Wednesday, September 17, 2003

By Bob Scott

Anyone who has seen the Stephen King miniseries "The Stand" surely remembers one particular scene of devastation: scores of cars containing dead bodies jammed into and around New York's Lincoln Tunnel.

As many Pittsburghers know, those were actually our Armstrong Tunnels standing in for their more famous counterparts. But how many people stopped to wonder where the filmmakers got all those cars?

	Makrancy with his 1968 Dodge Coronet 440. (Pam Panchak/Post-Gazette)

The climactic scene of "The Mothman Prophecies," filmed in Kittanning, takes place on a bridge filled with more than 300 cars and trucks. Who could have gathered together that great number of vehicles, let alone put them into precise position on the bridge?

In movie parlance, the person responsible for procuring and coordinating vehicles is the picture car coordinator. And when filmmakers need vehicles in the Pittsburgh area, they call upon "Gene the picture car guy."

Gene Michael Makrancy, a Port Vue native, has provided vehicles not only for "Mothman" and "The Stand," but also for numerous other films and television shows, including "Wonder Boys," "House Guest," "Diabolique," "Milk Money" and "Unsolved Mysteries."

He finds not only cars and trucks, but also emergency vehicles, barges, cranes, even a jet plane; in short, anything that can float, fly, drive or crash.

Makrancy looks youthful at age 49 and is slender, dapper and healthy-looking despite his two-year battle with Graves' disease, an autoimmune disorder that causes overactivity of the thyroid gland.

While the exact cause of Graves' disease is uncertain, many people, including Makrancy, blame environmental problems such as pollution and exposure to radiation. He points out that the Pittsburgh area was home to one of the first nuclear reactors, as well as a Nike missile site during the Cold War years.

While he was diagnosed with Graves' two years ago, he can trace many of the symptoms back to his childhood. There is no cure, but the disease can be controlled with medication. Makrancy had problems with side-effects of the medication, including severe depression and anxiety, but those are under control now.

Collecting cars

Although he grew somber while discussing his condition, it didn't take long for a playful sparkle to return to his brown eyes. He loves to smile and tomake others smile in return. He looks like someone who should be on camera instead of coordinating vehicles for film shoots. Actually, he has appeared in numerous movies, usually as an extra, sometimes in small roles.

A 1972 graduate of South Allegheny High School, Makrancy attended art school, then got a job in the textile design field. When the company went out of business, he worked construction, building homes, plastering and landscaping. But his first love has always been cars.

As a child, he built and collected model cars, a passion he still indulges, often displaying his models in shows. As an adult, he began collecting and restoring cars. His favorite is the Ford Ranchero, of which he owns three.

Makrancy has also forged a career as an automotive journalist and historian, now serving as the "foreign correspondent" for a Canadian magazine, Old Auto.

His odyssey into film began in 1992, when he provided a vintage car for "The Cemetery Club" and played Ellen Burstyn's driver in one scene. He next played a small part in "Blind Spot," starring Joanne Woodward and Laura Linney.

The following year he was back in the picture car business, rounding up vehicles for "Roommates," "Milk Money" and "Breathing Lessons," and for the miniseries "The Stand."

In 1994 he got his first official title as picture car coordinator for "Houseguest," in which he also did some stunt driving. Unfortunately, when the film was released, he didn't receive the on-screen credit he deserved. The first time he actually received an on-screen credit as picture car coordinator was for the 1996 Sharon Stone film "Diabolique."

The TV miniseries "The Temptations" brought Makrancy a new series of challenges, but he met them all. He filled four city blocks with period cars of various makes and models, found a 1953 Detroit city bus that had been used as a school bus and managed to gather vintage Cadillacs in colors to match the characters' costumes.

Detailing for details

There is more to it than just finding the vehicles, however. The coordinator must procure the vehicles, borrowing, renting or buying them. For safety and environmental reasons, the vehicles must be equipped with new tires and exhaust systems and special-order windshields. The vehicles are made to look new and perfect with bodywork, painting and reupholstering, then are "weathered back" if needed to age them.

An example of this is Makrancy's work on "Wonder Boys." In the film, star Michael Douglas drives around in a beat-up 1966 Ford Galaxy. Makrancy had to find not one, but three identical '66 Galaxies.

After the process of restoring the cars and then weathering them back, he and his crew had to make special modifications needed for the filming. One car was equipped to tow a water buffalo and special apparatus behind it for the scenes in which it "rained" on the car. The other two cars were rigged with removable windshields, doors and roofs for the various camera shots. In one scene a man jumps onto the hood of the Galaxy, denting it. Makrancy had to have several different hoods for that scene. The shot required 12 hood changes in one hour, beginning at 2 a.m. on a freezing location in the Hill District.

Makrancy's favorite film shoot was for "The Mothman Prophecies." It was the most exciting as well as the hardest. He had to procure 310 vehicles for the bridge scene, plus emergency vehicles, barges and a crane.

The vehicles were lined up on the bridge for a month of shooting with Makrancy and his crew of five production assistants and two mechanics moving cars around before, after and during the filming. He had to chart the positions of all the vehicles to keep track of them.

Hollywood hobnobbing

What he cherishes most are the moments of interaction with the actors, and he has interacted with some of the biggest names in Hollywood. He loved working with Laura Linney and Debra Messing in "Mothman" and describes star Richard Gere as "the greatest."

He thinks of "Wonder Boys" star Michael Douglas as "Old Hollywood" and co-star Robert Downey Jr. as "a nice person. Friendly." Downey often ate with the crew, but Makrancy says it was sad. "When he would come into the room everyone would go quiet." This was at the time of Downey's much-publicized drug problems.

Makrancy heaps praise on "Breathing Lessons" star James Garner, saying he is "like a favorite uncle." His all-time favorite is Joanne Woodward, with whom he bonded on "Breathing Lessons" and "Blind Spot."

During the filming of "Blind Spot," Makrancy told Woodward that his favorite movie of hers was "The Stripper."

When Paul Newman arrived for the wrap party, he sought out Makrancy, telling him that he was "looking for the guy who said he likes my wife as a stripper." Newman playfully threatened to punch Makrancy, who bantered right back with the star.

Makrancy loves what he does and loves doing it in the Pittsburgh area, though he is currently in Cleveland as picture car coordinator for a TV movie. His biggest thrill is seeing the cars on screen, especially his personal cars. That, he says, is "better than seeing myself on screen or my name in the credits."

So the next time you're watching a movie or TV show, pay close attention to the vehicles on screen and think about the people responsible for putting them there.

If it's something filmed in the Tri-State area, chances are good that Gene the picture car guy had a hand in it.

Bob Scott is a freelance writer.

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