My trusty Red Wings after five years (and three resoles!) of movie location scouting…

I think it’s finally time for a new pair…but it’s hard to say goodbye!

As a location scout, prob 50% of the places I scout are houses, and it’s always interesting when you see The Hip New Thing suddenly start to show up everywhere. Like the stove with the red knobs —

You know this sort of thing when you see it, because your reaction is always the same: “Hey, there’s some minor thing I never thought twice about, being done in a dramatically new and eye-catching way!” Another is the grass-grid driveway —

For most of contemporary history, we were all perfectly happy with black/stainless steel stove knobs and slabs of concrete for driveways… And then these hit, and it’s like everyone collectively goes: “Yeah, why didn’t we ever think of this before??”

It’s fascinating to me from a sociological perspective, because I have the exact same reaction as everyone else when I first see it. Except, because I scout so many homes, the novelty of these overnight trends very quickly becomes stock and mundane for me, and I’ll find myself unconsciously starting a countdown in my head: how long until everyone considers this outdated? Because just as suddenly as these trends go viral, they end without warning. The classic example is the gray tile backsplash —

This one spread like wildfire. It was like overnight, every single kitchen I’d scout had this exact backsplash. But it also became passé quicker than most, I think because of its ubiquity. Because it was so common, directors/production designers would explicitly avoid it.

The one that kills me is the recent popularity of the gray laminate floor. Again, I’m speaking from a filmmaking perspective, NOT interior design; but on screen, the gray just so easily falls into the vibe of corporate office building, which is too bad, because literally any other vaguely natural shade of wood would likely stand the test of time for far longer.

Finally, at the opposite end of the trend timeline is the garden window, which I believe peaked as The New Hip Thing sometime in the 1980s:

Whenever I see them on homes around LA, rarely with the intended flowers inside, it always occurs to me that they once caused the same reaction as the red-knob stove: “Why haven’t we ever thought of doing this before?? Windows don’t need to be flat!”

And then, one day for no particular reason, we all collectively decide that in fact we prefer our windows flat, our stove knobs black or steel, and our driveways a single slab. And the thought of these ever being trendy seems like a strange dream…

Just to make it clear one last time, I’m speaking from the perspective of a location scout, NOT an interior designer! If you have any of these things in your home, I’m not criticizing your choices or saying you have bad taste!

And I’ll fully admit it: I think the red knobs are cool too.

Well this was unexpected. I pulled over at this random spot in the desert to take pictures, and I see a blue glint in a bush —

I look closer and it’s a bike —

With this message scribbled on it: “June 18, 2026: I will return for this bike, leave it here!”

Now I’m preoccupied by two things: whether the mystery bike owner is ever going to return; and that their request has apparently been respected all these months. I too shall abide!

Last week, I was scouting outside Barstow along a lonely stretch of the old Route 66 when I came across what seems like nothing more than an overgrown field – but look closer and you’ll find surprising traces of what it used to be…

Standing in the middle of the 7-acre lot, you might just notice that the foliage seems to be growing oddly in parallel arcs…

The satellite view makes this more apparent, a series of concentric arcs all focused on one point… But for what purpose??

A drive-in movie screen! This was once the Bar-Len Drive-in, opened in December 1948 and so-named because it straddled the line between the desert communities of Barstow and Lenwood.

Able to accommodate 500 cars, the drive-in operated throughout much of Route 66’s cultural peak, finally closing in 1968. The screen was still standing in 1980, though in significant disrepair.

Though it’s too contemporary to be considered of much historical interest now, I always wonder if, in a few centuries, historians will point to those arcs of scrub as rare evidence of how the people of yore once sat in their cars to watch that old-fashioned contrivance: a movie.

When I’m scouting for period motels for filming and I want to go beyond the usual suspects, one trick I use is to search eBay for “motel post card [city/town name].”

Back in the 1950s-70s especially, it seems like every motel made a postcard for guests…

And it’s a great way to find properties that may not even be motels anymore, but still have the bones to be dressed as such.

They also provide an excellent guide on what cosmetic changes are needed to restore them to an authentic vintage look, usually just painting and some signage.

Sometimes, you can’t believe you’re at the same place.

Other times, it’s pretty amazing how little has changed.

I always get excited when the postcards show interior spaces like restaurants and bars at their prime, a production designer’s dream. Sadly, these almost always have been gutted and modernized beyond recognition.

So funny that these little postcards have wound up playing an immensely valuable historical record of properties that might not otherwise have been documented.

Something I wish I’d done back when I lived in NYC: my apartment was at 9th and Wythe in Brooklyn, and for whatever reason, that corner was prone to late night fights.

And it was really annoying, because it was almost always two drunk guys yelling ridiculous threats while doing everything possible to avoid throwing the first punch.

So this would go on for 20 minutes, and then someone in the building would get fed up and call the cops, and they’d always show up just after everyone had gotten bored and gone home.

Anyway, one night I’m trying to get some work done, and all I can hear is this endless back-and-forth yelling from a fight outside. I look out the window, and it’s two guys in their early 20s ganging up on a smaller guy. So now I feel bad for smaller guy, and I’m going to call 911.

Then, smaller guy pops the trunk of his car and pulls out a skateboard and starts swing wildly. His two opponents are initially startled, then they start throwing wild punches at the skateboard, and everything is getting stupider.

Then, like something out of West Side Story, a bunch of smaller guy’s friends run around the corner, and now the two guys are outnumbered. Only, everyone is still scared to actually connect with a first hit, so people are throwing punches at empty air, and the one dude is still swinging his skateboard.

And everyone is yelling excruciatingly cringe threats louder than ever, and it’s all never been more annoying. But I know if I call the cops, they’ll never show up in time.

Then I get an idea. I get out my big guitar amp and lug it close to the window.

Then I dig out an aux cable and connect it to my phone. And then, I start madly searching on Spotify for the song “Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting.”

Because my theory is, no matter how angry you are, there is absolutely no way anyone can fight and keep up the tough guy bravado while the disco beats of “Everybody was kung fighting!!” are blaring over the neighborhood at a ludicrous volume. Like, legitimately impossible.

Sadly, I wasn’t quick enough. Just as I was about to hit play, the police showed up (someone in the building must have called), and everyone scattered.

For months after, I kept my amp by the window in case of another fight, but none occurred, and then I moved out of the city.

But to this day, it remains one of my deepest regrets that I wasn’t able to witness a bunch of drunk idiots attempt to duke it out on a Brooklyn street corner to the funky beats of “Kung Fu Fighting.” (Though my wife is convinced I’d have just focused the mob’s fury on me).

I love coming across forgotten neon signs for long-gone businesses, and old Chinese restaurants are among my favorite —

This chow mein sign used to hang above a photocopy place (also out of business!) at 823 Nostrand in Brooklyn (now a florist, sign sadly removed).

Also, fascinated by whoever thought to put such an artsy street number sign on the building (still there!):

I’ve been a location scout for 20+ years and it’s funny, whenever I’m at a new place, my mind will notice some little detail and instantly make this sort of Sherlock Holmes-like prediction. Like I just passed this house —

And right away, my mind goes: “Ah, horse people.” Because the thing that stands out to me immediately are those two brick blocks out front, which are most likely – but not necessarily! – a mounting block, for getting up and down from a horse.

From there, a few things occur to me. If they are horse owners, does the horse live in a backyard stable? If so, we’d likely have to relocate the horse if we end up filming due to the commotion (also, horse owners tend to be intensely protective of their animals).

But then, why is the block out front, and not in the backyard? In which case, maybe it means they board their horse locally, and occasionally ride to their house. Except: there’s no hitching post. A third option is that it’s just decorative. A fourth is that I’m wrong and it’s the remains of, say, a mail box.

In the end, whatever my initial snap assessment, I usually still knock. But having an idea of the potential concerns that might exist always helps to get a jump on addressing them with the homeowner if I turn out to be right.