Over the summer of 2008, I participated in a young filmmakers program at Maine Media Workshops, where I had the opportunity to learn about the craft of filmmaking with other students as well as professional filmmakers. I knew from 
the beginning of the workshop that I wanted my final project to be a documentary, and after investigating a variety of subjects around Rockport, ME, I learned about a local man named Andy Swift who made a living restoring antique fire engines. I was immediately interested, so I gave him a call. He turned out to be a far more interesting subject than I ever imagined. He was an extremely profane but good-natured guy with an incredible wealth of knowledge about fire engines. He seemed like he had been interviewed by local media maybe one time too many for his liking, but he was fun to work with and very accommodating. I spent several hours exploring and filming his enormous workshop, and then interviewed him about his trucks and his work. At the end of the day, he took me for a ride on his favorite fire truck, where I got some of the day’s best footage. My film, entitled Fire Engine Man, was a hit at the Workshops, and is now available for viewing online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RLs_HQSlIA
