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Charlie's lot

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Charlie's lot

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Content CHARLIE’ S LOT

By

Thomas Carroll

——————————————————————————

A Thesis Presented to the

FACULTY OF USC GRADUATE SCHOOL

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

In Partial Fulfillment of

Requirements for the Degree

MASTER OF ARTS

(SPECIALIZED JOURNALISM (THE ARTS))

December 2018

Copyright 2018 Thomas Carroll


1

Acknowledgements

My deepest gratitude and thanks to my committee chair, Professor Sasha Anawalt. Her
constant cheer of “ Great! Do it! ” pushed me to keep moving forward and not give up even when
no end seemed to be in sight. I thank Professor Barbara Pierce, whose deep knowledge of
documentary and video journalism, guided my thinking visually and whose note of, “ you got to
get the shot, ” allowed me to soldier through uncomfortable situations and stick a camera in
someone ’ s face.
Thanks to warm and thoughtful guidance from Edward Lifson—he taught me how to tell
stories clearly and with heart. My eternal gratitude to everyone who I interviewed, especially
Charlie Fischer and Anne Marie Wasniak. Thanks to the people of Avenue 57 who let me ask
uncomfortable questions about neighbor relations . Special thanks to my girlfriend, Nikki de
Ayora, who gave me constant pep-talks and to my parents, Stan and Ardis Carroll, for never
questioning where my passions in life lead me.

2

Table of Contents

1. ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………………….4
2. BACKGROUND……………………………………………… .…………………………… .4
3. STRUCTURE ……………….. ……………………………… ………………………………5
4. KEY FINDINGS …… .………………………….…………………………………………… 6
5. SUMMARY ………… …...….………………………..……...……………………………… 6
6. DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT ……………………...…...……..…………………………… ..8
7. BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………..……………………………...18

3

1. Abstract
With 19,000,000 parking spots, Los Angeles County has more spaces in which to park
vehicles than any other place on Earth. Cars were the gunpowder that blew up Los Angeles,
1
allowing people to live in distant suburbs. This is a story of one man trying to hold on to the
parking spots he believes are rightfully his.

2. Background
As a fourth-generation Southern Californian, I’ ve spent thousands of hours in cars. I got
my driver ’ s license the day I turned 16 —to drive a car meant total freedom. As I’ ve grown older,
my view of the automobile has moved from liberator to ball-and-chain. To me, it limits my
mobility and shuts me off from the outside world—at this point 90% of my daily trips are either
by bicycle or public transit.
When I noticed a dozen vehicles, in various states of disrepair in my neighborhood of
Highland Park north of Downtown Los Angeles, I began to wonder, “ could all of these old cars
belong to one person? ” There was no way, I thought. Who would be that obsessed ? My
neighborhood of Highland Park is one of the oldest suburbs in Los Angeles—so old that many of
the homes have no driveway. What type of person is willing to take 17 spots on a public street
for a private collection. Charlie Fischer is that person. What started out as simple need to
understand the desires of a human being began to grow larger, touching on issues of
gentrification. Such questions taunted me like, Who is entitled to public space and just because
you ’ ve been somewhere for decades, does that give you carte blanche to do as you please, even if
it negatively a ffects your neighbors ?
1
Shoup, Donald C. The High Cost of Free Parking . Chicago: Planners Press, American Planning Association, 2005.
4

The people and cars of Avenue 57, it seemed to me, needed to be captured visually—a
photographic record of a street in flux —a street and a community that was fast reaching a
breaking point.

3. Structure
To tell the story of “ Charlie’ s Lot, ” I wanted to be careful to tell it simply and in a way
that answered the questions that were pecking away at me every day that I looked at these cars
outside my home.
I determined there would be two major parts to my documentary film: in the first half, the
viewer would slowly enter Charlie’s world, understanding what he believes and exactly how he
goes about maintaining a fleet of vehicles. In the second half, the viewer is then introduced to the
people who that live and work on his street. It’s through them, that the viewer begins to
understand the neighbors’ various viewpoints of the neighbors.
As fortune would have it, when filming, a neighbor interrupted my interview with Charlie
accusing him of not following the plan they had worked out.
This moment provided the shift from Charlie’s world to the world of the people
surrounding Charlie. After the neighbor interrupted us, the viewer then hears from four more
people living in Charlie’s world. The viewer sees that some people hate the cars, some like them
and some people are afraid to talk. The viewer learns that Charlie wields power. He is the
committee Chairman for Historic Preservation in Highland Park, meaning if you want to fix your
house you have to go before his board to get approval.
5

The documentary ends with Anne Marie, Charlie’s wife, speaking frankly about the
negative impact Charlie’s collecting habits have on her own life. As Highland Park gentrifies,
Charlie will have to figure out what to do with his cars, either because he will have a change of
heart, or because the city of Los Angeles will pass new regulations limiting the amount of cars
someone can park on the street.

4. Key Findings
I spent 13 hours in total recording Charlie, sometimes only with a microphone,
sometimes with a camera. Through talking with him and observing him as he shuttled his
vehicles back and forth, I began to understand what made him tick and how he was able to
rationalize what many people would consider an insane task—spending upwards of four hours a
week moving cars around the streets to park them legally and avoid getting tickets, while at the
same time, and by his estimation spending over $1000 a year solely on registration fees.
Because he spends so much of his income on basic car maintenance , he can’t afford to
actually fix one up to mint condition. In this sense, he has constructed his own prison. When I
asked him directly if he thought he had built his own prison, he thought for a moment and said
that he had to some extent and then he quickly changed the subject.
To contextualize my interviews with Charlie, I turned to the research of UCLA Research
Professor of Urban Planning, Donald Shoup. His book, The High Cost of Free Parking , was
where I learned that LA has more parking spaces than any other city on earth.

5. Summary
6

I’ve been making short-documentary films for the past five years, but never had the
patience to work on something longer than a month prior to releasing it. “Charlie’s Lot” took me
eight months to make—I know understand how much better stories get when given the time to
develop, taking the time to not only understand the people involved but to actually witness all the
parts of a story.
I believe that Charlie’s intentions are good—when an old car is scrapped out for parts, we
lose a physical connection to history—but one also needs to consider the broader picture,
understanding how individual actions affect the greater good. It’s not easy to change one’s habits
or shift after finding a comfortable position. Just like having to squeeze in closer to person next
to you on the subway when a third person sits down, one may not like it, but everyone is entitled
to a seat.
What started out as a documentary about the inner life of a collector, turned into
documenting an obsessive who does not like change. It is also about people who don’t and can’t
change—a person who is tied to his things. It is about the rights of people to public space. It is
about an LA neighborhood. It is about a marriage. It is about neighbors. It is about power.

7

6. Documentary Script

CHARLIE’S LOT
THOMAS CARROLL
06/20/2018
Video Link:
https://vimeo.com/275671582
PASSWORD: lot
OPENING
Fade in on Imperial Car Commercial If you are one of the view people who can
afford a genuine luxury vehicle, consider
Imperial ‘67.

Hard Match Cut to Charlie Fischer trying to
start Imperial.

Drone shot of Parking Lot
VO: Charlie is trying to move his car. He’s about
to complete a circuit that he’s driven 4 hours a
week for the past 30 years. It looks like this.
Animation of daily movement
VO: Our lives make shapes. The daily grind from
home, to work, to the market, back home.
But, what do those shapes say about us?

Interior of Charlie’s home. Charlie Fischer
and Anne Marie Wasniak walk in frame
Anne Marie gets ready “OK I’m going to put
my apron on.”

Charlie walks in “Good Morning, you see the
for sale sign on the bug?”

Thomas “I did. I did”

Charlie “Yeah, I’ve been meaning to sell it
forever.”

8

Anne Marie “I think we should put a for sale
sign on the ‘55 Chevy.”

Freeze Frame VO: This is Anne Marie. She’s
getting ready for her morning shift at
Denny’s. She’s been a server there for 42
years.

Charlie “NO. I thought it was time to thin the
herd. But I’ve never finished it.”

Tom“So you are kind of violating one of your
rules?”

Freeze Frame

VO: One thing you need to understand about
Charlie is this. He hates seeing old cars
destroyed. He fights this is to by scooping up
decaying cars, restoring them, and selling
them in good condition. He thinks if a car
looks beautiful, the new owner won’t have the
heart to part it out.

End Freeze Frame

Charlie “Yeah, I just don’t know when I’m
going to get to.”

Thomas: does Ann Marie normally wake you
up?

Charlie: yeah, she does because she gets up
earlier than I do.

Ann Marie: OK I think I'm ready...and you
are going to let the kitty out, right Charlie?
OK buy dear, I love you.

Anne Marie Wasniak Leaves for work and
camera follows her to car

Ann Marie Wasniak VO: I understand his passion on the cars. he likes
the, he likes the history of it and he loves the
9

cars of the love that went into them. What
gives him the spirit. He loves that and I can
understand that. I have some problems with
it, but I understand his passion on the cars.

Super quick shots of photos of cars
Charlie starts a car
TITLE CARD “Charlie’s Lot”

Drone shot of Highland Park The car is king in Los Angeles.
Archival footage of cars driving in the 1950s This city has more parking spaces than any
other city on earth. The ease of car travel
greased the gears of LA expansion, allowing
homeowners to buy cheap land in far flung
places. There 19,000,000 parking spaces in
LA County so there are two spots each for
every man, woman, and child.
SOT: Charlie Fischer Now I have to find keys, which is always the
fun part.
VO: Charlie has to find keys because he has to
move his cars.
Charlie Fischer VO: We never had any kids, so they’re kind of like
my babies, hers are dogs…the only difference
is after 15 or 16 years, the dogs are gone.
VO: So, how many cars does Charlie have?
Fast Montage of Doors Slamming
VO: They’re his cars, I’ll let him tell you.
SOT: Charlie Fischer 1920 model T Fire truck. 2 1930 buicks. ‘36
Chevrolet sedan. 36 nash sedan. ‘40 cadillac.
‘47 Buick special. ‘55 Chevy wagon. ‘56
Volkswagen ‘56 chevy tow truck. ‘62
Volkswagen beetle ‘63 valiant convertible.
‘63 Studebaker Lark Wagonair, ‘64 Cadillac
Coupe Deville. Uh, ‘64 and a half Mustang.
10

‘65 Imperial's two of them. A La barren and a
Crown. ‘67 Mercury Cougar. ‘70 Volkswagen
Karmann Ghia. ‘72 Honda 600. ‘74
Volkswagen super beetle. ‘77 Corvette. ‘79
Pontiac Trans Am. ‘83 Mazda RX-7 ‘87
Cadillac Sedan Deville. ‘99 Dodge Stratus.
2001 Oldsmobile Alero
Shot of Cars in Driveway
VO: Out of 27, he can squeeze 9 into his
driveway and the backyard plus a few in are
in the shop.
Shot of Parking Enforcement and Ticket
VO: Like most cities, LA has street cleaning. For
Charlie, it happens Wednesday and Friday
mornings. But because he parks 17 cars on the
street he can't swing to the otherside. This is
where that shape comes in. Tuesday nights he
drives one side of the street to a public
parking lot. Wednesday mornings he moves
them back to the same spot on the street.
Thursday nights he drives the cars on the
other side to the same lot. Friday mornings, he
moves them from the lot back to the street.
Charlie says this whole process takes about 4
hours.

Drone shot of parking lot with animation over
it, showing the movement of cars.

VO: This is where that shape comes in. Tuesday
nights he drives one side of the street to a
public parking lot. Wednesday mornings he
moves them back to the same spot on the
street. Thursday nights he drives the cars on
the other side to the same lot. Friday
mornings, he moves them from the lot back to
the street. Charlie says this whole process
takes about 4 hours.

11

Morning shots of cars
VO: These cars aren’t new. Sometimes they dont
start.
Charlie in car: Ain't gonna start.

Montage of Charlie jumping his car with his
other car

SOT: Charlie Fischer It's kind of a, you know, it's a creation that
man made. I agree, and I believe in God and
know God created the world in all, but man
created the car and yet they also look at them
as an artwork.
Charlie walks back to his parking lot
VO: After spending time with Charlie, I started to
agree. There is a beauty to these machines.
But I also started to wonder, when does a
hobby become a problem? I’m guilty of
hanging on to things I don't need anymore.
The hard part to reconcile is that my
collections don't make life harder for my
neighbors. Even if LA has more parking spots
than any other city on earth, this
neighborhood, Highland Park, is one of the
oldest parts of Los Angeles. Many of the
homes on this street were built before homes
had driveways. This is why parking a
collection of cars on the street pisses people
off.

Wide shot of street
VO: The second I hit record to interview Charlie a
neighbor interrupted us, it's her voice you'll
hear.
SOT: Neighbor (off-camera) The neighbors are talking about it. They are
really frustrated, so I don't know if you can
think of anything else.
12

SOT: Charlie Fischer Well, if I could find a storage place that I
could afford, which I can't because everybody
wants a fortune.
SOT: Neighbor (off-camera) and you're still not okay with parking them
further down?
SOT: Charlie Fischer Oh No, no. I need to be able to keep tabs on
them. There's things could happen.
SOT: Neighbor (off-camera) Yeah.
SOT: Charlie Fischer But I’ve spread them out a little more to try
and deal with that and I just leave him a few
more spaces up in this area.
SOT: Neighbor (off-camera) OK, I mean. Everyone is just super bummed
out. OK, thanks I guess…If I can't get a hold
of you, then that plan doesn’t really work.
FREEZE FRAME VO: The plan she is referring to is this. Charlie
gives the neighbors his cell phone number and
says, “listen if you need a spot, call me and
I’ll move one of my cars.”
SOT: Charlie Fischer Yeah, I know. But unfortunately the one time
you tried to call, I was actually on the other
end of town.
SOT: Charlie Fischer (to camera) It doesn’t work if I’m on the other end of
town.

VO: so she’s upset but what about other
neighbors?
SOT: Dent May I’m Dent May, I’m a musician. My first
impression moving here was, oh there are all
these old cars on the street, this is really cool
looking. I was like oh we have a neighbor that
fixes up cars...Now I’m not sure if he fixes
them up or not.
Wide shot of street
13

SOT: Dent May It wasn’t hard to park on my street until the
last 6 months or year as this stretch of
Figeroua has changed so rapidly. When I first
moved here 3 years ago, Charlie had just as
many cars and there were always tons of
empty spaces. If he wanted to move the cars
out of the way of other neighbors that would
be nice of him but I would miss the cars.
Shots of new businesses on Figeroua Street
SOT: Dent May I dont know I’m sure there are people that
have been here just as long as him that don’t
like the cars.
Lauretta Goldsmith picks up trash
SOT: Lauretta Goldsmith I do this almost every day. Pick up trash.Keep
it looking nice.
Lauretta Goldsmith VO I've lived here 77 years. hat do I think of
Charlie's cars? He should put them in a
museum!
Camera enters Lauretta’s home
SOT: Thomas Carroll Reading a plaque inside Lauretta’s home:
Making a difference. Presented to Lauretta
Goldsmith for your outstanding service and
commitment to Highland Park.
Lauretta Goldsmith VO Some of them aren’t even in running
condition. One of them should be in the
junkyard!
VO: I asked Lauretta what she’d want to say to
Charlie.
SOT: Lauretta Goldsmith Nothing. What's the use? It wouldn't do any
good. To "blah blah" to Charlie.It’s terrible
Exterior shot of the Ebell Club
SOT: Michael Stadler My name is Michael Stadler. We are at
Highland Park Ebell Club.
14

VO: Michael books concerts and filming here.This
started as woman’s club over 100 years
ago—Lauretta is an honorary president. The
Ebell members and Charlie park in the same
lot.
SOT: Michael Stadler and Thomas Carroll Michael: It would just be easier without the
cars but that’s something that he does...it’s his
hobby I guess. I don’t like talking smack
about people so…

Thomas: At the end of the day you are
neighbors…

Michael: Yeah, he’s my neighbor so I have to
get along with him so, so I do...you know I
get along with him.

Footage of knocking on doors
VO: I spoke with multiple neighbors who were
upset but no one wanted to go on camera.
Charlie can be gruff at times plus he wields
power.

Footage of Charlie at Historic Highland Park
Committee meeting.
He is the committee Chairman for Historic
Preservation in Highland Park. Meaning if
you want to fix your house you have to go
before his board to get approval. So you don't
want Charlie as your enemy.
VO: Luckily, one person was willing to speak their
mind.
SOT: Ann Marie Wasniak He has too many to give the time and energy
to all of them. You know, there, there's car
parts over here, there's car parts on the
bookcase in the living room where he keeps
all his keys. There're pieces outside in the
driveway. And I say “Charlie, you know, I
don't like that this is a home, it's not a car
shop.”
15

Footage of Charlie showing the camera his
collections

SOT: Ann Marie Wasniak He spends a lot of money on them and so it's
frustrating. It's frustrating, you know, and he
said, and he says one day when he gets sick
he wants to sell them and then when he gets
better he changes his mind.
SOT: Charlie Fischer Thomas: Why not just sell?

Charlie: Oh, I will sell some. As I get older,
I'm looking at that too.

Thomas: It's a lot of work. It's a lot of
physical work.

Charlie: I know, but it's a passion. And I just.
It's one of those things where, yeah, I mean
logically, but I also, I have a thing, I don't
want to put a lot of time and effort into a car,
not have it finished and then sell it. And then
the next thing I know I go down to pick apart
and there it is.

Thomas: I mean, some people could look at
your collection at the amount of time you've
invested in these cars and think you've almost
built your own prison. You've built yourself
into this box.

Charlie: Well to some extent, although I can,
you know, when I go on vacation, I can make
arrangements for parking, things like that and
I've done that.
SOT: Ann Marie Wasniak Anne Marie: We haven't really been on a
vacation since we went to Hawaii in 2008.
We haven't really taken off.

Thomas: The cars are kind of like anchors
holding you back.

Anne Marie: Yeah, they are. They are.
Because first of all, you'd have to have
16

someone move them and there are more than
there were before because, you know, have,
he is a, he has the, the Buick's now and he has
that Cadillac.

Anne Marie: You have to use your common
sense. He's not practical. See, I'm practical.

Thomas: So you guys are perfect for each
other.

Anne Marie: (Laughs) Yeah. He is not at all
practical he always says, “well, I need this
and I need this and I need to get this book and
I need to get that book.” You can have every
book in the world. It's like, I love dogs. I don't
have 30 dogs.
Footage of Anne Marie talking to her dog
VO: Even if Anne Marie wanted 30 dogs, she
couldn’t. It’s illegal in LA county to more
than 4 dogs in one house. There is no limit to
how many cars you own though. Charlie is
not breaking any laws.
Drone shot of parking lot Regardless of regulation, does living
somewhere longer give you the right to as
much public space as you want? Some people
say, “yes, I’ve earned this. You just moved
here.” New residents say “I’m entitled to
space too, I don't care how long you’ve been
here.”
Footage of Charlie sitting in front of camera
VO: Charlie is holding on to his world with an iron
grip, as new neighbors push back. A wise
person once said, “the only constant in life is
change”...just don’t tell Charlie that.
SOT: Charlie Fischer OK I’m getting my cinnamon roll.
END CREDITS

17

Bibliography

Fischer, Charlie, personal interviews, November 2017-February 2018.
Goldsmith, Lauretta, personal interview, February 3, 2018.
May, Dent, personal interview, February 3, 2018.
Shoup, Donald C. The High Cost of Free Parking . Chicago: Planners Press, American Planning
……Association, 2005.
Stadler, Michael, personal interview, February 3, 2018.

Wasniak, Anne Marie, personal interviews, November 2017-February 2018.
18

Abstract (if available)

Abstract With 19,000,000 parking spots, Los Angeles County has more spaces in which to park vehicles than any other place on Earth. Cars were the gunpowder that blew up Los Angeles, allowing people to live in distant suburbs. This is a story of one man trying to hold on to the parking spots he believes are rightfully his.

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Asset Metadata

Creator Carroll, Thomas (author)

Core Title Charlie's lot

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Specialized Journalism (The Arts)

Publication Date 11/12/2018

Defense Date 11/11/2018

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag car collections,gentrification,Highland Park,historical preservation,Los Angeles,OAI-PMH Harvest

Format application/pdf (imt)

Language English

Advisor Anawalt, Sasha (committee chair), Page, Tim (committee member), Pierce, Barbara (committee member)

Creator Email thomasca@usc.edu,tomexploreslosangeles@gmail.com

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-104899

Unique identifier UC11676884

Identifier etd-CarrollTho-6960.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-104899 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-CarrollTho-6960.pdf

Dmrecord 104899

Document Type Thesis

Format application/pdf (imt)

Rights Carroll, Thomas

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA