If there was an Emmy for ingenuity, it would have to go to Andy Bumatai, the Hawaii comedian who mounted cameras inside his car and turned it into a rolling talk-show interview for anyone willing to ride shotgun.
His show, "In the Car with Andy Bumatai," is growing in popularity among OC16 viewers as well as fans who regularly watch for new installments on YouTube.
Bumatai has seven GoPro cameras mounted in his car. They run simultaneously as he picks up a guest, makes an introduction while driving and then starts motoring through Oahu neighborhoods that have had a significant impact on the person being interviewed.
The finished product is conversation in its most stripped-down format. No set. No camera operators. No producer. No audience.
"It takes the pressure off the guests because I am not staring at them," Bumatai said. "Here it’s a buddy cruise."
The format is easier for Bumatai, who once hosted his own local talk show. But this is a little different. He has to safely drive while interviewing, so his guests understand if he has to occasionally turn away, he said.
"I don’t have to look at the guest," Bumatai said. "I can if Iwant, but then I can look away and it doesn’t feel weird. If you are on a talk show on set and you look away from the guest and talk to them and look at something else, they go, ‘What, brah?’"
Bumatai got the idea completely by accident a few months ago. It was equal parts high tech and MacGyver.
At the time, Bumatai would mount his iPhone inside his car’s windshield and record any comedy ideas that surfaced as he drove. He would edit the footage when he got home and post what he liked on YouTube.
But the suction cup kept falling off, so Bumatai grabbed an extra mic stand left over from a comedy gig, mounted the iPhone on a little boom attached to the stand and put it all in his car.
Then one day he gave a ride to fellow comic Augie Tulba.
"I turned on the camera, and I said, ‘Hello, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the car where today my guest is Augie Tulba,’" Bumatai said. "I swing the boom around and point it at him, just goofin’ around, and Augie starts talking."
After that he started adding more cameras so viewers could see where the car was going as well as various perspectives — including one in a rearview mirror — of the interview in progress.
TULBA became his first "In the Car" YouTube video, uploaded in March and followed by 28 other interviews. Most have drawn only a few hundred views, but singer Melveen Leed has attracted more than 2,700 hits. Radio personality Frank B. Shaner and singer Jimmy Borges have each drawn more than 1,100 hits.
OC16 began airing a half-hour version of Bumatai’s show in May, said Lianne Killion, senior programming manager at the station. There’s a new episode at 9:30 p.m. every Monday, with repeats during the week. On Saturdays, Bumatai uploads the episode to YouTube.
The car promotes a more intimate interview, said Killion, who will stop what she’s doing to watch an episode when it airs while she’s working.
"When you are in the car with somebody, driving around their familiar stomping grounds, it changes the way they talk," she said. "It’s a very personal thing. It’s almost like they are not talking for the camera. It’s very pure."
Bumatai still handles every detail of production. He shoots on Sundays and edits at home, something that takes much of his week.
The feedback has been positive, he said. Former Hawaii residents say the videos offer nostalgia. Former tourists say they’re seeing a brand-new landscape.
"You are in this car, and even if you muted the sound, if you are from Hawaii and living in Denmark, you will say, ‘Hey I remember that place,’" Bumatai said. "And I get emails from tourists who say, ‘I am going to visit Hawaii. How do you get to Kalihi?’"
AND that’s a wrap. …
Mike Gordon is the Star-Advertiser’s film and television writer. Read his Outtakes Online blog at honolulupulse.com. Reach him at 529-4803 or email mgordon@staradvertiser.com.
