankful for the whole life changing experience for nothing else than to communicate with fans and critics worldwide.

It has been one helluva ride.

If you have anything else to ask, see me this weekend. I'll be at the JGTC event.

[driftersilvia]

Does not change the fact that street racing is now a felony. And that because of these stupid retarded movies and even gayer followers of the movies people can not race in an abandoned area like people did with their muscle cars in the 70s.

And again how many people have died because in the movies it portrayed import cars as super fast and unbeatable cars.

And hey i understand it wasnt totally your fault but i hope you atleast understand how badly those movies have ruined the scene and now me hearing that drifting will be exploited in the next movie. Im pretty pissed and so are many other people. Hopefully you see my stance on this.

[craiglieberman]

With all due respect...

street racing has been around for 50 years.

There have been DOZENS of movies about illegal street racing going back to the 1950's. 2 Lane Blacktop, American Graffiti.

After each movies' release, cops came down hard.

TF & TF didn't cause legislators to turn street racing into a felony...accidents that took lives did that. Who was responsible? The dumba$$e$ doing this $hit on public roads.

Problem is...in most cases where street racing accidents claim lives, these accidents are in areas accessible to the public and often claim innocent victims.

Did the movie exploit the tuner scene? Absolutely.
Did it increase the number of people, dumb and smart in the scene, absolutely. Will drifting be exploited in the next movie? I'd bet on it.

Problem is: most studios don't use the word "exploit," they prefer the word "dramatize."

Its all about making money. Everyone, every studio and even drifters have their price (hell, a whole team of Japanese drifters wearing APC logos? Why aren't you folks sending them hate emails?)

[driftersilvia]

Because that would involve dealing with them and id rather not deal with a drifter who has APC decals and such. APC is the opitimy of rice.

Now i dunno maybe you are different than what i though and others think. Maybe possibly we can chat online or something so i can better understand you. Because it is seeming like you arent the Rice King as many have said you are.

[craiglieberman]

My door is open...even to critics.

Email me at liebermc1@cox.net or clieberman@magnaflow.com

[DriftGirl]

Originally posted by driftersilvia
.....Now i dunno maybe you are different than what i though and others think. Maybe possibly we can chat online or something so i can better understand you. Because it is seeming like you arent the Rice King as many have said you are.

Nice to see someone use a bit of common sense for a change.

[DRIFTER-M]

APC is the opitimy of rice.

Sorta, I dont like that they sell parts at wal-mart but then again its alot cheaper than buying same part from a car shop for double or triple the price.
But before completely dissing them look at their drift team AKA team orange. Good drifters, very good. Also APC parts are built great and give out reasonable power.
But they are not my favorite.

[yarzan]

haha, i trhought we could FINALLY have a quiet conversation without all the craig haters, than this guy shows up...

hint, noob...
WEVE BEEN THROUGH THIS 45 THOUSAND TIMES ON THIS SITE! ITS OLD!

it wasnt his fault.... read pal, it helps.

anyway... so what was the american rental car that was going to be used for 2f2f??? please tell me, im dying out here .

oh... and ra ther not deal with drifters that have APC.... well that leaves out team orange i guess, oh well.

[driftersilvia]

Maybe you didnt see me tell him I now understand. So maybe you should be the one who learns to read.

And the main thing was i was seeing some people posting seeming as if they wanted drifting in the third movie and i feel very strongly that will not do any good to this new sport(in america).

Im done thank you

[yarzan]

i did read that part... but still, your first 4 posts on this forum were just to attack someone, kinda harsh dont you think?

personally, i wouldnt mind drifting in the 3rd movie BECAUSE i live in Israel. no one here knows about drifting... its all rice, so maybe if people start knowing what it is, it'll be easier for people to undersand me and not think im a stoner when i say i want an LSD.
but yes, ive ived in LA since 4 months ago and dont think this movie will help the drift scene, but once again, craig aint responsible .

im done now too .