Wow...what an amazing weekend at the Grand National Roadster Show....Steve's car turned heads and in the end won a third place award....chosen from a pack of many amazing cars and in competition with two cars - the first and second place award winners - which were painted by the great Gene Winfield.... we were all thrilled....

Along the way we shot interviews with some incredible car builders including John D'Agostino and even a funny moment with the great George Barris - the King of Kustoms!

One of the highlights for me was being asked by the great car builder Gene Winfield to film a segment for his new television show. Gene is an Icon and one of the most classy guys in the business, so it was a real joy to spend an hour with him, shooting a moment which they need for his new television show. I hope they use the footage!

Steve and Martha had a great time, with Martha slowly getting into the event and then fully embracing it. She's amazing...she'll talk to anyone and soon a crowd of people are around her. She made friends with a group of Hispanic model makers, encouraging them as they won awards for their work. I even saw her stop a couple, all decked out in 50's garb with the most amazing hair, as they walked through the building, asking them if she could take a picture.

After a few hours on the first day she said she was going to spend some time at the hotel pool...well... she never made it because she was having too much fun at the show, even while being exhausted after a long day....

Check the helleronwheels FB group for photos. Videos to come....


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Well here we are...in sunny  Southern California....at the Grand National Roadster show....Me, Steve and Gene Winfield!
Steve's idol, Gene Winfield, perhaps the most respected and important figure in the world of custom car building, paid a visit to see Steve and his car tonight. What a thrill. He looked the Cro-Magnum over and told Steve what a nice job he had done. He couldn't have been nicer and more generous....imagine how that made Steve feel, to know one of your heroes appreciates your work.
Before that, we spent a couple hours in the sun waiting to get through the gates, but met some nice people, with cool cars waiting just like we were. Then after we set the car up and the display, we walked around for a couple hours looking at all the amazing cars that are here. Then dinner down at the hotel restaurant - which was very good - and no
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Tomorrow I will be shooting a scene at Elsa's Fabulous Custom Cadillac Restoration shop, documenting the loading of the Cro-Magnum into the tractor trailer. Then I am off to talk to the people at HotCams in NYC about renting an HD Camera to our trip to California. I met the owners, Ali and Trevor recently and they are sweethearts and fun people to now call friends.
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The Final Touch 01/03/2011
 
Howie the Pinstriper and Steve spent the day together last week putting the final pinstripes on the Cro-Magnum. It is now ready to be transported to Los Angeles for the Grand National Roadster Show.
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GREAT NEWS! I created a fundraising campaign using Indie-Gogo to raise money to get Steve and his car to the grand daddy of all car shows. Within two weeks we were able to raise nearly 9500.00 thanks to many fans, friends and family. It really blew us away! See our efforts HERE
The car will be shipped on a first class car carrier a few weeks before Steve, Martha and I leave for Los Angeles on January 25th. The car show begins on the 28th and I will be there filming for the first time in HD! We are all so excited to be back at the Grand National Roadster Show.
I will also be meeting with some production companies and networks while I am there, hoping to find Heller On Wheels a home on television.
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REPRESENT! 08/20/2010
 
Good news! It looks as if we might have found an agent for the show! Steve, Martha and I met with a boutique agency in Manhattan who totally got what we want to do and they love it. And we kinda like them too.....no we really like them.

Prior to the meeting we stopped in Harlem to have breakfast at Sylvia's Restaurant for some soul food and really enjoyed our time sitting outside, among lovely people, watching the people walk by. It was the perfect NYC day.

Then Steve and I went to MOMA to see the Picasso exhibit. He is one of Steve's favorite artist and it was fun discussing him and learning about his work.

Steve's Cro-Magnum won an award at the Kingston Car Cruise last week and will be featured tonight so if you want to see the new pinstripes, he'll be there. Also on the calender is the Kingston Soap Box Derby for this Sunday, in which Steve is running the fire breathing WrenchOSaurus - that's not to be missed -  and the Cro-Magnum will be at Lead East in PA September 3-5th.
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TIME TO SELL IT! 08/09/2010
 
The promo was finished and uploaded last week and the response has been really positive. I think we captured a little of the zanniness that is Steve Heller and certainly the fine work he does as an artist. All we need now is a network executive to believe in it. So my job is to show it to the world. Feel free to offer up an uncle, friend, sister or father who might be in the industry with whom we can talk with!

These are some pretty hot days here in the mountains. Really beautiful time here. Renown pinstripers Howie and Rooster have worked outside in this heat over the last two weeks laying long lines down on the Cro Magnum and the flames are really starting to pop. The car was quite a hit a few weeks ago at the Syracuse Nationals. I was up there with Steve shooting a short documentary about Artie's Party, which is a fund-raising event for a local charity. East Coast Artie, another renown pinstriper, does it ever year. He gathers pinstripers from all over the world for a weekend and they paint together. It's pretty fabulous what they do. I will be posting some video soon from that weekend.
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The New Promo 07/10/2010
 
Wow - two months have passed since I've blogged about Steve Heller...maybe that's because I've been hard at work reinventing the idea for the show. The new promo took weeks to edit and months to shoot. One network passed on the old idea and another wants to see the latest incarnation. Now comes the hard part - selling it.
To bring you up to date on the magnum - now dubbed the Cro-Magnum, Steve and Mike just this week finished painting it, and hot dog, does it looks incredible with lime green flames. They only have a few days left to put it all back together for the unveiling at the Syracuse autoshow so they are scrambling! But Mike and Steve will get it done, no matter how many hours they have to put in this week. I am going up to the show on Saturday to shoot a little documentary on Artie's Party, which is a gathering of the hottest pinstripers who come from all over the world for this party. Eastcoast Artie puts it together to raise money for a charity. If you go, bring some money and you'll be able to get a one of a kind object d' pinstripart. Lastly, please take a moment to check out the poll. It's very important, from a marketing standpoint, for this show and the results will be very valuable. Thank you in advance.
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Several months have passed since I last wrote but that's only because I have been busy shooting and editing new sequences, portraying the other side to Steve Heller's art - woodworking. Now up on the video page are three short videos I produced that show Steve logging, milling lumber and building a spectacular conference table commissioned by Michael Lang.  The idea for the show may change, because this footage was requested by an executive at a network. We'll see in the coming weeks where all this hard work is going to lead.  While filming him I was surprised to discover that Steve approaches his woodworking the same way he does everything else - as an artist. Fabulous furniture is the antithesis of a factory - each piece is hand made, original and never the same. It takes Steve  a while to figure out how he wants something to come out; as an artist paints a canvas, his products originate from a creative mind. You can not rush genius!
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Wow! Steve won another first place award for his Marquis De Soto at the Sacramento Autorama. How cool is that? I wasn't with him on this trip, and I haven't even spoken with him yet, but I know that he is excited and proud about this second win.

As for the show, we'll be shooting some new footage for the promo over the next coming weeks. This will explore Steve's company, Fabulous Furniture, and will involve a yet unnamed "famous person," who has contracted Steve to build a fabulous table for his Manhattan conference room.
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