Stolen Toyota

I made this film 30+ years ago and I still get asked about it. The film has screened all over the world. Here are some stories about the making of it.

I’ve written before about my first two short films, That Really Object Of Desire (1989), and You’ll Change (1992), so I thought I’d write about the third and possibly my most popular short film, Stolen Toyota (1993). Stolen Toyota has been seen all over the world.

I had a ‘79 Toyota pick up that ran great, but looked like hell. It had an old canopy on it and we used that truck to haul equipment whenever I was filming. I intentionally left it looking like crap so people would leave it alone. Imagine my surprise when I walked out in the morning to go to work and it was gone!

On my front porch discovering the truck is gone

First off I was pissed! How dare they steal my beater truck from in front of my house! I made a phone call to the police and the Officer asked me some strange questions. After talking to him I realized I was at the beginning of a very weird odyssey.

A couple days later I got a phone call from the police saying they had found the truck and it had been towed to a storage yard as it was undrivable. At this point I had no idea if there was a story here, but I decided to call a couple friends and see if they wanted to come with me to film it.

Since this was 1993 I was still shooting film so I loaded up two, four hundred foot rolls of 16mm, into a couple of magazines for a CP 16. I also grabbed my Nagra audio recorder and microphones and off we went.

I sent my friends down by the truck and waited until they got set up so they could film me when I first saw the truck. The reactions in that scene are real and looking at the footage I’m amazed that the things I talked about when I first saw the truck, actually foreshadowed what was to come.

I’m going to post the film here so you can see it and I can talk about what happened and not ruin any of the surprises. It’s around 7 minutes so give it a watch.

Stolen Toyota -

A little bit of background. All of my short films were designed to be filmed in a day or less, on as little film as possible, film is expensive. Which meant that everything had to be worked out a head of time.

When I decided to make the film I looked around for other people whose cars had been recently stolen. Because this is Portland, it wasn’t too tough. Portland used to have one of the highest car theft statistics in the nation. I’m not sure if it still does, but I wouldn’t be surprised.

I found people quickly. One was my Father, another, a close friend’s sister, and the third was the wife of the fellow who ran the NW Film Study Center. I was talking about what happened with a friend of mine and he mentioned that a friend of his had her car stolen around the same time and it was also a Toyota Pick-up, and she turned out to be the woman whose truck was found with mine.

I met up with everyone and got their stories. I made an outline and built my story around theirs. I wrote it all down so I knew exactly what I needed to shoot. This was over thirty years ago so forgive me if I get a few things wrong. I believe we filmed all of the interviews and my pieces on the same day. I filmed everything outdoors so I just needed a reflector or two for lighting. The entire crew traveled in the same vehicle so there was no getting lost. We hustled.

When it comes to the scene with the Insurance Adjuster, I had hoped to interview him but had a feeling he would refuse, which is exactly what happened. I walked into his office with the crew waiting outside, yeah I could have gone in there with the cameras rolling but that seemed tacky to me and not at all what I wanted to do. We had a heated exchange, not our first one obviously. He told me I was trespassing and to leave. I told him that the sidewalk in front of the building was public property and I would be shooting out there and there was nothing he could do about it.

I had written an alternate scene, me standing out in front of his office, knowing that he probably wouldn’t cooperate. While we’re shooting he was on the second floor watching us. And yes, the things that he supposedly said to me in the piece I wrote were indeed what he said. And that includes his comment about defeating Japan in WW2. I didn’t make that up. And yes, I really did receive the letter from the insurance company saying they were going to raise my rates because of the theft.

My Father and I talking about his car being stolen

When it came time to edit in 16mm, my flatbed wasn’t working, I don’t remember why. Bill Foster, who ran the NW Film Study Center and who’s wife is in the film, allowed me to use one of their flatbeds but I had to do it in a single day. Which I did. My buddy Wayne did a late night audio mix and the bill was a very reasonable $75 as I recall.

I finished up the film and was at the processing lab to screen the first answer print. For those of you who don’t know, this is a big deal! It’s the first time projecting on a big screen, an actual print of the film with color correction, completed audio mix, and titles. There was another filmmaker in town who happened to be at the lab and asked if he could sit in the theater with me to watch it?

At this point no one had seen this film. We were friends so I said sure. After we watched it I was feeling okay, and he proceeded to rip me a new asshole, telling me how bad it was! He went on and on how it didn’t make sense, it wasn’t good, and I needed to throw everything out and start all over again! He made a ton of “suggestions”.

I was devastated! My last two films had done really well and I felt like I was taking a chance with this one. I was in that place where you think what you’re doing is okay, but you’re not sure. I was feeling very vulnerable right then and he ripped me apart!

I left the screening room and went home convinced I had made a real piece of shit! I didn’t want anyone to see it. I sat around thinking about everything he had said and was trying to figure out if I could fix it.

After a sleepless night, I had a realization. If I did all of the things he was suggesting to “save” my film, it wouldn’t be my film anymore. It would look and sound like one of his films.

Don’t get me wrong. He’s a terrific filmmaker in his own right. I love his work. But our styles and content are totally different. It was at this point that I re-learned that lesson, to trust your instincts.

I have always loved this still

I made no changes to the film. I sent it out to film festivals and it did better than any of my other films. I even received a few grants, and one contract, to make other films based on my previous work, specifically this film.

But the story doesn’t end there…

Somehow my insurance agent heard about the film, possibly through my father as they were friends, and asked to see it. When he saw it he was horrified, and pissed. He called the claims adjuster and demanded to know why he said the things he said to me. The guy denied it. He also called the person listed on the letter from the insurance company and demanded that they roll back my auto insurance to where it was before the theft. They did.

A few months later I was walking out of a restaurant and my other car was gone. I called the police and then my insurance agent. It was found two days later in okay shape but not great. The guy at the tow yard told me the insurance company would probably total it. I called my agent and told him the car had to be fixed because I needed it for another film I was making, Tales From I-5. My agent assured me that not only would he make sure they fixed the car, but I would never have to deal with that claims adjuster again.

My insurance agent kept his word. Not only was my car fixed they even put a new stereo in it.

But wait there’s more.

Every time I show the film I get people coming up to tell me their car theft stories. The best story I heard was a friend of mine was showing his in-laws my other film about being a father, You’ll Change, and Stolen Toyota was on the same tape. They watched both films and laughed. He told me they really enjoyed it. The next morning they went outside and their car had been stolen.

I don’t make this shit up!

Whatever you do, be it filmmaking or any kind of art, listen to your instincts. Don’t let yourself fall into the trap of listening to others about what works and what doesn’t. Think about people’s comments/feedback and then decide for yourself what input to listen to and what is going to make your art the best it can be for you!

You don’t have to take feedback from everyone. Surround yourself with people you trust and respect, who want to see you be successful and will be honest with you about your work.

I hope you’re all successful!

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