Our Airstream on TV (1964)

[DavidsonOverlander]

Back in June a location manager for the TV show Flashpoint came to our door asking if we would rent our Overlander to them for a week to film an episode. They had been trying to get a trailer from a dealer, but it wasn't working out for them and we were only 2 miles from the park where they were shooting. After much back and forth with the company over the next couple of days we decided to do it. They assured us that they would be very careful and that any damage that occurred would be covered by their insurance company. They gave us the choice of transporting the trailer ourselves or of having them do it, and we opted to do it ourselves, for which they paid us extra.

On a Friday morning in late June we delivered the trailer to Rattlesnake Point Conservation Area. Where we had to park it in a tight spot in the woods - at that point I was glad that we were doing the moving as I would never have trusted anyone else to do it. They had the trailer there for the weekend to get the set ready for shooting on Monday and Tuesday. Over the weekend they made the trailer look lived in (we had removed most of our stuff) and built a deck along the curb side.

On Tuesday we took the kids over and watched them film for a while. There were about 80 people involved, about 10 were actors. We had our picture taken with one of the stars Hugh Dillon and talked to some of the other people who worked on the show.

Around dark on Tuesday night we picked up the trailer and delivered it to the Flashpoint studio in Toronto where they kept it until Thursday night to do the interior shots. The studio is really just an old industrial plant that they've taken over. Not much to look at from the outside, but interesting inside. When we went to pick it up we took the kids with us again and they gave us a tour of the sets. There was no damage to the trailer.

From the plot descriptions we're pretty sure the episode will air this Friday night October 2 on CTV. Flashpoint is also carried by CBS, but they haven't started showing the new season yet.

[aircooled4]

How fun! You officially have a "celebrity" in the family. It will be fun for you to watch the episode unfold in your trailer. And glad to hear it came back unscathed!!

[DavidsonOverlander]

Our '64 Overlander is going to be on TV again, this time as part of a Hallmark movie called Fir Crazy - has to do with a guy who sell Christmas trees and lives in an Airstream. We were contacted by someone who was connected with the Flashpoint shoot to see if they could rent our trailer for the movie, this time for three weeks of filming in Hamilton and Toronto. They looked after the transportation as the timing just didn't work out for me to do it, and the trailer was going to be moved more often.

We didn't get to see any of the filming, the photos below were sent to me by a member of the crew. Based on the subject matter I expect this will be out sometime before Christmas.

[JazzDad]

Too cool! Can I get an autograph from your rig?

[Janie Q]

I second the 'too cool'.....
Jane

[newsgauger]

Wow, the film companies must have kept your contact information on file and handy...passing it along to others looking for an Airstream trailer.

Too cool!

Chris
newsgauger

[Airline]

Very interesting,cool story !

Does your trailer have a name ?

[SeeMore]

Did you get a Certificate of Authenticity signed, dated, with VIN # for a visit to Antiques Roadshow?

[DavidsonOverlander]

Originally Posted by JazzDad

Too cool! Can I get an autograph from your rig?

Maybe I should be selling autographed pictures!

[SSChanger]

Congratulations! You're a Star!!

[DavidsonOverlander]

Of course these things are never risk free, and in this case there was a small amount of damage, but it was about as inconsequential as I can imagine. I had a home-made battery box on the tongue which ended up with a dent in one corner. It looks like someone stood on it and it buckled.

We're being compensated for the damage with an amount equal to purchasing a similar (but I'm sure better made) aluminum battery box from bestconverter.com. Since we're not currently using this trailer to camp, and it will likely undergo a restoration/renovation before we do use it, it's really not a problem. We might never have used that battery box again anyway.

The potential for damage is probably one of the main things any of us would think about in renting out our trailers, but then something could happen to it sitting in the driveway too. I'm sure I'd look at renting it differently if it were fully restored and the skin was in excellent condition, but the production company does provide insurance for the time they're using it, and renting it out these two times has been well worth the inconvenience.

[DavidsonOverlander]

For some reason Fir Crazy didn't air this year, so we'll be looking for it next Christmas. In the mean time our Overlander waits patiently in the snow for a call from her agent.

[DavidsonOverlander]

Fir Crazy will air this Sunday evening. Go to Fir Crazy | Hallmark Channel for more info.

See post #3 in this thread for background on how our Airstream ended up in this movie.

I have no idea how much of a role our trailer has in the movie, and we probably won't be able to watch it until later because we don't get the Hallmark channel.

[ALANSD]

Our 66 Overlander was recently rented for a photo shoot. It was a fun experience and I only hope to have more of those kind of opportunities.

[Foiled Again]

Dear people. Never ASSUME that a film or TV studio will be responsible for all damages. You got lucky.

A fine old Antebellum Plantation House here in Virginia was rented out by the owners for location shots on a movie (plantation name deleted because I know the owner and respect his privacy).

They shot Civil War scenes in the house which had been lovingly and expensively restored to it's glory days. Hand made French wallpaper was "distressed" as was paint, woodwork, floors, windows. The restore to before the filming was $80K. The contract was so poorly written that the film company paid what it would have cost to do a half way decent redecoration job.

I know the original hand made (hand screen printed) wallpaper cost over $10K when it was installed and they got paid $1200 to pay for installation of wallpaper you could buy at Sherwin Williams. They got about $2 per foot for the moldings and woodwork that could be bought at Home Depot.

Sadly, if the owner had used a lawyer and had a "restore to original" in the contract (AND had the owner had let the film company know what he'd paid for stuff like the wallpaper) the film company would have used prop walls and windows for the "after the Union troops left" scenes.

The owner thought he'd be making a fortune because he was paid about $20K for the use of his place... and I think the people who damaged the house during the filming simply didn't know the difference between a historically accurate restoration and redecorating. A losing situation all the way around.

NOW Aren't you glad they didn't stand on your END SEGMENTS and dent them!?

Paula

[DavidsonOverlander]

Originally Posted by ALANSD

Our 66 Overlander was recently rented for a photo shoot. It was a fun experience and I only hope to have more of those kind of opportunities.

Nice polish, our's wouldn't have passed the audition for that part!

[DavidsonOverlander]

Originally Posted by Foiled Again

Dear people. Never ASSUME that a film or TV studio will be responsible for all damages. You got lucky.

A fine old Antebellum Plantation House here in Virginia was rented out by the owners for location shots on a movie (plantation name deleted because I know the owner and respect his privacy).

They shot Civil War scenes in the house which had been lovingly and expensively restored to it's glory days. Hand made French wallpaper was "distressed" as was paint, woodwork, floors, windows. The restore to before the filming was $80K. The contract was so poorly written that the film company paid what it would have cost to do a half way decent redecoration job.

I know the original hand made (hand screen printed) wallpaper cost over $10K when it was installed and they got paid $1200 to pay for installation of wallpaper you could buy at Sherwin Williams. They got about $2 per foot for the moldings and woodwork that could be bought at Home Depot.

Sadly, if the owner had used a lawyer and had a "restore to original" in the contract (AND had the owner had let the film company know what he'd paid for stuff like the wallpaper) the film company would have used prop walls and windows for the "after the Union troops left" scenes.

The owner thought he'd be making a fortune because he was paid about $20K for the use of his place... and I think the people who damaged the house during the filming simply didn't know the difference between a historically accurate restoration and redecorating. A losing situation all the way around.

NOW Aren't you glad they didn't stand on your END SEGMENTS and dent them!?

Paula

I suppose you could consider it 'luck', but keep in mind that part of our consideration in doing this was the value of the trailer compared to the amount we received for renting it out. I'm sure $20k was a small fraction of the potential damage that could have been done to your friend's house, whereas the amount we were paid was a much higher percentage of the replacement cost of our partially restored trailer (which is in less than pristine condition). I'd be hesitant to rent out a fully restored vintage Airstream for something like this.

[Goal15]

AS looks great. DW asked how long it is?

[DavidsonOverlander]

Originally Posted by Goal15

AS looks great. DW asked how long it is?

26 feet

[Goal15]

Thanks, 37 minutes in and your trailer has gotten pretty good screen time