© 1996 General M ows Coporaron
•
_____ Ernest Dickerson
Filmmaker
"GM helped me direct
my business
dow n a new road."
"I here’s a big difference lxtween shooting
a movie in three months and shooting a
30-second IV commercial in a day or tsyo.
Some companies don’t think a lilinmaker
™rKe,in^
n
^
andLa^ ^ ^ R J R Z r U
has the discipline for such tight deadlines.
So, when General Motors became one of
my first commercial clients, I knew they
were judging me by my talent and ability.
hen driver PJ Jones
pulls into the pits in
his N o. 98 Castrol/
Degree Reynard racer
C h a m p io n sh ip A uto Racing
Teams (CART) race for a quick
tire change and gas fill up, Hersey
Mallory, an African American,
and his teammates jump over the
pit wall to service the car. Mallory
jams an air hose into a plug near
the center o f the car, activating
the jacks that instantly raise the
vehicle so the tires can be re
moved.
In an o th e r p it a few feet
away, Gerald “Stretch” Baker is
doing the same thing with Alex
W
Gaining Ground
In Elite Industry
By Reg McGhee and Jacqueline Mitchell
AFRICAN AMERICANS ON «H E E L S
Barron's No. 36 Castrol/Degree
Reynard. It’s a dangerous job, one
that demands intense concentra
tion and
during
a sharp focus.
Dressed in bright, flame-re
ta rd a n t su its a n d h e lm e ts,
Mallory and Baker look like the
several hundred or so other pit
workers em ployed by the 18
CART teams in the event. But,
they are the only blacks in the
CART pit.
T h a t’s not unusual. T hough
long interested in the sport,
A frican A m ericans represent
o nly a scant p ercen t o f the
many people employed in the
“elite” racing industry. T hose
That was important to me. And, ot
course, having GM commercials on my
reel helped bring other clients my way.
I he road to success can have its ups and
downs, but it s great to have a company
like GM help move me along."
General Motors
We Neser Forget Who's Driving