Special Guest: Marlene Rodman, Videographer

Welcome to the podcast of Motor Week,

television's original automotive magazine.

Motor Week is made possible by Auto Value and Bumper to Bumper,

and TireRack.com.

Here's your Motor Week podcast host, John Davis.

And welcome everyone to our Motor Week podcast.

I am indeed your host John Davis,

and we're glad to have you with us

for another special edition of our show

where we celebrate our 45th anniversary

by talking to special guests from our past,

and that means this episode is also being video recorded

and can be seen on our YouTube channel.

Today I am joined by our digital producer

and the producer of this podcast, Jessica Ray.

Hello everybody.

And our guest today is another longtime crew member

who spent decades lugging around cameras

to shoot all sorts of productions

here at Maryland Public Television,

including many episodes at Motor Week.

Welcome to the podcast,

the one and the only Marlene Rodman.

Welcome, Marlene.

Thank you, John.

I have to say I'm more comfortable on that side of the camera.

Well, you always were.

But, you know, you regaled us so much

with all of your stories and the places you had been,

and that's what we want to capture some of on the podcast today.

I have no doubt that this will be

a very entertaining little interview for everybody.

Now, hopefully for you.

I was going to say we kind of found,

we were kind of like going back through

trying to figure out your timeline with us.

And we're just like, wow, Marlene worked with us

for a long time.

A long time.

And even when Marlene wasn't one of our standard videographers,

she filled in frequently,

especially when Ray Coata would go

gallivanting off somewhere around the world.

And it was, we always add, you know,

if we didn't have one of the videographers assigned to us,

we always asked for Marlene,

because we knew that she knew the drill.

She had the skills.

And it's more than that.

She loved, at least to be thought,

you'll tell me, loved working with us.

So that's very important.

So how you doing?

I'm doing great, John.

Keeping busy.

I am.

I am at the Y four days a week.

And I call myself house manager.

House manager.

Yes, taking care of, you know,

service techs coming.

Of course, there's always doctor appointments.

Now, wait a minute.

I have to tell right off the bat

that Marlene is married to Dennis Rodman.

And Dennis was also a...

Dennis Flowers.

I'm sorry.

Dennis Flowers.

Yeah.

I apologize.

I knew I was going to make that mistake

before we started.

Well, you know, every time I go somewhere

and they ask me, are you related to Dennis?

And I say he's my husband.

Yeah.

They say no.

Well, and that's because you're both

about the same height, you know?

And, but tell us, Dennis, of course,

was also a videographer here

at Maryland Public Television.

Is that where you guys met?

We did.

We met actually on your show,

Wall Street Week with Lewis Rooker,

sir.

I was camera two.

You were both studio camera operators?

We were both hired.

I was already here as a production assistant,

but was promoted to a studio camera operator.

And they brought in two new people.

And Dennis was one of them.

Let me go back even further than that.

Give us an idea of how you actually got

into this business, because we're always

getting these requests like, you know,

we want to be either in television

or video media or whatever.

Give me an idea of how you got here.

Well, after I graduated University of

Maryland in radio, TV and film,

and then I put out resumes and

feelers everywhere.

And it's funny.

I don't remember how it came,

but I actually had interviewed

with Captain Chesapeake.

Oh, OK.

On Channel 45.

All right.

And I think my guess might have been

a writer for him or something,

but he was also working here.

Absolutely.

And he told me that I should try

Maryland Public Television.

At that time, it was the Center for

Public Broadcasting.

Maryland Center for Public Broadcasting.

Well, we, you know, in those days,

we're now talking, what, 1970s,

there weren't that many women

running camera at television stations

around the country, and MPT,

or Maryland Center for Public Broadcasting,

was unique.

We had actually a bevy,

female camera operators,

several of them that went on to

L.A. and to win all sorts of awards

and everything else.

So we had a long history in that,

but you didn't come in and work

camera right away, right?

No, no, no.

I actually volunteered for a long

time.

I volunteered for a year and a half,

just working in studio.

Oh, really, that long?

I was working in the studio,

like for Wall Street Week,

pulling cards when we do the Dow Jones

and all that.

All the mechanical graphics,

but long before digital and electronic

graphics.

But actually, the first show I started

was Consumer Survival Kit.

I volunteered on that.

So I just wanted to get in the door here.

I knew I wanted to work here.

And so, like I said,

I volunteered on Consumer Survival Kit,

Wall Street Week,

I think Critics Place as well.

And so then there was an opening

for a production assistant.

But the funny thing was that they had

an opening for A.M. Weather,

which was the 3 a.m. shooting.

Yeah, they were our trailer mates

back in the days.

And also production studio.

And so I had applied,

and then George Benjamin called me

and I was ecstatic.

And then I forgot to ask him,

am I the 3 a.m. shift?

I don't care,

but I sure don't want to be the 3 a.m. shift.

But I was hired as a studio production assistant.

But you could have gone into local news

or something like that.

But I wasn't interested in that.

Well, I didn't know what I was interested in.

I thought here I could get a good feeling

because it's non-union.

They were very open to letting me do

whatever I wanted.

But yeah, so it worked out great.

I started as a PA here and did that for,

I think that was, I was hired in 78.

In 80, I became a studio camera operator.

I had auditioned for that with Tony for...

Tony Jaffray.

Tony Jaffray, our lighting director.

And he had the same test for everybody.

He had a follow,

a roll of gaffer state follow focus on it.

And then you had to go through columns,

knowing how to truck and move the camera.

And so it's funny because I said years later,

I said, you know what?

But this was before I actually had to do it.

I said, you know what, Tony?

I never had to use any of those things before,

after I took the test, the audition.

But then later on, things got a little more,

I was doing more following focus.

And then when we were doing musical things,

we were moving around like that.

Well, also though, during your...

It wasn't shortly,

it wasn't too long after you came here.

So by the mid-80s,

studio production was starting to wind down

and outside remotes were winding up

because the cameras,

even though they were still heavy,

they got a little bit lighter, a little more mobile.

You didn't have a lot of appendages.

Like, you know, a separate video recorder was in the camera.

So everyone went outside, including Motor Week.

So all of that.

And let me ask you,

in all the time that when you shot for Motor Week,

what was the hardest aspect that you had to shoot?

In studio.

Really?

Yeah.

You know, having to go car and lighting.

So that was a challenge.

But the thing with Motor Week

is just like certain locations that we were shooting,

especially on, you know, away from MPT,

like press previews and stuff,

and having to go and shoot on tracks and things.

And so then you kind of feel like you're looking

in that viewfinder and you feel like you're invincible.

And then people are telling you,

no, you can't stand there.

But as I was telling Jessica,

that when we were at one location,

the guy was going, you know,

go around the track and then we sit down

and he talks about, you know, different angles and things.

And then he mentioned something about, you know,

and watch out for scorpions.

And then he went on and I said,

well, wait, wait, wait, wait,

let's go back to the scorpion thing, please.

The choice was after public affairs,

they wanted to know if I wanted to work on

Outdoors Maryland or Motor Week.

And I thought, well, Outdoors Maryland,

I'm going to be dealing with ticks.

And then I go here and he's telling me,

watch out for the scorpions.

That must have been somewhere out West.

Phoenix or California.

Willow Springs, very much, very possibly.

So you traded Eastern ticks for Western scorpions.

Exactly, exactly.

Great choice.

Right, right.

No, but I was going to say,

no, Motor Week was fun.

I have to say after a while,

it was like assembly line shooting, you know,

obviously it's car after car after car.

And we would joke, okay, we're doing the blue one now.

Now we're doing the red one.

But now, like I'm not a real car geek,

but the locations are what stick out in my mind

where we went on all these previews.

Travel, yes.

All right, let's go there.

Okay.

Give me an idea of some of your most memorable moments.

Now I have to say, this is back in the day

when we didn't have cell phone cameras

and all the lightweight stuff we have now.

You basically had a 75 pound camera

that you lugged around on your shoulder

with all of the gear.

I mean, they were like five bags.

75 is pretty big.

Five bags.

No, those cameras.

That's like 35.

But then when you put the battery.

Well, the battery and the lens and everything else

was heavy.

Anyway, I can remember getting on airplanes with you

or whoever it was and all of the luggage

that we had to carry on and the airlines giving us a,

and those days, fortunately they didn't charge

for excess baggage, but it was a lot of material.

It wasn't just running and gunning.

And in those days, we often were able to take a videographer

to the press events.

We were the only cameras there.

Television was still relatively new

to the automotive press world.

So what are some of the instances there on previews

that stand out in your memory?

Well, besides the scorpion.

Domestically was great, but internationally was awesome.

So going to Cannes with Max and they're giving us,

it was the new, I think the SEL 600.

Giving it to us, take it, drive around Cannes

and do whatever.

It wasn't like it was a preview where you got a map

and it wasn't a ride and drive kind of thing.

It was just like, here it is.

Here's the car.

So, you know, we're pedaling around France

and the, you know, it was awesome.

And I was saying that at one point

my high school French came in handy.

It was a little rusty, but we got off, you know,

you get off the beaten path.

There we had no path.

We were just driving around.

There's no GPS.

Did you even have a map, maybe?

They might have given us a map, but still it's in French.

So anyway, so we got out and like, you know, Max is like,

and I went up there and I don't know what I said,

but somehow we got off.

We got out of that area and back on the road

and back to driving around.

But that was awesome.

And just, you know, the accommodations,

it's just amazing.

Same thing.

Well, actually, this was domestically.

I actually shot the video.

I shot video of the inside of this place at,

it was at Park City, Utah.

Stein Erickson.

It was a condo, but I don't remember what vehicle

we were there for.

That's fated.

Yeah, that's fated.

But we got this condo that I shot.

I mean, it had hallways that led up steps to a hot tub.

And then I had a beautiful stone fireplace

and big French doors that looked out.

You could ski out of your, out of your room.

And I saw the ski slope right above me.

That was very cool.

And now everybody, now we need to dispel this myth.

Everybody thinks that the auto media gets wind and dined

and you go to all these fancy places,

but how long were you actually there?

Yeah, not very long.

Yeah.

It's usually land, work, sleep, get up.

That's exactly what you know.

Dennis and I were going to Spain in May

and someone asked me if you ever been.

I went, yeah, I went twice for motor weekend.

I saw the track and I saw the hotel.

And the airports.

And the airport, exactly.

Yeah, a lot of times, and then as years went on,

they used to give us extra days to shoot.

They didn't do that anymore.

So you were running and gunning and getting,

you know, these statics and whatever,

road tests as fast as you can.

Yeah, well, a lot of people might not realize,

and like John had mentioned, you know,

we once upon a time were the only people

who would bring a camera person.

Well, we really introduced television

to the electronic, to the automotive media world

for all practical purposes.

And so obviously that has changed so much now.

Now we go on press events and everybody's going to go

in some aspect, whether they're doing it

in a more quote unquote professional way

with like a videographer and not quite as big

of a camera as we used to be using,

but you know, smaller cinema cameras.

But then there's also people who are just using

their cell phones.

They're doing tons of content with that.

And so it is funny that you sort of talked

about how like the programs were very structured,

where you didn't veer off the itinerary

that they gave you.

Now everything is so much more freeform

because everybody needs to be able to spend a little time,

go off and create their own content.

Yeah, before they pulled over the side of the road,

they took two or three still pictures

and they were back on the road again.

So it's very interesting how much it's evolved.

Oh, absolutely.

Now when Ray and I used to went out,

there were many instances where we would run

very close to getting either arrested

or having to pay fines or something.

Did you ever have any situation?

Because could you shot wherever you were?

In California, it's very difficult.

But this is a funny story.

This was here before 795 got really busy.

And I'm doing, you know, driving shots

and I was let off the side,

I was on the shoulder of the road

and whoever was driving left me.

And all of a sudden, you know, I'm setting up,

I'm getting ready.

And the state trooper comes by here,

he stops and he goes, what are you doing?

And how did you get here?

And I said, just stay here.

Momentarily, a car is going to come by.

You'll see.

So, but no, I don't think I ever got...

Let me finish that thought.

We had permission to use it.

Yes, yes, yes.

He wasn't aware, I guess.

But the only time actually,

this had nothing to do with Motor Week,

I was actually in Russia shooting.

And I was getting shots of the Red Square

and I was reprimanded by some Soviet police that came.

But the trick is that they're talking to you.

You just continue to roll, you know,

shoot whatever, like if it's a stat,

just keep rolling.

Because that happened to me in D.C. as well.

The Supreme Court, I think it was.

They didn't want me shooting the exterior of it.

And the guy came over and he was talking to the producer.

I'm just like...

I'll never tell.

That's a brilliant tell.

So how did you actually end up working with us at Motor Week?

Well, I said, I'll do Motor Week.

I didn't want to do it outdoors in Maryland.

And then at first I started,

then I think I was...

Then it was a two-man band then.

So I was...

It's funny because I was looking back at pictures

and I was running the Deck for Ray,

but I was also doing it for Mike Goldsmith.

So I was like the second person, I guess,

when the crew...

In those days, the videotape recorder was a large device

and it was separate from the camera

and there was a cable that ran between the two.

Right, so that's how I got my start into Motor Week.

And then Michael got pulled for a special

and he was off the show.

And I took his spot and that's how I became a videographer.

That was a great day for us.

Well, Michael was a terrific guy, but it was terrific.

I'm curious, coming into...

Like you said, you were doing a lot of

maybe assisting of Ray when he was doing the shooting.

How did you hone your craft?

Because we've talked about this previously.

Motor Week is not...

We're not outdoors in Maryland.

I mean, you've got cars moving at 60 plus miles per hour.

And you're talking about your audition, right?

How you had to follow folks.

That's when it came in.

Can you talk a little bit about that?

As a studio camera operator,

we were also on location as well.

They brought us out to do...

So it wasn't the first time I was a single camera shooter.

But then when we went out in production and I was a shooter,

it was a gang of like ten.

We had a truck, we had audio, we had engineering.

I mean, it was everything.

So I had shot single camera before,

but nothing going at 60 miles an hour.

I mean, there was definitely a learning curve.

Definitely for Motor Week.

I would have paid to have seen you the first time

that we went out.

You had to go out to 75, 80 Dragway

and shoot a car coming through the slalom.

Well, like I told Jessica,

I said, sometimes you had to cheat and you just zoom out.

That's what was so envious of Ray.

Ray like honed in and he was like, you know, a drone on him.

I mean, he was amazing.

He was amazing.

So this is who I looked up to and tried to, you know...

Yeah.

Do the same, but yeah, he was amazing.

But now you do after a while, you know, you have good days

and you still have bad days.

You have to do like seven takes on the track.

It happens to the best of us.

I still do seven takes on stand-ups frequently.

Right, right.

Speaking of the track and slalom, you know,

was that a little scary in the beginning?

Well, they show me where I should stand.

So I was fine, except Max,

you know, a little daredevil that he is.

He liked to go...

He liked to pass you as close as he could.

Exactly, where he knocked the cone over.

Oh, that is very close.

So that was a little precarious,

but then I was the only one...

I don't know if I was the only one that did this,

but when we did breaking,

talk about being in a vulnerable position,

I would be on the same side of the track

as the car coming towards me.

And we normally shoot that from the opposite side of the cones.

Exactly.

So, and like I said, you're looking at that viewfinder.

It's fine, you know, but...

Then you'd look up and see the cars about to...

Just ten feet away.

This car didn't have very good breaking.

That's true.

So then sometimes, like whoever was driving would say,

go on the other side of this car, it's not very good.

It's going to be a longer length of breaking.

So then I did that.

But, you know, we were doing, like, going back,

when we would do driving shots,

and we'd be shooting out the back of a van.

And I...

You had the helicopter harness on.

Well, no, I had Don Domain holding the waistband.

Oh, that was even before that.

He was holding my waistband so I wouldn't fall out on a bump.

Because we often were shooting out of the back of a minivan.

Yes.

It was either a minivan or a suburban.

And it got to the point, I actually can remember,

Ray came to me and said,

we've got to do something about this.

I'm getting bounced around.

And we came up with something that nobody else had done.

First, we anchored the tripod to the floor of the vehicle,

which sounds very obvious.

And I'm sure that's the way they've always done it

in big productions like Hollywood.

And then we got a helicopter harness

and tied everybody in with that,

just to be extra safe.

Not when Marlee was there.

Right.

Don't say that.

Yeah, right.

Because that was too much trouble.

Yeah.

Anyway.

So that was an interesting time at Motor Week.

And those...

But when you were shooting out of the van,

people see these shots and the cars,

you know, going changing lanes or whatever

and then passes the van.

Those...

Because the lenses were relatively wide angle,

the cars had to be no more than about six feet

from the bumper of the vehicle you were shooting out of.

That was a tough thing.

You know, trying to get the driver to...

Well, you're on a walkie-talkie.

Yeah, but trying to get them exactly where they need to be

in a constant speed.

But the drivers were good.

They could figure that out.

But then you had people, like, you know,

getting really angry, you know, driving slowly.

Yeah.

When 795 or wherever.

Yeah.

So...

Let's get back to some of the travel.

You and I had had some fun times on the road

because when we would go,

Marlene and I both were tourists.

We went somewhere, we wanted to see some of the sights.

And that wasn't always true with all the rest of the crew

that was with us.

Tell me a couple of those that have stuck in your memory.

Well, of course, Japan.

Yep.

Because that's someplace that I didn't think I'd ever go

and probably won't.

And then just, you know, a completely different culture.

But, you know, shooting the actual motor show

was a bit of a challenge because you had so many people.

Crowds were huge.

The crowds were huge.

But they also were showing no respect

for camera operators or videographers.

But even the videographers were there

were showing no respect for the other videographers.

They would just step in front of you.

Oh, they'd step right in front of you.

Yeah.

And it was so aggravating.

And I think part of it...

I'm sure that was just their mentality.

But being a woman might have been something as well.

Well, I can remember being at the Frankfurt Motor Show,

particularly with Ray.

And Ray would get to the event 20 or 30 minutes early

to be right at the front so he could see the unveiling.

And there would be other camera folks that would come

and literally push him out of the way.

Absolutely.

Because I did the same show.

It's the same thing.

Like, everybody wants to get that shot.

Yeah.

You know, we're all there for the same thing.

So, yeah, it's very challenging.

But what else stood out about going to Japan?

Well, we had a great time just walking around.

And actually, one day, I don't know how that worked out.

I had a day off by myself for some reason.

I was very proud of myself.

I took the metro or whatever it's called there

and I went to another city and explored there.

And then I remember what they did.

They took us to a hibachi dinner.

Do you remember this?

Yes, I do.

And it was a long table.

And that's when I was introduced to Kobe beef.

That was, like, the big thing there.

So, yeah.

And then they had Gisha curls.

Do you remember that?

Yeah, I do.

And that's the picture I was looking for.

I got you with a Gisha curl on it.

Oh, my.

That would be a picture.

Gisha curl.

I could not find it.

Well, you know, I remember sitting down at the table

for the meal and there were a whole bunch of journalists

at the meal.

And the food was started at one end

and the plates would be empty when it got to the other.

And the cooks came out and looked at us like they'd never

seen anybody consume so much food.

You never met automotive journalists.

You know, they say soldiers travel on their stomach,

so they're car riders.

And then they had beetles and personators there.

So that was a, yeah.

That was a fun trip.

And that was, excuse me, that was a long trip.

Obviously, it was like a 12 hour.

Oh, my first, first class flight,

because it was the beds that lay down.

Right.

So, but the thing was when we left, I don't know.

Probably Chicago.

But no, when we left Tokyo, it was 11 a.m.

Okay.

When we got back, it was 11 a.m.

Like that.

I remember asking whoever I went,

how do I fill out my time sheet?

Yeah, I know, I lost the day or something.

That's actually a really great point.

That's a really, that's a good question.

That's a really great point.

I haven't done that in so long.

I wouldn't know how to do it either.

Well, the one that I remember the most,

because you and I had such a great time together

being tourists was Memphis.

We had gone, we had gotten a lovely invitation

from a racetrack in Memphis to come there to their track.

And we did and we drove down.

And the, we worked all day at the track.

And then we had time and I came and said,

you know, we're in Memphis.

Who would like to go do kind of the oldest tour?

Go to the recording studio, go to Graceland.

How can you come to Memphis and not do Graceland?

And Marlene was the only one that was interested in going.

And I was absolutely floored by that.

So why'd you go?

And what happened?

Because I love traveling.

I love exploring.

I mean, like you said, we're in Memphis.

You go see Graceland.

Exactly.

So it was just very, it was so cool going there.

And just seeing, you know, it's the same thing

like anywhere when you're, these iconic places,

you see pictures of them.

But then when you're there, it's very cool.

And we got to have the picture of you

in front of the Lisa Marie plane.

And they had the, well, the, the, the graves.

The graveyard and people were like crying.

My first reaction when I got to Graceland is,

wow, it's small.

Because, you know, it's, it's a two story house.

It's like a mini mansion, but it really is a mini mansion.

Right.

By today's standards, I can't imagine it was much more than

3,000 square feet.

And it just looked like.

That's a normal house.

Yeah.

Exactly.

It looked like a Hollywood version of a, of a mansion

where they make everything smaller so that the actors look bigger.

And it wasn't that large inside.

And of course it was, it was pretty wildly decorated.

And we were out by the, by where Elvis's remains are.

And then we went across the street to the plane.

And I don't know about you, but the thing that struck me about the plane most,

and it's not there anymore, was Elvis's bedroom was in the back.

So you went all the way to the back of the plane.

And here's this huge bed.

It must have been much bigger than King size.

And there was one seat belt that ran all the way across the bed.

And it was just like, okay.

I know.

And also the TV room had like three or four TV spread out.

And this is like before picture and picture when you could go from channel

to channel in one screen, but, and very gaudy inside.

Yeah.

But it was the fifties or sixties or whatever.

Yeah.

That was it.

But that, that was very cool.

We went to the RCA studio.

Yeah.

Where he did so much of his recording, which was, I think.

Is that Sun Studio?

Sun Studio.

Well, there was Sun, there was RCA and Sun, I think.

Anyway, I think it was Sun Studio.

I think you're right.

And that was already, I think a museum at that point.

I'm kind of surprised that you had enough time to be tourists.

How did that work?

We basically would either finish up in the afternoon and do things.

Or we stay next day.

I don't remember.

I don't remember either.

I just don't know how I managed to get it in.

I think we, because we had driven all the way down and everything else, you, you had

to give the crews some time off.

So there were different rules.

Right.

And John was not known for, for giving people a lot of time off.

So.

I've heard that.

Yeah.

Well, yeah.

The saying with John, the mantra was like, you know, you'd have, okay, I want you to

hear seven o'clock, haven't eaten.

That was our crew time, crew call in the morning.

You know, seven o'clock, haven't eaten, have, have eaten.

And then if you were there at five of, you were late.

Right.

That was John back in the day.

And that was John.

And John's lunch was basically 30 minutes or less.

And Mike Goldsmith.

Oh my God.

Michael.

Michael Goldsmith.

Lovely man.

And a great videographer.

He was the slowest eater on the planet.

And Michael, you know, every, every mouthful was 32 chews.

And we're like, I'm watching the clock and I'm watching Michael eat.

Right.

Oh yeah.

Yeah.

When you're young and stupid, you do a lot of things.

Now, Marlene, you also worked on Goss's garage every summer with Pat Goss, our legendary

car care guru.

Any fond memories from that?

Well, the funniest thing was when we were doing, you were putting together a Maxston,

a kit car.

Oh, the Maxston kit car.

Yes.

So I went out to Colorado with Pat and Martin Peters.

And this was the process of building the car.

And so this part of the process was putting the car, it must have been, might have been

more stuff, but one of the things that sticks in my head is putting the carpeting in the

car.

Oh, yes.

Infamous.

Yes.

And the glue for this carpet was extremely toxic.

And by the end of this, the shoot, they were, both of them had gotten high off of the carpet

or the glue.

And so they were in hysterics.

It was like laughing gas almost.

Yeah.

It was really funny.

We had a really good time with Pat.

Pat was crazy anyway when we were doing Goss.

He's always kidding around.

And, you know, you always think you got to get stuff done.

And he's like, you know, banging his fingers.

He's playing drums.

He's, you know, he's always, he was goofy.

He was great though.

Great guy.

He was trying to keep it alive.

Yes.

Always.

Wonderful.

My great buddy.

Yeah.

Thank you for that.

Sure.

Car previews.

Any of those stick out in your head?

When we went to California for the Acura NSX.

The first one.

Yeah.

The first one.

And Jay Leno was there.

Yeah.

Because he bought the second one or the first one?

I don't remember.

But I just remember his driving through.

Well, when we first got in and just driving in the city part,

and when you get a truck next to you, those car,

that car was so low.

And I just remember us worrying that can they see us?

Yeah.

Because that would be terrible.

I'm, you know, having an accident with the first car.

Do you remember what Leno said to you?

No, but I remember what you said to him.

Here's your biggest fan.

Well, Jay Leno, I think he had just started the Tonight Show

at that point.

He hadn't been on very long and he was at a reception

and Marlene was there with the camera.

And I introduced, I pretty much shoved my way in front of

somebody to introduce Marlene to him.

And he was, and still remains to this day,

one of the most gracious people that I've ever met.

That's, you know, a big star.

He looked at the camera and he said,

you know, I've got a contract that really won't let me do

a lot of extra stuff on video, whether it was true or not.

It was a nice way of saying it,

of saying that he didn't really want to do anything on video.

And do you remember meeting James Garner?

He was at the same event.

Yeah, he was at the same event.

Did he talk to us?

Yeah.

Not on camera.

Was he nice?

Yes, he was.

He was extremely nice.

You gave me some context.

Who's James Garner?

James Garner, very, very famous of the Rockford Files,

is probably, he was also Maverick.

And he was a big TV star,

he'd done a lot of series,

but he had done, was a Grand Prix, the movie.

And that's why he was there.

He had some automotive time.

And he, oh yeah, plus he did, he was an amateur racer.

And he was actually there with some very well-known racers

at that time.

I may be getting some of my memories all mixed up.

There was a James Dean story that you wanted to tell.

That was one, I wasn't shooting.

This is when I was running audio for Mike Goldsmith.

And we did the last drive of James Dean.

And it started, it was all in Northern California.

I don't remember all the towns,

but it ended up in Shlam.

Because the big thing is,

Shlam, California.

K-C-H-L-A-M-E.

Shlam, California.

And he kept saying, how do you,

how do you pronounce it?

He goes, don't slam the door.

That's what they kept telling us.

That sounds like something Craig would say.

Yeah, right.

So it was a reproduction of the Porsche that James Dean

and the guy he was driving.

And so we went to all the stops,

which was, it was kind of eerie after a while.

And we drove through the grapevine up there

and then we ended up where he was killed.

And so it was just, you know,

you feel like you were living that day with him

because it was a full day.

I mean, it was a lot of driving.

So, but you know, and Craig always makes things kind of

interesting anyway.

He's a kind of fun guy.

Oh, he's a fun guy.

And he basically talks about that trip with you all the time.

That's one of his best memories too.

Oh, that's cool.

Yeah, it was, I'm sure he loved driving that car too.

Now, another shoe that anyone that's ever watched

any of our Motor Week Anniversary Shows always sees

is you and Lisa Barrow in Las Vegas

at the SEMA Convention.

Yes, with Elvis.

She ran, she had organized,

or I guess Susan Childress, her producer,

had organized or got an Elvis impersonator to show up at SEMA.

Because it's, you know, you just go around and shoot

aftermarket car products.

And, you know, they're cool too,

but we used Elvis as our prop.

And so, you know, he came around and I think,

I can't remember if he was working,

if he was seeing the products as Lisa was explaining.

Remember what?

I can't, that's all kind of vague now.

But I just remember him, you know, being Elvis.

It's like he never was not Elvis.

He was saving character the whole time.

Oh, my God, the whole time.

So was that like a whole day?

Yeah.

Oh, wow.

They spent at least two or three days.

Oh, yes.

It was so huge.

Just a huge convention.

So, but it was funny.

So I actually had someone in the convention center.

I said, could you just have the PA guy go up there

and say after we were done and have Elvis leaving.

Elvis has left the building.

So, and then we get him in his Cadillac leaving.

So that was kind of cool.

It was fun.

Yeah, he was a character.

Then the other cool thing I did was the Corvette Museum.

Corvette Museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Yes, I was there for the opening.

We did a, we actually were in the convoy of vets

driving down there.

That was with Steve Malcolm.

And so we shot there.

And that was just a really cool museum.

I mean, I was, you know, being a car head and gear head,

but that, that was fun.

Just all those Corvettes and stuff.

And just following these guys, they were very cool.

But then the interesting thing was how many years later was it?

10 or 20 years later?

Decades.

I think it was actually 20.

It was over.

Yeah.

It opened in 2014.

The sinkhole.

Yeah.

They had a huge sinkhole.

So I went back to a number of very valuable cars.

Yeah.

So I went back to shoot that, which was very bizarre going back

there and seeing, I mean, you know, a lot of the, the museum

was still there, but just where the cars were exhibited.

It was, it was really some, I remember, I remember that day

when it happened and it's like, what was we had been there?

Right.

You know, for, I'd been there as even as a tourist a couple

of times because it's right next to the Corvette Museum.

I mean, Corvette assembly plant.

And I was like, that was, that was just spooky.

Right.

Just spooky.

And it was also interesting, like when we went down the first

time, people that had bought a Corvette, I guess they actually,

you could order it there.

And take it for delivery there.

And they would pick it up there and these guys were in line

waiting to get their Corvette.

They still can't.

Can you?

As far as I know.

That's pretty cool.

Any scary moments?

And you mentioned the one where, you know, on the track and all,

but like anywhere and anywhere else you got lost, anything else

that bases like, how are we going to get out of this?

Well, it wasn't scary.

Well, it could have been scary, but it's another one of these

international preview, press previews.

And it's like, this one was in Spain, the one where I only saw

the hotel and then we also took the car and drove around.

And then, you know, like we're going, you get your, your map

and everything in the, the, the trip design we're supposed to go.

But, you know, we get off the track because some, we get off of that road

because sometimes you're looking for curves and whatever.

And we got so far off of the, the map that we kind of didn't know

where we were in this one.

Now we're in Spain.

I don't remember.

We must have had walkie-talkies, I guess.

Probably.

So somehow they found us, but we were way off.

You know, we were way off.

I didn't remember which way you came.

Right.

Because a lot of times, okay, you do have, they take you on

curve roads, but then there's, sometimes you're just traveling to

get to the next spot so you can switch drivers.

And we would try to find other places to shoot because we needed a

lot of drive-bys.

And, and you would get to a point where you've, you've gone back and forth

to the cars, different directions, and sometimes you don't know which

direction you actually came from.

Exactly.

Okay.

I remember one trip that actually, not for us, but there, it did kind of end

on a very sad note.

So we were out, it was for Dodge truck.

Ram truck.

And so the Ram truck.

And we were at Baron Bond Hilton's private preserve, somewhere north, I

think of Las Vegas, if I recall.

And this was a hunting preserve where he would invite either people that were

important to the company or his friends there to hunt.

And, and we were testing Ram trucks, all these incredibly powder dirt-filled

roads and all.

And I still to this day don't know how you got clear shots because when

it's, when you would drive by, you left this wake of dust that lasted for

like a minute after you drove by.

Do you remember that?

I do.

But, because you got covered with dust.

Oh my God.

It was a mess.

Like all I would see as you were coming, I could see the car, but I just

couldn't see dust coming on either side of you and then passing me.

And at some point, you know, I go, I hope I got, you know, I hope I got the

truck.

Why did you leave us?

I think you, you got rid of me.

I did not.

I think because, well, when you were syndicated, when Motor Week became

syndicated, you needed three shooters.

Yeah, three shooters were very important at that point.

And then it came.

It was probably when they told us pick two.

Yes.

Yeah.

Yes.

So I didn't.

And I don't, and I don't know why.

I don't know why we did that.

No, but I, you know, I went on to, you know, more fun things too.

So, you, so we should explain.

You went back to the pool.

But you still, you still filled in a lot.

Yeah.

I still filled in, but I was traveling a lot to internationally with other

stuff.

So it was fun.

Yeah.

You were okay with it.

I was okay.

No hard feelings.

I got to go to Russia.

So it was cool in Italy.

So, yeah.

But, um, no, it was, it was a, it was a great ride with Motor Week.

Ha ha.

Pun intended.

Any, any other terrific memories as we wrap this up that, you know, I mean,

do you, do you look back and say, you know, gee, that was just a great

fun.

I tell you what, you don't regret it.

I hope.

No, I don't regret it, but I still look at corners for shots.

I'm driving.

Do you really?

Yeah.

That would be a great drive by shot.

Well, but, um, no, my, I, I, I did have a good time with motor.

We had, you know, we always tried to make the best of it in all the, the, um, locations

we went and, um, it was fun.

The guys were great, but it was funny.

Like I would always get comments when I was shooting on a preview.

Um, if I was working with one of, you know, like Brian or another one of the

producers and, and I'd always hear, why are you having her carry the camera?

Oh, yes.

They would say, well, you know, chivalry is dead in motor weeks.

Exactly.

Because Marlene would be carrying the camera and usually the tripod at the same time.

And a bag with all the batteries and audio stuff.

Yes.

And the, you know, the male journalist is walking ahead, you know, free and clear.

Oh, well, yeah.

I always, I always found fun people to hang because, you know, after a while you're working

with the, you're shooting the car all day with all these auto journalists just talking

car, car, car, car, car, car.

So it came to dinner.

I would always try to find someone that's not going to talk about cars.

And I found that in Ken Gross.

Ken Gross, a legendary auto writer who is still writing about cars and still traveling.

And yes, Ken, uh, to say has a varied background and be an understatement.

Yes.

And Ken just knows everybody.

I mean, he's a, you mentioned Jay Leno.

He and Jay Leno are quite good friends and a great storyteller.

Great guy.

Playboy magazine.

Indeed he did.

Yes.

And who was the one from Cleveland Plain dealer?

Oh, Chris Jensen.

Yes.

Those two.

My very good friend Chris Jensen.

And Chris too was a general, a business writer actually for the Cleveland Plain dealer newspaper.

And then he also did their automotive writing and, and Chris, well, he went to Afghanistan.

He, uh, he had, uh, he and his wife, Cheryl, basically were avid, uh, outdoors folks.

Uh, they live up in New Hampshire now and, uh, a wonderful man and, uh, one of my best

friends that I ever made in the business.

Great.

But you, you hit on something very interesting.

When you would go to dinner, you would try to find a table with people that didn't want

to talk about cars.

So you generally, where everybody else would want to sit with the, uh, designer or the

product manager or the VP of the, of the company or whatever, we would look for, I don't know,

the engineer that helped us drive, you know, they had to be the poor guy that sat in the

passenger seat and got scared to death, you know, who really didn't want to be there.

And they would talk about just about anything and it was much more fun.

So we're sitting there laughing and everybody else is sort of like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

What are they talking about?

Was it, I, Coco was at one of the, um, previews, I think for Kaiser, I did get to sit with

him and his wife and they were absolutely lovely, had a nice time with them.

He filled up the room.

Yes.

I remember, uh, the, uh, one time I got to actually present him, uh, with, uh, an award

at the New York auto show and, uh, you know, he wasn't a particularly tall man, but he

filled up the room.

It was like, he was very impressive.

Yeah.

Um, one of the other fun stories with Craig was we did these low riders in California

and Dennis was with me and, um, he was going to help me, you know, carry the tripod and

this and that.

So it, it came to a point where, you know, it's all this whole parking lot is filled

with all these cars and I'm walking around trying to shoot the cool ones.

And then the next thing I know, like, and Dennis isn't a car person either.

Next thing I know, he's nowhere around.

I need my tripod.

It's like, where did he go?

So, whatever you want for, it didn't work out.

Marlene, it's just been an absolute joy to have you with us on this podcast.

So come back and visit us on the 50th.

Okay.

I promise.

Hopefully we'll all be here.

Thanks to Marlene Rodman and thanks Jessica also for taking part of this podcast.

Uh, I want to stop a second and thank the sponsors of this podcast and of course of

our show Motor Week, Auto Value and Bumper to Bumper and the nice folks over at tireact.com.

We know our viewers and our listeners appreciate your dedication to all things Motor Week.

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It's available from your favorite app store along with all our Motor Week road test videos

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Special Guest: Marlene Rodman, Videographer

About this episode

Mercedes-Benz SEL 600

road tests

automotive media

Chevrolet Suburban

tripod

crew call

car care guru

kit car

Acura Nsx

Ford Maverick

Grand Prix

amateur racer

Porsche 550 Spyder

SEMA Convention

aftermarket car products

Chevrolet Corvette

convoy

sinkhole

Ram truck

Ram trucks

Bumper to Bumper

tireact.com

Auto Value

alternative fuel vehicles

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