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mitchman:

I wouldn't have any unmanned cameras.  The cars move to fast for them to be static.  Maybe the overhead camera could be static (if it's even possible....helicopter?)

You would probably interview drivers after their runs, but if appropriate you might interview them before as well.  Lots of different options here.  

This is fun to talk about, but I have no idea how you would garner the funds/SCCA support/etc...to make it happen. 

step 1: find out what is of interest to the potential victims - and this discussion is most helpful even at this early stage

step 2: find out what (if anything) is of interest to potential sponsors

step 3:  see if there is sufficient overlap between 1 and 2 to contain a feasible effort

If we get to 3, then it's time for a straw proposal to try and codify a consensus....

A long road, but no hurry...

Y'all gravitate quickly to a format that sounds to me rather like a serious effort to produce a single event - the sort of approach I see with any major motorsports competition that has an established audience.  Perhaps that's it...

I keep thinking about who the audience is for this.  If I take the current Solo community as the audience then the single event format makes sense to me, as we all know how the sport is conducted and could enjoy the show.

But if the audience is only secondarily ourselves, then this project would have to contain some education, and to attain that a "hook" would have to be crafted...   One "hook" might be the conversion of a street racer - would anyone here admit to graduating from street to Solo?  Is such a progression just urban legend?  Who among you has not chuckled quietly at the appearance of an uber-street machine driven by a novice - who suddenly discovers that Solo is hard?  Has anyone that passed that test and persevered, ever tempted a protege to follow suit?

I'm grasping in all directions here, and only due to a sense that securing sponsorship on an appropriate scale must include not only good PR for the SCCA and potentially some product placement for corporate backers, but also educate and seduce the potential participants in our sport. 

This is due to my sense that a production that is not just a showcase but also an effective recruiting message will garner the most support - with safety a visible and critical component of the pitch.

Please do toss out more ideas, as I would cheerfully wallpaper a room with them if I had enough, and use that as a starting point for refinement.

The season-long marathon tracking a couple of racers is tempting, but there are pitfalls.  What if the guys you pick turn out to have a pretty boring year?  OTOH, following individuals could give you access to off-track footage.  I'm sure the garage scenes doing car prep would be pretty good too.

The advantage of doing it on an event-by-event basis is you get to pick your subjects on the fly. 

From a production standpoint, this sounds like a web publishing venture to begin with.  See if the SCCA would let you host it on their web site.
 

Opening Scene.....

1)  Me pissing my wife off in general.....and then sending her off the cliff with my travel plans

David Lehman:

Opening Scene.....

1)  Me pissing my wife off in general.....and then sending her off the cliff with my travel plans

do you still have that charming sheep costume?  or was that not you?

ah so many human angles!

I just spent some quality time with the GFab blog - now THAT offers some real insight.  Deadliest catch indeed!

Point taken about picking two subjects, and discovering there was no drama for those folks that year...

What does "web publishing venture" mean to you Dave?  PM me or educate me in public - and thanks for either.  To me it suggests a series of short segments ( < 8 min ) and would appear to damned near eliminate the airtime part of this fantasy, and the associated challenge of funding said air time.  Can you point me at an example perhaps?

cmt52663:

What does "web publishing venture" mean to you Dave?  PM me or educate me in public - and thanks for either.  To me it suggests a series of short segments ( < 8 min ) and would appear to damned near eliminate the airtime part of this fantasy, and the associated challenge of funding said air time.  Can you point me at an example perhaps?

I was thinking that it may be difficult to sell the idea without some sort of pilot footage.  Getting it out on the web allows you to do the first step with relatively low funding.

Another key point: good commentators.  Get the guy narrating stuff excited about it and the audience will be excited about it.  That theory explains why the WWE and monster truck "racing" are still in existence.

DaveH:

I can't see how a ProSolo shootout is any less exciting than drag racing, and they put that on TV.  We could actually generate a pretty good amount of TV-able footage if all the Pros went to the Doublecross run format and ran qualifying shootouts.  If we could rig a format where the cars started on the outside and finished in the middle the finishes would be pretty exciting to watch.

Let's see what does drag racing have that ProSolo does not that would please a TV audience. Could it be noise? Yeah, that's it drag racing is loud. ProSolo don't got that. Could it be flames? Yeah, that's it drag racing has lots of flames. ProSolo don't got that. Could it be high speeds? Yeah, that's it drag racing goes 300mph ProSolo don't got that. Could it be explosions? Yeah, drag racing has explosions sometimes, ProSolo don't got that. Could it be the chance of death and injury? Yeah, that's it, people love to see others risk death for their entertainment. ProSolo don't got that. Could it be sponsors? Yeah, that's it drag racing has sponsors willing to pony up the bucks to pay for the show. ProSolo don't got that.

Get real. Comparing drag racing  to ProSolo for the average Joe (or Joette) is like comparing watching Tiger Woods at the Masters to watching grass grow.