How RatRodTV Started

The ad business turned to shit when the financial meltdown hit. I was bored stiff and going broke. I was killing time one sunday and happened across a car show in Vegas, and this particular car grabbed my attention.

 I thought you were supposed to spend your time and money getting rid of rust and covering up holes. This guy did neither. Steve, the owner, proceeded to fill me in on the details of the build. He found the car in a field in Nebraska, bought it for $50 and hauled it back to Vegas. He gave me a parts and money history. I found the whole process fascinating. Bing! More people should know about these recycled cars and the culture. I'll put my thirty years of television experience to work and produce a documentary!

SEMA 2009 was coming to Vegas and I had thirty days to make a plan and start shooting. I rounded up a three camera crew of guys I had worked with over the years and we set out to make "Rustville" a made for television documentary. I interviewed a few high profile car people and then hit most of the television car show hosts. Three cameras and the official crew tee shirts got a lot of attention and everyone we interviewed was more than cooperative.

While we were shooting a tall fella tapped me on the shoulder and handed me his business card. "What are you doing?" He asked. "Shooting a documentary on rat rods." I replied. "Why don't you do a television series. We'll put it on the air." Enter Charlie West, program director for R&RTV network.
What are the odds on that happening? We quickly abandoned the doc idea and went to work on creating a pilot for the network. Now what do we do with three days of interview footage? We turned them into web videos and fired up the RatRodTV Youtube channel.

How do you produce a thirteen episode television series with no money and no sponsors?

Stay tuned.