21 Inside The Alfa with filmmakers Aidan de Cadenet & Lukas Dong

Shoot Wisely Podcast — A conversation with Aidan de Cadenet & Lukas Dong

In this special in-person episode of Shoot Wisely, I sit down with filmmaker Aidan de Cadenet and director Lukas Dong to talk about the making of their short film The Alfa.

What makes this conversation unique is the setting. The episode was recorded at Aidan’s home, with the very car that inspired the film the legendary 1964 Alfa Romeo TZ  sitting quietly in the garage just a few steps away. The atmosphere of the recording mirrors the tone of the film itself: intimate, reflective, and deeply personal.

Rather than a traditional interview, this episode unfolds as a relaxed conversation between two filmmakers and longtime friends. Together we explore how The Alfa came to life from the earliest spark of the idea to the collaborative process between Aidan and Lukas as producer and director.

At the heart of the film is Aidan’s relationship with his father, legendary racing driver Alain de Cadenet, and the emotional significance of restoring one of his most beloved cars. But the conversation moves far beyond the mechanics of filmmaking or automotive history.

We talk about the deeper themes behind the project:

•  the creative friendship between Aidan and Lukas 
•  the role of objects as vessels for memory 
•  the challenge of telling personal stories through film 
•  and whether the idea of closure is something that can truly be achieved — or even something we should pursue at all. 

The episode also looks forward, as Aidan and Lukas discuss the future of their collaboration and the possibility of continuing this project as an ongoing series exploring legacy, storytelling, and the emotional weight carried by meaningful objects.

Recorded in the presence of the very car that inspired the film, this conversation offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at the creative and emotional journey behind The Alfa — and the friendship that made the film possible.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

This is a special episode of Shoe Wisely. Not just because it was recorded in person, something I hope to do much more of, but because of where it was recorded. This conversation took place in the home of Aiden DeCante, surrounded by the life and history that shaped him. It also happens to be the place where the story behind the film, the Alpha, truly lives. At its core, it's about the connection between a father and a son, the way influence, memory, and legacy continue long after someone is gone. But it's also a story about friendship, about people coming together to create something meaningful and beautiful. Recording this conversation in Aiden's living room made all of that feel incredibly real. The car we talk about in the film was sitting just downstairs in the garage. And the environment itself carried the same emotional weight you feel in the movie. It also gave me the chance to spend real time with Aiden and Lucas, to photograph them, to document them, and that's something I want this show to become. Not just conversations, but experiences. Moments where we can step into somebody's world. So please enjoy this special in-person episode of Shoot Wisely with Aiden DeCante and Lucas Dong. And if you haven't seen The Alpha yet, pause this now and go watch it. It's only about 20 minutes long. Then come back to the conversation. It'll mean a lot more for you. Thank you so much for being here, especially on a Sunday. I wanted to talk about really quickly how you two met. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:30

It was kind of uh why don't you start? Yes. We had a uh a mutual family friend who uh Lucas had been to school with the son. I had known um the father and the son for a very long time, uh, through the car world actually. Um and uh the mother of the son and the wife of the father um put it put me and Lucas in touch because she knew that we were two very like-minded individuals. Um we met on one very sunny uh afternoon down at the uh the the now no longer existing Morro's Cafe, and uh we hit it off immediately. We um shared our love for for cameras and Leikas especially and uh every every little detail we uh really picked up off of each other.

SPEAKER_01 2:20

Yeah, I remember you called me to confirm the lunch, and I was like, who called? Like you he just like hello, mate. Like, just and this was my first time hearing your voice, and I was like, that's so interesting. And then uh yeah, the second you sat down, we were just like, is that a Q2? And then we were talking about hats, and I don't know, we just kind of like all the things, the niche things we were into, we realized we we were both into them.

SPEAKER_00 2:47

It's like a three-hour, four-hour lunch we had, I think.

SPEAKER_01 2:49

Yeah, it was it actually felt like it definitely didn't feel like meeting for the first time. No it was cool.

SPEAKER_03 2:54

And uh Lucas, before shooting the Alpha, what is your background in um in film and or and or shooting cars?

SPEAKER_01 3:03

Yeah, I've been film making films my whole life, um, or like since I was 10. Originally got into it through making skate videos. I was growing up in Hong Kong, and all my friends would do is just like go skate on the weekends and make as many videos as we could. And so I I got into it through that world, and I watched a lot of skate videos which were extremely artistic, and I learned so much about art and like showing through film and music, using music through those. And um just been doing it ever since. Um, I I went to study film, and while I was studying film in college, I was kind of doing my own thing outside trying to make do like branded documentaries and any any way I could like do as much work as I could, and that sort of got me into the door of doing commercials, and I was doing some branded docs for um an automotive brand, and in those docks, there was a few scenes where the car was actually moving, and that was like okay, this guy can do you know more like TV spots with running footage and cars. So I wasn't like into cars, I never grew up around cars. My parents like never had a car, and I just sort of fell into it through this path. And I started doing lots of automotive commercials, like TV spots that were just about cars, and um eventually I guess surrounded myself with people that were into it or like you know who devoted their lives to shooting cars, and I sort of got into it through that and found an appreciation, you know, stumbled into it like that. But it wasn't like this is a very foreign thing for me as of like two years ago.

SPEAKER_03 4:39

I have a similar story with like my connection with cars. Um and I think what helps is when you're good at your craft and you're into something but you're not like obsessed with it, because then you can kind of step back and and see it through a different lens as opposed to always looking at it as from an expert of said subject. Aidan, when did you decide that this was a film that needed to be made? When when was the spark that this is a story that needs to be captured on film and it needs to be presented to the world? Because I I know, now getting to know you, that you're a pretty private person.

SPEAKER_00 5:20

Yeah, originally I I had an idea to sort of revive a very similar uh show that my dad did called Victory by Design, which was a fairly successful show in its own right, uh, way before YouTube was ever a thing, and never, I guess, had the heightened of what it could have been. Um but people sort of tend to refer to it as the precursor to Top Gear, uh very raw, no music sort of thing. And I had approached Lucas in an idea that I had been playing with for a little while, where you know we would film particular things that people have or have had for a very long time in their families, and it could be as simple as a car or a watch or a piece of art, and how that defines who they are. And actually, Lucas was the one who originally had thought that the story with the alpha and my relationship with my father and myself and this car, that trifecta, um, really was born into a great idea. And um obviously knowing Lucas's work, uh there's no one else, period, that I would want to do it with. And we ended up doing it together, just like basically two kids um messing around with the car. Two little kids, yeah. Two little kids messing around with the car on the camera and just sharing a bunch of laughs, and you know, Lucas was really able to um turn that into a work of beauty, I think.

SPEAKER_03 6:58

And was when it the idea came about, was your father still alive?

SPEAKER_00 7:03

He that's a very good question. I think he was still alive because we've we've been talking about this for a good time.

SPEAKER_01 7:09

I don't think he was when we first talked about it.

SPEAKER_00 7:12

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 7:13

Like the about making the film. I think I but I heard about the alpha before.

SPEAKER_00 7:17

I think I'd been thinking about it. Like as as my dad was starting to go downhill, which you know about obviously, and you know, we've all shared shared that sort of uh unfortunate pain of life. Um I was thinking more about you know how how could one um sort of take what he did, and obviously I am not him, uh I could never be him, but I wanted to do something in a similar way, which was my own DNA injected into it, of course, with Lucas as well. Um so I had been thinking about it for a while, but I think he did, yes, as you said, he he passed before. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 7:55

When when did the idea actually come about that this was the first film you guys were gonna work on together?

SPEAKER_01 8:02

I think it was it was like two years ago, and this was the same day that Aiden told me about this whole idea and like the deeper concept in Victory by Design, his dad's show. And I think we we landed on the alpha just because I was at a point where I I knew how hard it was to get things off the ground, and I was like, this is a story we have right in front of us, you know, it's your story, it's stuff something we've access to. Like, let's just let's just make it, and as we make it, we'll we'll learn so much about exactly what we want to do, you know, how we want to do it. And it started there, and I think that along with you know this story being very poignant for both of us, and um, I had heard about the alpha that they were working on um when Alan was still alive, and I remember when I first heard about it, I was like, oh, I should I want to like shoot that somehow before we even talked about this idea. I was like, I want to document it or shoot it, and I'm kind of huge regret that we didn't do that. But I think that building of that idea and then just being like this is where we can start and we could start right away, like let's let's do that.

SPEAKER_03 9:09

And so Aiden, you it's it's it's your and your father's story, you're also producing it. How did you creatively tow that line?

SPEAKER_00 9:23

Yeah, it's I I guess it's never an easy thing to do when when when you're sort of producing behind it. Um I relied a lot on Lucas to help me with this, because I have what I want to say, but I may not necessarily say it because as you started with, I'm quite a private person. But Lucas is very good at sort of pushing me to get past the boundary of things that I may not outwardly or publicly say. And that was the premise of basically the entire film, because it wouldn't have happened without you doing that. And um we shared very like special, intimate moments, like at the Crest Highway, for example. You know, he would be holding a microphone, like asking me questions, and we're just in the car. And it was quite a comfortable environment for me, obviously, because I'm comfortable, you know, in in those situations, uh, and with him. But you know, I it it it is a hard line because you know, you you want the film to be good, but I'm also not thinking about that. I'm just you know, just just being myself as I continue to do every single day, and uh, you know, and Lucas obviously, you know, um made that made that better.

SPEAKER_03 10:34

And Lucas, I have the same question for you because you you're directing the film, you also ultimately want the best product that you're working on to be presented to the public. How did you toe the line with you know, as a director, you have to be a little pushy to get what you want? And how did you toe that line with working with your friend, knowing that it's a very sensitive subject? How did you toe that line or did you even have to?

SPEAKER_01 10:58

Yeah, I mean it's it's the toughest thing because because of our relationship, we have we're able to be comfortable and like have some of these intimate moments, but it's also like you know, there's things when you're making a film that you have to kind of be the bad guy on, and like you know, not everyone always likes you, and so that's why it's tricky to mix those relationships sometimes. I think we both had like a very mutual, like strong mutual trust in that you know, even though we were both kind of the vision behind it, there were a lot of times where Aiden would, I would maybe go on some tangent and I couldn't quite put in words what I was doing, but he would like trust that it was part of the story and that it was telling it in the right way. And then vice versa, like I I felt like because of that, I could say, no, like it really needs to be like this, and let's let's just give it a shot. But we also had the luxury of we could try a lot of things. So like Aiden would have an idea and we would we would try it, and I would have an idea which we weren't stuck to like an eight-hour shoot day, you know. So we could do things like that, which let us like try a lot of stuff and see what works, and a lot of times that's what led to you know the one good shot from that day.

SPEAKER_00 12:05

Yeah, yeah. And at the end of the day, like we're doing what we want to do with the creation of our our child, essentially, and yeah, our project. And I think that makes it a lot more motivating in our own right to like just try things and look if they work great, if they don't, then fuck it, you know, you move on. Um, but a lot of it did work because you know, we just we're doing what we've really been doing as friends, like for a while, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:32

Yeah, and I think in terms of like the pushiness and like getting to those vulnerable moments, it was built on like just trying to set it up as casually as possible as just a convers like how you set this up and knowing like yeah, we can take anything out, we can the goal is to tell the story and make you look good and and all of that. It's you know, it's all built on that foundation. So I think we were able to you know go just let go of the camera and like go into those conversations a bit more.

SPEAKER_03 12:59

And uh piggybacking off that, Aiden, when you saw a rough cut or the first edit, was there anything in there that you were like, hey, I don't think we should put this in there, and maybe there was a bit of pushback that is now in the piece?

SPEAKER_00 13:14

I don't think so, to be honest. Um unless you can think of anything really.

SPEAKER_01 13:19

No, I mean there were some small things where Aiden was like, Oh, my dad wouldn't have said that. Yeah, and things that like only Aiden could have known, and and that's why you know I I think we we both wanted to show the film and to be like that's exactly his character. And so there were a few moments that you know passed my mind because I didn't have that relationship with him that Aiden caught, just like little things like worded, like very specific things, like he wouldn't have called it this, or like he wouldn't say he wouldn't talk about the car like this, yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_00 13:48

I didn't want it to be anything that wasn't us, right? Right. So I guess yeah, large part you'll watch most things nowadays and it's not who they are, you know. But that is the whole idea of what we're doing here, is that we just want it to be unapologetically, authentically us, right? And and actually I remember that now.

SPEAKER_01 14:06

There were a couple just words and and bits that yeah, because it's a it's a fine line of like we knew that it couldn't be a film about the materialness of the car, you know. And there are different perspectives you could take where it becomes that and not about the relationship, you know. And I think that all these things we're talking about, they were things that might have pushed it in the direction of like, look how cool this car is, right? Whereas that's more of the entry point.

SPEAKER_02 14:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:35

Um, I wanted to ask, you know, the last time your dad drove it, the the wheel fell off.

SPEAKER_02 14:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:42

And I'm I'm kind of wondering why he let it sit for so long, and wondering if in my romantic mind, thinking that it did leave a bad taste in his mouth, and that's why he didn't fix it, and then you came along, and it was this conduit for you guys to to have this special connection. So I guess back to my first question. Why why do you think he let it sit for so long?

SPEAKER_00 15:10

It's a very interesting question, and I and I don't think you're wrong in assuming that maybe it is possible that he may have had like some form of, ooh, this could be bad luck. This is the first time I've raced the car. You know, there was already a small accident or incident. Um but largely I think the direct answer is that he he was so he's just like me, or and I'm just like him, where we both have really bad ADHD, right? So we'll start a project and then we'll completely forget about something else. Or um, for example, this car, uh it would need work. And my dad would probably just be working on a motorcycle and just would never really have time to get around to doing it. But um, yeah, I mean it it it sat for I think 23 years or something like that in in a hanger and sent it.

SPEAKER_03 15:54

But the thing is like in your film you talk about how much you wanted that car, yeah, and it was it was one of a hundred made, and at that point it was probably one of like 40 made. So it's just it's it it really boggles my mind why you know it's an interesting thing.

SPEAKER_00 16:08

I I don't I don't really know to tell you the truth. I I think um, you know, as you've just mentioned, at the end of the day, like my excitement sort of did change him, but I don't know why he never sort of got back around to to fixing it and doing it up. We did do quite a lot of it together, so I'm fairly fluent in in mechanical things, not not all the way there, hence why I need help from a few people. But um, him and I would work on the car as it was sitting, and we just we drove it one time together um around sort of the the area in Santinez, and uh I had the biggest shit-eating grin on my face, but but um that was it really. He never he just never understood that it would be a car to drive on the street, which inherently it isn't really an easy car to drive on the street. Um and I guess that sort of made sense to me until it didn't, and then I wanted to resurrect it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:11

You um obviously both of you are into photography and and filmmaking. Um one thing that you don't touch on on the film is that your father was a photographer. How how did he pick up the how did he pick up the camera?

SPEAKER_00 17:23

Yeah, it it it that goes back a long ways when my dad was sort of a kid, um never knew his parents. He was sort of looked after by his grandparents, and then as he got into his sort of early twenties, he started picking up a camera, and one of his first jobs was uh working for a a pirate radio station. So they used to play music illegally over the radio, and they were it was essentially a boat in international waters, which is how they were technically able to function and connect pirate.

SPEAKER_02 17:57

Yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 18:00

And uh after that he had a very short stint as a Playboy photographer, and um, and those two sort of positions, I don't know how you couldn't be, you know. I mean that they're two very different things to sort of be involved with uh uh photography-wise, but that's kind of how he got into it, and I picked that up off of him.

SPEAKER_03 18:22

Yeah, I mean, as far as cool dads go, your dad is pretty, pretty tough one to talk. Um do you so I was about to ask you if his father shot, but he didn't know his parents.

SPEAKER_00 18:34

He did actually. He was a I have his military papers in there. He was a French reconnaissance uh photographer for the war. And he I've never seen, except for one image he took during World War II. Um, but that's all we know about him. I don't know anything else other than he was a military photographer. Um, so obviously there's a bit of DNA uh that runs through the family in that regard, but I can't I can't speak more on it because I just didn't know him. Um I assume my dad did know that. Uh I mean, obviously he did, or else I wouldn't have. Uh but yeah. Interesting. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:16

Um I wanted to ask you both, when the one thing I I love about photography and filmmaking in general is like you you feel like I feel like you're communicating with the future. Um when somebody watches this film, and I have a question for both of you, when somebody watches this film fifty years from now, eighty years from now, what what do you hope they feel or think?

SPEAKER_00 19:58

I think um I'll take it first. I think for me at least I w I want to evoke an emotion into someone, into anyone really. And Lucas and I have talked about this in depth. That it doesn't have to be a car, it doesn't have to be anything really. It could just be something that gets you out of bed, that excites you a little bit, that you know, urges you to step outside the door and just go and talk to whoever it is in the street, right? And you know, yes, in this particular episode there was a car which you know is I guess uh you know an exciting focus. But if we if we or I have you know uh mm m motivated anyone to just move, basically, just to move, uh to go and do something, to find a passion, um you know, to find an interest, then that's like fantastic for me. Um that you know this was able to hit home with somebody and they can go and experience and explore whatever is out there, uh, because we are both very into adventuring and exploring, and I think that's sort of the deeper meaning behind the film uh for us.

SPEAKER_01 21:15

Yeah, I agree. I also think just making people evaluate the relationships they have in their life, like doing taking that step, getting out of bed, and like maybe going the extra mile to to connect with that person you love, whether it's like time that could be slipping away or just something that I think you take for granted. Like this car was just one thing that could have been many things that was like just brought you guys together. Oh yeah. Um and I think it's like not really about finding that thing, but it's about recognizing who those people are. And all the YouTube comments that have made our day over and over again are all about that and just You know, people that have their own stories with their parents or with their children. And I think I just I hope that emotion never dies, you know, no matter where the world goes.

SPEAKER_03 22:10

I think what's so beautiful about the film is uh it's it's masterfully done if I haven't said that already. Thank you. I think the most important thing about the film is you don't have to care about cars in order to to enjoy it and to love the film and to get the emotion out of it. And I think that's always the win, is when it's just universal that you could just put that in front of anybody and they'll they'll understand it. Um technically I wanted to talk about I I have a lot of experience in documentaries and and um archival footage and getting the rights to it. If you guys could talk about um how I'm assuming it was difficult, how difficult it was to get all that footage of your father because uh there a lot of people in the car community know who your father is, but I know a lot about cars and I I remember some of those clips, but I had no idea who your father was. So the archival footage is in my opinion absolutely essential to driving home the story of so if you guys can both kind of speak on the challenges or that of Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 23:16

I mean we started the I had seen the Victory by Design episodes, and and within all of those, there's so many cool shots that are just Alan being Alan, which is like this is amazing. But the story of the wheels falling off, I was prepared to to just talk about that because I we didn't know that footage existed. And um, I was like, alright, I'll get some some old placeholder stuff of Laguna Seca and we'll just tell the story. And then I was I was just like down some rabbit holes and I found this I knew the year and the race, and I was watching it, and it was this like hour-long segment. I watched the whole thing, and I was like, oh, I don't like maybe this story isn't exactly as you told it, because like Alan hasn't crashed, and and then the very last like 30 seconds he's going around and the wheel falls up. And uh I remember first just just seeing Alan in the alpha, I was like, Great, we got it, it's gold. And then I was like, oh, maybe they say something about the crash, and then it just it just was gold, like seeing the wheel come off, seeing him like stand there like this. Uh we were prepared to tell the story without that, and that just we kind of crazy, especially the announcers saying, like, let's see if Alan's gonna go there. I know, and it kind of became a scene on its own. A lot of them did, the same with the Spitfire uh plane pass, like those scenes that you could just let it play, and you you're transported to that moment for a second and tells you all about this character and time, and you know, you don't have to do much.

SPEAKER_03 24:47

The plane is um, like I I mentioned Robert before at Old Place, who's kind of like my ambassador there. He a lot of times, whenever I take a picture, he's like, Oh, do you know you just took pictures? You know what car that you know that or he'll say, Hey man, you gotta go take. And it kind of goes in one ear, I mean, God bless me, it goes in one ear and out the other, because I'm that's not really what I'm doing. And sure. When I'm shooting, I'm always kind of looking what's going on. And I remember when I shot the I shot you the first time I saw you in the alpha. And I just shot, you know, a good looking guy, good looking car. And I remember stepping back and all all the guys kind of like hovered around it. And and uh Robert was like, hey, do you know what you know what that car? And he talked about, he's like, he starts talking about your dad, and he's like, You've seen this the the shot where the plane flies over and almost hits him in his head. You know, you've seen that, right? You've seen that, right? I'll send it to you, I'll send it to you. So that that scene right there, and I think like just in general, your dad um is like folklore.

SPEAKER_00 25:41

Thank you for saying that.

SPEAKER_03 25:43

And um, as a producer, what what do you think you learned working on this film that's gonna help you work on the next one?

SPEAKER_00 25:50

It's a very good question.

SPEAKER_03 25:52

Yes. Because the next film you work on is not gonna be so personal to you. So just like technically, you know, you're working with the crew, you're working on the right.

SPEAKER_00 26:00

I I think um, you know, we we know how we want every episode to be in a sense that we know roughly the emotion or going into it the end result of what we like. Um I think that Lucas and I have quite a few lined up that we're very excited about. And you know, for us, it's just you know, getting in there and filming it. And I think largely you're you're almost in the moment when you find out, like, oh, you know, this is really what the the the sort of ethos of what we've been going after the entire time. Um but as a producer, it's you know, it's a it's a it's a you know, I I feel like you just we kind of just know. You know, we get we get on so well in terms of how we want everything to feel and it's more of a feeling instead of a look, right? And I think once you've when he shoots something and we're both you know behind the camera looking at the the video on the camera, and we both saying, shit, this is exactly what we've been after, it's that feeling. And I think you know, the goal is to replicate that as much as possible, which is easier said than done. But I just think that's what we you know can bring into every single one.

SPEAKER_01 27:21

Yeah, I also think you didn't see this too much in the alpha because it's about Aiden, but I think Aiden will be in these situations and have a really charismatic effect on these characters. I think if you've ever been in a conversation with him, you understand it's he like pulls something out of you, and even if it's not a lengthy conversation, there's he's a listener, you know, and I think that there's a it's it's more than just someone interviewing, it's like it's like really tell me more. Like it's it's deeper, and it's it also adds a level of like wit and humor. So I think finding the stories that we can connect to, and then you know, just being like devoted listeners, and like we don't want the story to become about us, we want it to be about whoever it is and whatever their story is. So, you know, we envision Aiden being in front of the camera for a lot of this to introduce us to these stories, but it doesn't want to become the alpha two, you know. This is just the path.

SPEAKER_03 28:15

So it's gonna be very different then. If it so you are gonna be a vehicle to tell these stories, much as like your your dad was.

SPEAKER_00 28:22

I will be, yes, sort of asking questions and and you know, extracting the stories and and the value out of you know the people that we interview. But as Lucas just mentioned, we really want it to be mostly on them. Um, you know, we have sort of selected the ideas that we're going after and the people that we're doing because we think they have such a unique story. And I don't want to be, you know, involved too much to where they're not telling their story. And I think again, like if we can just sprinkle a little bit of if we've inspired people to just get active, then then I'm happy. You know, that's all I care about. And I know the way this guy films, uh, he's gonna do that. Um, there's no doubt about it, you know.

SPEAKER_03 29:11

So Lucas, so you know, you've you said you've done commercials before, but have you ever done a car film?

SPEAKER_01 29:19

Um not really. A couple years ago, uh a good friend of mine, Andrew and I, we directed like a 30-minute doc reveal for the Corvette Z06, and that was like But that was for somebody else, it was for someone else, but it was like felt more of like a holistic project. But this was the first one I've done that was you know really like a passion thing as well as you know no one to answer to. So, yes, in that case.

SPEAKER_03 29:45

So, in that sense, what was your mindset going into this? Because this is this is your baby. I mean, it's it's like as much as it is Aiden's, it's yours as well, because this is you're you know, you're coming out, this is nobody's telling you what to do. It's obviously it's a collaboration, but and you captured it. I'm gonna use the word again, masterfully. It's like it's beautiful, beautifully shown. Thank you. And I know I saw the credits, I saw there was a city cam and there's a drone operator, but what was your approach going into this film?

SPEAKER_01 30:14

The very start was let's not overcomplicate it, and that's why I liked us starting with this idea because I think I started my biggest flaw as a filmmaker is I I get too big before it even starts. And then I've I've learned over the years that nothing happens that way. So I was like, okay, we need to start it. And I started, you know, building it, and then at some point I was like, hey, let's just let's just go to Maholland tomorrow and like just start shooting something. So it started there, like what can we do? That's we have the luxury of time, which we don't usually have because it's it's flexible. So, and I'm confident in my ability to to do every aspect of the filmmaking process if I have the time. And so I was like, let's start there, let's just let our creativity go wild. And um, I I know there are specific scenes that we want to do really well or very in a very specific way, like the the track running footage, things that will put in effort and time and bring in some favors and and call the people that we need for those things. So, like doing all that running footage at the um Chuck Walla track was one of them that we couldn't do ourselves, and you know, we wanted to look a certain elevated way. So it was like, let's find those things, and then everything else, let's um let's make it happen ourselves. And I felt like that was a way we could get this level of quality without being like we have three days to shoot it, we have this much money, like let's just put all our resources into the accents in the film.

SPEAKER_03 31:42

That's a great way of putting it. So this is I never wanted this to be a technical podcast, it's always more about the motion, but technically I gotta ask you there's the shot in the grill that ends the film. How was that accomplished? If you want to.

SPEAKER_01 31:57

Yeah, it was um so for that day, I brought a good friend of mine, Mason Freiner Gas, who's a DP I work with. He's like great automotive DP. And I was I was like, hey, we usually do commercials, and look, we have like three hours left of the day. We can do anything we want. Like, what do you what's the craziest idea you can come up with? Like, give me your craziest idea. He just sat there for like 10 minutes, he was like pointed at the little triangle thing, yeah, and he's like, I don't know if it'd be possible. And then so like we spent an hour just seeing if that would work and like rigging it and testing it, and um, another like beauty of just having some freedom there, right? And uh, because that's a shot that would have got cut if we didn't get it in 10 minutes on a you know commercial set, and luckily there was just like enough space. We had a smaller B camera that was like a small red, and they had you know had all these suction cups, and we were able to fit it right there with the widest lens we had. I think it was like a 12 mil. And um yeah, it just kind of worked. We also couldn't monitor it, so we just sent it out with the car, and then when it came back, we were like, Oh my god. Like because we also like getting it centered, it was all blind, like to fit in there. We couldn't have anything attached to it, so we were just like we would do it past and then adjust it. Yeah, but that car was just built to have a little camera right there, you know.

SPEAKER_03 33:19

It's amazing because you know, I'm asking that question, I was like, please don't sell it was superimposed, please don't say it was superimposed. Yeah, that's that's beautiful. Since we're we are talking about crew, I wanted to ask you about um because there's a special thanks to Dorian Villensuela.

SPEAKER_00 33:36

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 33:36

I wanted to ask you uh why did he get a special thanks?

SPEAKER_00 33:39

Yeah, no, I love Dorian. Dorian Dorian's been a good friend of mine for a few years now. And um, going back to earlier in the podcast where I said I wasn't 100% fluent in mechanics, uh, Dorian does step in and help um when when the car really needs it. Um I do sort of things that the car needs in little bits, obviously on my own. Uh but you know Dorian is obviously a very talented mechanic, and I I almost like don't want to push his name out too much. Um, but he, you know. And specifically alphas, right? Uh specifically alphas, but I believe he can do other things, but I think he likes to stick to alpha because that's just you know the setting that he he knows very well. Um but being a very talented mechanic, he knows all everything essentially. Um, but I again I have to give massive thanks to him, and I and we did at the premiere as well when we had everyone come. Um, but he without him, you know, the car wouldn't be running as well as it as it has been and would. And um, you know, him and I were actually talking about recently potentially prepping to race it. Uh, but uh I'm giving I'm letting that breathe for a minute before before you know I'm ready to do that. But uh yeah, he's he's an amazing person.

SPEAKER_03 34:56

Aside from your father, what is your background in racing?

SPEAKER_00 34:59

Yeah, I I don't uh race cars as much, but I do race motorcycles, um, hence sort of why we went to Chuck Walla. Um I race with CVMA uh out there, which is an or which is a fantastic organization. Um, but we like to sling around, you know, things on two wheels, and and to me, I feel that there's no greater racing, period, than motorcycle racing. And you know, yes, it there's a lot more risk, um, but there's a lot more beauty, and there's a there's a lot more soul in it, I think. Not to say that there isn't in car racing, I love car racing as well, but it takes a different breed of person, which I have seen with my own eyes, on proper racers on two wheels. Um, hence why I've always said the Isle of Man TT is like, I think, one of the ultimate things a man can do, which would be a dream for me to do one day. Um, but uh yeah, that's pretty much my my only sort of association with modern racing now is motorcycles.

SPEAKER_03 36:07

Did your dad race motorcycles?

SPEAKER_00 36:09

He didn't, no. He loved motorcycles, and him and I would always talk and say, you know, what's the one thing that's cooler than racing cars? We were like, fuck it, it's the Isle of Man TT. Like, you gotta, you know, you gotta go race bikes.

SPEAKER_03 36:23

And he actually You really look like your dad when you start when you start talking about when you really get into it.

SPEAKER_00 36:29

I know he's coming back into it. Um and he did actually like get to do a lap around the Isle of Man TT, and he did he filmed a show for it, which is I guess they put it on YouTube. Um, but you know, he just got a very small taste for what these boys do. I mean, it's it's to me and him, it was the the ultimate form of expression.

SPEAKER_03 36:49

Do you think a part of you uh is into motorcycle racing because your dad wasn't, and it's a little bit more your thing?

SPEAKER_00 36:57

I think that could be part of it. Um definitely, yes. I mean, you know, I I like to define my own path as well. Uh also it's cheaper. It's a little bit cheaper than car racing. You know, being being like an extreme amateur like myself, you know, I'm able to chuck the bike on the back of a car and buy a set of slicks and go out and fucking ring it for the weekend and and race other people that do exactly the same. Yeah. And you know, these these guys are like, this is this is what they do, you know. This they're at the track, maybe not Chuck Walla, but you know, Laguna Seca, you know, every other weekend, and I'm here like just trying to do my thing with them, and they're much better than me. But I do. I mean, I think um sorry to to answer it in a long format, but I think a large part of it is, you know, because my father was defined as a race car driver, um, I will never be defined as a motorcycle racer, but at least it's like my part to to my name, yeah um, which which I love.

SPEAKER_03 38:02

Is is there any part as cool as you, I mean, arguably one of the coolest dads ever. Is there any part of that that's tough living in the shadow?

SPEAKER_00 38:09

Yeah, it's I mean, there is. There is and there isn't, actually. Um, I you know, he he was my best friend, and um I I will I still obviously love him and will continue loving him until whatever the next life is that we live. Um, you know, I do think ultimately like people know me, at least through the community, through him, which is completely fine. And I'm I love that, you know, I love that he is remembered that way, and I love that I get to sort of keep him going in that way. Um but you know, I guess sort of going back to the motorcycle racing, like that that that is my own path. And you know, I get to meet all these people at the track that have no idea who he is, and like people love me for me there, and um, you know, that these are guys that you know they work really, really hard to be there, and uh and I I love that community a lot. There's like I feel kind of at home there with them, a lot of them there. Um, so yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:16

I wanted to ask you because you're very um anything that was your dad's, you you don't say it's yours, that you're just the steward of it. Uh this the alpha in particular, not to be morbid here, but what what is what is what happens to it when you're not around? What where where do you want it to go? Where do you want it to be? You know, because obviously you said, you know, and people say, why isn't this in the museum? Why isn't it? I mean, I remember when I met you at Old Place, a couple people were like, is this thing? She's gonna be driving this, da da da. So where where do you see the car going? If I die today? Sure. It's his.

SPEAKER_00 39:56

Oh boy. So you better you better learn how to drive it well. Hey, I did alright. Yeah, he drove it on the track actually and got to enjoy it. Um, no, I guess, you know, to answer it more seriously, I don't think it really matters. Like, you know, if if I don't, I'd love to have like a mini me running around, not any day soon, but like, you know, sometime sometime in the future, um, you know, then I would obviously, you know, if they treat if they play their cards right, I'd love to give it to them. But at the end of the day, like I like you sort of touched on, you know, none of us own anything. Like we're we're merely just a cons a custodian at a point in time. And um I guess to really answer it, like I'll be dead. So it doesn't really matter, you know. These are things for us to have fun with now while we're alive.

SPEAKER_03 40:44

Um, but you know, I don't know what happens next, but I don't think I'm gonna be thinking too hard about the alpha, although I would like to think that, but um I wanted to ask you uh both about the editing process, because it's great that you um you didn't have any time restraints and that you guys are close friends, but did you ever run into just shooting too much? And once you got to the editing process, you're like I'm just inundated with all this footage.

SPEAKER_01 41:17

No, I don't think so. Um so how did you avoid that? I think avoid shooting too much? Yeah. I think because the plan was to, we had a very loose outline. Uh we need this, this, this, and this. We shot it, and then the thing I was very excited about was to edit it and then shoot the gaps that we still had. So I it was there was a method to it. It wasn't like let's just keep shooting and shooting and shooting. We knew like we wanted the track, we wanted an interview, we wanted, you know, working on the card. We had these scenes mapped out. So once we got those, um, and it was or like 80% of those, I started editing. And I'd say the the thing instead of having too much footage, having too much time to edit is also a bad thing. And you know, because it's never done. Yeah. And thankfully Aiden was like respectful of that, even though because I'd be like, oh, it's it's not quite there, and like I need another month, I need another month. And he was very respectful of that. But at some point, like we started putting our own deadlines, like we want to do the screening this date. It's like, because I kind of need that to really get it to greatness, like from being really good to being great, like you need that pressure. And so I'd say that was the bigger challenge than shooting too much. It was just like, you know, when you have the world to edit, it doesn't happen right away. Yeah. But the it was amazing because we could I could we could look at the edit and say, Oh, we need this exact shot here. Bring the alpha over, we'll shoot a close-up of it, and then it fills it in. You know, like we did that a lot. So it wasn't, it was never too much footage, and it was more like the opposite.

SPEAKER_03 42:59

So I I've uh I lost my mother, my father, and my brother, and I think like closure is something that people always talk about. I don't I never I don't under like in my situation, I I never really had that or understood how I would achieve that. Do you feel now that this film is complete and you can sit back and watch it, do you feel any type of closure?

SPEAKER_00 43:21

No. No, I I feel exactly how you feel. I th I would I think anyway. Um, every minute of the day, pretty much, like without even really exaggerating, you know, I'm thinking about him, or he enters my mind in some format or some way. Um I don't think I ever will. But I've learned to live with that, and I think or I I should say I'm learning to live with that, and I think that's okay. Yeah. Um, you know, I I don't think that like proper closure is a real thing, to be honest, whether it's like a relationship with, you know, a significant other if something goes bad or You know, a death in the family. I just don't, you know, I agree with you. I think a lot of there is this sort of subject that, oh, you need closure, you need this, you need that. I don't think it really exists. I think you just kind of, you know, you learn to adapt and to live with your own life, right? And these are people and souls that were in your life for a period of time for a reason. But now it's time to live your own life. And um I think that's my closure is remember them always, but continue to live. Beautiful.

SPEAKER_03 44:44

Uh Lucas, do you have anything to add to that? I know it wasn't your father, but still, I mean you're close to the story.

SPEAKER_01 44:53

I don't think I have anything to add on the closure front. I think by going through the process, it was a I had met Alan a handful of times, but by going through the process of making this film, I felt like I really met him. And whether it was having these conversations with Aiden or um watching all that archival footage. I don't have like that connection to be like that was closure for me, because I never that wasn't my relationship. But I I do feel like I was able to like fully meet this person and like understand why he means so much to Aiden, which I think is is maybe a burden sometimes because people don't get it unless you've done that deep dive and like really understand it. Um, but I I I see on such a deep level how similar they are, and I think they're being in that room has has meant a lot to me. And again, it's not closure, but it's I understand him better.

SPEAKER_03 45:54

Without uh hearing Aiden's response, was the film ever about closure? Was this oh, this is a film about closure, this is a film about you know, or is it just is it just the film about telling the story?

SPEAKER_01 46:10

To me, it wasn't about closure, but it was it was like ending on a note where where Aiden is like thrown into the world with with some kind of whether it's like purpose or excitement, it's like when you see the car have a new life and he's like at the end, like I'm home. To me, that was always like it's not like an end of that chapter, but it's like I'm ready to to not move on, but like to move, you know. And so it was it was like more of an energy thing at the end, like just leaving the audience and and everyone with that motion of like the car really speeding, and so that's that's how I thought of it the whole time.

SPEAKER_03 46:51

Amazing. Uh I uh asked almost all my guests what their advice to shoot wisely is, and it's a very loose and broad term. So I'll I'll start with you, Aiden.

SPEAKER_00 47:06

Yeah, I I think uh you know, if it's a creative audience that's watching this and you know gets motivation through any outlet uh that provides value. I think for me, you know, sort of backstepping back to to what I said a little bit earlier, but you know, Lucas and I have made this out of a passion of love. And I think ultimately, you know, if you do something out of love, and you know, not necessarily, I understand you have to, you know, make the money and work and do some things for profit, but I do think that if you do something because you truly love it, like you know, the series that we're working on, um, I think that it's important to step into that a little more and you know have your niche or your focus with what you want to do. And that may involve like just working on projects like you know, your book, for example, that you know you wanted to do that and you did it, right? And you know, how proud you should be of it, and of course you are. And I think at the end of the day, you know, if if if you've become active because of that, if you've if you if you walk out of the house and you go and explore, um to me, you've done you've done life well. You know, if you've done if you've done something about it, try or fail. If you've done it, that's all that matters. Beautiful. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 48:30

Lucas, I'm gonna ask you the question.

SPEAKER_01 48:32

Advice?

SPEAKER_03 48:33

What would your advice issue wisely be?

SPEAKER_01 48:37

I think just doing the thing that's in front of you. And this is advice I've I learned a few years ago, and I've it's always led me to the right place. Like the thing you can make now is is better than the thing you can make in a year when you have the right person, when you have the money, and you you know. And this project, the whole there were so many points where I had no idea how we were gonna get to this end. There was a lot of times where I thought it was the worst thing I'd ever made. And it's it's just like let's just sh let's just keep shooting, let's just shoot another day. Um and it it just kind of worked out because we started somewhere. And I think there's a fear of like, if you, you know, this is like a small thing, like things grow, and I think they grow by putting energy into it. And so, like, no matter how small it is, like I I fell in love with filmmaking, and then I I lost it because I my idea I wanted to make a feature and I never had the money, and and then I just said I'm gonna film my sister making a cup of tea, and it changed my my career because I just did that, and then the small things add up to big things, yeah. And I think this project is is an example of that of us saying, Let's just go shoot on the hull and tomorrow, and then okay, let's just shoot in the garage the next day, and then you know it adds up.

SPEAKER_03 49:52

Wanted to ask you because I think that's really important. There's so many times you're working on something where you're like, This is shit. What am I doing? And but then you push through it and you're like, Man, I just need to trust myself. Watching this film, I think people would be like, Whoa, what what part did you think that this is the worst thing you're working on? So maybe maybe just elaborate on that just a little bit. Just part of it, I think people can really connect with that.

SPEAKER_01 50:14

Yeah, part of it is me just being extremely rough on myself, as most artists are. I but there was a you know, it all comes together in the edit, and it's kind of at least for my project, it's it's just doesn't work until it works. And for me, unfortunately, there's no method to that. It's just keep trying, and then sometimes it'll work. And I think to close till till a very near end period, uh, or close to the end, it the cuts was working, but it wasn't like emotionally hitting, or I showed it to a few people and they they liked it, but it wasn't like you didn't feel Aiden as much. And it was a structural thing. But I at that point I was like, I put too much time into this, like I can't, this is how it has to be. Um but on that last stretch, I ended up messing around with the structure a bit more, and I don't remember the exact changes that were made, but it it just framed it in a way where it connected Alan to the car a little more, and it was just very clear that this was about the relationship and not about the car. And like that's for me when I when it became good, and it's just scary because that you never know when that's gonna come, right? And I actually didn't think it was gonna come on this project. Like, I always thought it was gonna you know tell the story well, it's gonna be beautiful, but like will it make people feel anything? I was like, probably not, until I just had that pressure to like finish the project that we put on ourselves. And I don't know, it's it's the thing is there's no answer to it. And I just gotta keep pushing through. And that's the the hardest thing about doing this because you have to like look into the darkness and just be like, I guess it'll be good eventually.

SPEAKER_02 51:55

Yeah, you know.

SPEAKER_03 51:56

Well, I really appreciate both your times. I did want to end with Aidan. Um, what do you think your father would think of the film?

SPEAKER_00 52:04

Yeah. I think it would be very hard to say that he he, you know, he wouldn't love it. Uh, I I would love to if he were uh still alive and able to pass comment on it. Um but it would be a different film if you had. It would be, it would be a very different film, and you know, I think ultimately he would be proud of what him and I have done. Um my dad, Lino, loved you as well. And uh I think you know, to present our story like this in the way that we have and will continue to do with other people's stories, uh he would he would love because that kind of defines who he is as a person. Um and you know, I'm I'm very proud that him and I were able to do it, and I would take a bullet for this guy any day of the week. So um, but yeah, I think he would just be very proud.

SPEAKER_01 52:59

I hope anyway. I feel like he would find like a very niche thing and be like, that wasn't that wasn't the way I went.

SPEAKER_00 53:05

That's actually a 14 millimeter spray. Yeah, that would be like a 13 millimeter before saying anything else.

SPEAKER_03 53:11

Yeah. Beautiful. Thank you for listening to Shoot Wisely. If you found something in this conversation that inspired you, moved you, or made you think a little differently, please share it with someone who might need to hear it. Your support means a lot, and it truly helps the show grow. If you enjoyed this episode, please like, subscribe, and leave a review or comment on your favorite podcast platform. Those small actions make a big difference and help more people discover these conversations. I'm your host, Amir Bahemi. And remember, create with intention, live with curiosity, and always shoot wisely.