REDLINE TV (Episode #2)

[su_maverick]

Craig,
Make sure you are covering all points in the US for drifting events. True, places like Miami and SoCal might have more of a following but there are tons of grassroots events across the country. If you would like a good person to talk to, talk to Chris Cobetto with US Drift. You can contact him through their website at www.usdrift.com . Chris is a great guy who really knows his stuff and is all about promoting the sport. At every event he has had this year he also holds Drift 101 classes to have drivers teach new kids how to properly drive their cars and is helping local groups to reserve track time at local venues. I will admit that I am mostly familiar with the midatlantic but Im sure enough people will chime in from around. One thing to check out would be the Falken Showoff in Washington DC on July 24th.
I am glad to see that everything has calmed down and people are giving good advice now. As long as Craig backs up what he says and takes advice honestly, this could really work.
Here are some links to help you out:
www.godrift.com
www.nasaproracing.com
www.dgtrials.com
www.driftnation.com
www.driftsession.com
www.teamlexus.com
www.lookoutdrift.com
www.midatlantic240sx.com
Good luck,
Neal

[EightSevenZero]

i'd really like for tips and tricks section... little tidbits that drifters use to help them out for either mechanical or driving usage. like... i guess its a ghetto-rig segment, for example like taping the steering wheel so you know where the center of the wheel is etc. things that aren't common knowledge but people use and are actually helpful, or like how you can take the button on the back seat of a corolla gts seat and use it as a spin-turn knob on the ebrake..

maybe they could have like a email submission where you send in your tip/trick and i'll show the rest of the audience how to do it.

[AlexPfeiffer]

Anyone with a copy in or around diamond bar? (so cal) We were in sonoma and didnt get a chance to watch the second one.

[craiglieberman]

Add'l info

Su_Maverick: Thanks for the input, I'll be checking those sites today.

Not sure if you saw an earlier post of mine, but we had some challenges getting in the door to some of the drift events....they simply wouldn't let us in, and even D1GP gave us EXTREMELY limited access to areas of their event.

Mr. M at Drift Days was the most cooperative of the bunch, so we got quite a bit of coverage of drifting from one of his events. He was awesome, as were the people at his event.

After exhaustive negotiations with Miyoshi's people, we were finally able to get access to their Miami event. The event was small, to say the least.

Between these two events, we got quite a bit of coverage and we knew we would.

We weren't satisfied with just that, so all the while, we were in talks with Formula D. Suffice to say that an agreement could not be struck...turns out they're holding to a hope to at some point in the future produce their own TV show. Not sure if that'll ever happen, as many promoters have fallen into the same trap and years go by before anyone gets any TV coverage....this exact same thing happend in import drag racing.

What I'm saying is that while I can tell you for sure that we will not be able to reach into every corner of drifting this season, unless some promoters abandon the fantasy that a big TV will come to them, you're not likely to see drifting on TV anywhere outside of this show anytime soon....wish we had the power to change that. If the drifting community united and made our desires known to the promoters, that might change, but I'll let the world in on a little secret:

Promoters don't like TV....unless TV production companies pay them to cover it. Why? Because a person who watches it on TV is not likely ot buy a ticket to go to the event, cause they can see it on TV for free. And unless promoters feel they're making enough money from the payments from production companies, its' not going to happen.

The truth of course is that TV broadcasts can be blacked out locally, as no one from Montana or Cali is going as a specatator to a Miami drift event, so I've never bought into the notion that airing a TV show shot in Miami cost them ticket sales from the NJ and Cali ticket buyer.

When will TV production companies/networks decide to pay such royalties? The difficulty is that it'll cost a production company $100,000 per episode MINIMUM to produce a 30 minute segment to cover a drift event and promoters want a sizeable "royalty" fee above that. That would make each 30 minute segment cost between $100-250K. and there's only about $50,000 in commercial inventory per show to sell...which means a network would lose $100,000 per show....hey, a lot of people love drifting, but enough to offset a network's $100K loss per show.

No TV network is ready to commit to drifting in such a capacity at this early stage.

So, with that said, please bear with us as we beg, borrow and steal to try to get access to the pro events, BUT, the good news is that if we were able to get access to the bigger of the GRASSROOTS events, like Drift Days, we could cover the upcomers.

Looking for help from you people to tell us what those events are.

[CRASHDRIVE]

Originally posted by AlexPfeiffer
Anyone with a copy in or around diamond bar? (so cal) We were in sonoma and didnt get a chance to watch the second one.

Yo Alex! I got a copy of the show, but im in San Diego. he he. I might stop by @ DD18 if there's a spot open (since it's full already) Can I crash DD18? Can You ask Mr. Moto Miwa if I can crash? I just got done with some suspension work, and i want to test it.

But seriously, I have a copy of episode 1 and 2 I dont mind sharing you a copy of it.

Oh yeah... FEEDBACk about the show.

Hey CRAIG (your messing the rotation man! puff, puff give!) Okay, enough of that.

CRAIG, ever consider adding another 30mins to that show? Tell Spike TV, they can get rid of "Reality of Speed" I hate that show! that should free you up a time slot.

[Piner]

yeah i watched the tape i had of it and it wasn't that bad. I liked the DD part of it. And the JGTC part.

But Courtney needs to go. We need that chick from the speed channel show 5th gear.. (known in europe as top gear) She is the best female automotive host on tv. She genuinly loves cars has her own opinions not just what the script writers tell her plus she is a pretty gtood driver and loves to race.

[CRASHDRIVE]

Originally posted by Piner
yeah i watched the tape i had of it and it wasn't that bad. I liked the DD part of it. And the JGTC part.

But Courtney needs to go. We need that chick from the speed channel show 5th gear.. (known in europe as top gear) She is the best female automotive host on tv. She genuinly loves cars has her own opinions not just what the script writers tell her plus she is a pretty gtood driver and loves to race.

yeah. Finally, they are brining TOP GEAR back. Around 99 they reviewed the last Skyline GTR R34. They called it "the big blue" That was great.

Yeah they have new hosts. The girl was awesome. tearing up the track. and giving her review at the same time.. now that's talent!

[su_maverick]

Craig,
Talk to Chris, he is a very down to earth guy. He realizes that Drifting isnt as big on the east coast as it is on the west. His basic theory is.
Media Coverage = Public Interest = More People at Events = More Money from tickets = more events and more venues willing to hold those events.
Im with alot of these guys and dont want to sell the sport out and turn it into a car show but there has to be butts in the seats to pay to get the track time. If you want, I can talk to Chris prior and take point, just let me know. You can email me at nealjweese@comcast.net
Thanks,
Neal

[Tsunami]

So far I've liked what I've seen, not too bad, although I could do without seeing the girl get ready for 5 minutes. I'm just happy that I can finally see some real live drifting. I just wish my family would open up......they'll sit and watch 2 hours of nascar post-race but then when a show about drifting or any other form of motorsport comes on they wanna go watch Everybody Loves Raymond.

[Tsunami]

ps.......it was also the bomb cuase alex was on there hehe

[nissanguy_24]

Everyone loves ramon would be funny if ramon wasnt on it.. Man that guy is a P.... anyways sorry for going off topic

[PhoPower]

wow its a moderator going off topic haha

[Ghost of Duluth]

I actually spoke to Craig on the phone. In our conversation he not once expressed any of the following...Arogance, Ignorance or a non love for automobiles. What he did express is concern for what you guys actually thought. He was genuinly interested in what I had to say and my ideas on how the show could be made better. It was actually a refreshing phone conversation because he listened. I didn't get to present too many ideas since it was right after my FD destucto scenario but I will be speaking to him again. I did give an idea that I thought might help alot of you up and comers out. A budget car build up. What I mean by that is this, a real guys build up. A car that you or I could go out, find, buy and build with minimal money. I didn't want to see a bunch of freebie parts and ultra expensive set ups that I nor you will ever be able to afford. I want to see real world stuff. Craig agreed with that. I would hope that alot of the stuff was free just for giving the companies advertisements but I want to see budget coilover systems, inexpensive engine mods, home made stuff that requires ingenuity and forced innovation that can only come from being poor.

With them only having a few more episodes left on the first run, that will be a little hard to do, but, if the show gets picked back up, you might see that in the future. Like I said, it was a refreshing conversation. Pretty nice guy.

[su_maverick]

Ghost, do I hear 2 FD build ups??? hint hint

[Ghost of Duluth]

Don't I wish brother, don't I wish. Much as I would want that, my car wouldn't really be a budget build up since they are still over 13k to get one, 17k for an R1 in great shape. Nah, need a 240 or something along those lines.