On certain Saturday mornings, if you’re in Griffith Park near the carousel, you might spot a small group of Animation Guild members gathered in the parking lot, sharing coffee, doughnuts, and stories about their cars. You’ve just stumbled upon one of the Cars & Coffee meet-ups that have been facilitated for the past three years by Roger Oda and Susan Nguyen.
Oda, a background designer on My Adventures with Superman, and Nguyen, a storyboard artist on The Casagrandes, originally bonded over their appreciation of cars when they were both at DreamWorks. Nguyen says, “I would communicate on the internal forum with the same handful of people about cars, including Roger. We would share fliers for car events and local meets, and eventually we came up with this wild idea of meeting in person!”
Prior to that, when Oda was working on Motorcity, he also met colleagues who were into cars. “There are quite a few transportation design people who work in animation—so there’s a lot of people who know actual car design philosophy.”
Oda says the Cars & Coffee events seemed like a natural development because of Southern California’s car culture in Burbank and Glendale, where many animation artists and writers work. He also likes having a casual activity where people from the industry can gather without needing a serious purpose for meeting up. He notes that in the Guild, many events are anchored in advocacy issues, adding, “I do think it’s important that we meet under other circumstances.”
Nguyen, in turn, views the meet-ups as “a fun way to make new connections beyond our crew or studio, as well as a great opportunity to get to know each other as people beyond the workplace. Through these kinds of events we can become better connected and, I think, better humans.”
The events usually run from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., and Oda and Nguyen make sure coffee and doughnuts are available as they direct cars into designated areas in the parking lot. “Once a few roll in, we walk from car to car, checking details out, hearing wild car stories, sitting inside cars you’d never sit in otherwise,” says Nguyen. “Once in a while, you might even get to drive someone else’s car if you’re lucky.”
For Oda, his love of cars goes back to his childhood. In fact, he says, his desire to be able to draw cars well was how he developed his art skills. He used perspective in those drawings which became useful in background design.
As for Nguyen, she longed for a Honda del Sol from an early age. She was fascinated by the engineering and design in older Hondas. During the pandemic, she credits drives in her three Hondas with keeping her sane, reminding her that she wasn’t completely trapped by the lockdown. While she has dreams of “rescuing” as many vintage Hondas as possible, she highly advises people “to collect things that are smaller and cheaper.”
The spectrum of cars that shows up at the meet-ups is always exciting to Nguyen—from vintage MINI Coopers to ‘90s JDMs [Japanese Domestic Market] and beyond. She loves hearing the stories of how people became partial to a particular make or model, as well as the emotional connections they have with their cars. At a recent gathering, she heard about a driver who is loyal to her Audi because she once came out of a serious accident unscathed. And Oda has sold two of his cars to friends over the years, happy to know he’d see them again in studio parking lots. “I think car owners get attached, and if they really like something they want to know that it’s going to go to a good home,” he says.
Just as the technology of a particular time influences how animators work and draw, Oda notes that cars tend to have a generational aspect to them. He grew up in the ‘90s, and along with several colleagues, was influenced by the import car scene. “Now those cars are getting older, suddenly becoming the classic cars,” he says. In contrast, there are older members who like European cars or roadsters, which were popular with their generation. At meet-ups, people with the same car tastes tend to congregate: Porsche owners gather to check out the differences between their models, or Honda people dive into their own deep discussions.
Meet-ups usually draw between 10 to 20 people, from newcomers to industry veterans. Some are reticent at first about joining, but Nguyen says, “You don’t even have to drive a ‘cool car’—if you vaguely appreciate automobiles, you’re more than welcome to join us!” And Oda explains that the gatherings are mostly about socializing. He enjoys that people have shown up who don’t necessarily have a car that they love, but because they just wanted to hang out. A few attendees even bring their kids.
While the Cars & Coffee event is for Guild members, “ensuring a safe and welcoming space for our fellow nerds, artists, and gearheads,” according to Nguyen, TAG members have brought friends and car enthusiasts from other locals, creating a unique bond across unions.
The pandemic put a pause on in-person events for a while, as Oda and Nguyen navigated how to proceed responsibly. Mission accomplished, the meet-ups are back at Griffith Park and sometimes The Animation Guild parking lot on a hopefully quarterly basis.Learn more about attending on the group’s Facebook page: @CarsandCoffeeLA.
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