Lights, camera, action Car manufacturers spend as much time getting

IT'S not just actors and actresses who have to audition for a film role these days - cars are hot property in the world of screen entertainment.

Product placement is just the latest way of ensuring a nation of couch potatoes is exposed to the right car at the right time. It's also considerably cheaper than flying a supermodel and trendy ad agency out to a deserted film location.

Car manufacturers are increasingly turning to companies which specialise in placements. The next time you see a Ford Mondeo on set with John Nettles in Midsomer Murders, or a Citro'n Xantia in EastEnders, don't think it rolled onto the scene by chance.

Alex Gulland is a director of the UK arm of Showcase Placements, an American placement company which has seen the huge TV market potential in this country.

Alex and her team are currently negotiating with a string of film and TV production companies, on behalf of automotive clients like Ford, Jaguar and Aston Martin.

"We work closely with brand teams from each carmaker and try to decide which vehicle would suit a particular show or film.

"Our mission is to try and match a placement with a target audience that our clients want," she said.

Companies like Showcase rely on contacts within the film and TV industry for new leads, as well as scouring trade magazines like Screen International for films and dramas about to go into production. "Before we sign a contract we want to know exactly which actor is going to be driving the car, the type of script and character he plays, plus, exactly how much time the car will be seen on screen," explained Alex.

And that's why actor Christopher Timothy, who formerly played vet James Herriot in All Creatures Great and Small, is driving a rather swanky Jaguar S-Type in a new TV medical drama called The Practice.

"The car fitted the image and Christopher Timothy is the right sort of actor for our target customer audience to associate with."

But what happens if Mr Timothy or a heavy-booted member of The Bill, accidentally puts a placement car in a ditch? "It's very much a trust thing," said Alex diplomatically. "About one in 10 of our cars is damaged and you just have to accept it."

Showcase is responsible for The Bill taking delivery of two new Transit vans, which puts the number of long-term Ford police vehicles in the show up to eight. There are also car placements in Peak Practice and farm soap Emmerdale, while Brookside stalwart Jackie Dixon is the proud owner of the latest Ford Ka2.

The company has a fleet of 50 cars, highly polished and gleaming, just waiting in the wings at a warehouse in Derby. They will be used solely for film roles before being auctioned off to buyers with no idea of the star turn who drove it first.

Showcase is also locked in negotiations to persuade legendary director Steven Spielberg that he wants to drive a Jaguar around the country, while on location here shooting a TV show called Band of Brothers.

"It's like a small screen version of Saving Private Ryan and we have already managed to place a 1940s Jaguar in the series. There are other companies queuing up to offer him a car, too," said Alex.

When BMW landed the deal to provide a Z8 for the latest James Bond movie, Showcase still found a way to steal some of the limelight, this time on behalf of Aston Martin. "We would have loved to have had Bond in another Aston but it wasn't to be.

"However, when the film premiered in London, we managed to site a DB7 in the background while all the star interviews were taking place. In fact, the London Tonight presenter turned up in the Aston Martin and it cost us nothing!" said Alex.

Actions Cars of Harrow not only source star cars but liaise with the production company preparing vehicles. Graham Kelly and his team are still washing the white paint from under their finger nails after working on the latest Disney follow-up - 102 Dalmatians.

"Part of the film has Cruella seeing everything in white with black spots.

We had to whitewash an entire fleet of cars and buses. Disney then puts 23 different types of spots on each vehicle, each spot is actually copyrighted!"

Last year, Action Cars helped with one of the biggest car chases ever staged in this country for the film Entrapment. Apart from smashing up two Jeep Cherokees, the company sourced five 60,000 Jaguar XKRs.

"Four of them were written off in a big accident scene. When we'd finished, Jaguar picked up the pieces, took the cars away and crushed them.

It seems incredible now but that scene was then cut from the film," said Graham.

Action Cars has a fleet of nine Vauxhalls which are painted in police livery. They are some of the most commonly seen cars on TV because genuine police forces are not allowed to loan their cars out.

However, providing the right car isn't always as easy as it sounds.

Manufacturers are reluctant to offer models which might be used by villains or treated badly on screen.

"We had one production company that wanted a car which was a dull colour for a boring character. The car companies were not interested because they think it shows their product in a bad light," explained Graham.

Even the ratings expected for the final appearance of Morse this summer couldn't persuade one manufacturer to provide a car in a "dull" colour.

"Morse will drive his usual old Jaguar but they wanted him to be seen tailing somebody in another, less conspicuous car. The carmaker wouldn't agree on a dull colour so Morse ends up in a P-registered Rover 400," he added.

Poor old Rover.

Copyright 2000
Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights Reserved.