Technical director for The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift-sounds like a pretty cool job, no? But ask Toshi Hayama and you may get a different opinion. For the better part of the past two years, the former A'PEXi front man and current D1GP English announcer has been keeping a low profile and a strict eye on Universal Pictures, making sure its portrayal of drifting remains true to the sport even if the script called for a cheesy plot. We spoke with Toshi to gather his thoughts as drifting takes on the silver screen.
Super Street: Before there was anything fast and furious, you were already part of the scene. Tell us how you got your start.
Toshi Hayama: Wow, you want to take it back that far? I got my start by translating instruction manuals for GReddy part-time and at the time during the early '90s] was also a street racer with some of my friends from Dynamic Autosports. One weekend I was up in San Francisco for a race where I met Tomo Mizutani from Nitto Tires, who asked me to help him launch his marketing campaign while I was still in college. In exchange, he helped me create a 60-page business plan to turn over to a company called APEX, which was started by the younger brother of Hasegawa, the "H" in HKS, who was trying to come into the US. I was hired, but shortly after that my boss quit, so I had to fly to Japan to negotiate with the main office to give me a chance to get the ball rolling. I worked there for nine and a half wonderful years and recently left to start my own company called Stage 10 Productions.
SS: Why did you leave the company you started?
TH: With A'PEXi, there were a couple things happening. APEX USA was my staff and to this day I stop in to see how things are doing. APEX Japan is a bigger machine and we were getting ready to go public on the Japanese stock exchange when we experienced a hostile takeover by one of our technology companies. It gets a little tricky here using the right words to explain the situation but basically it stalled the progress of our technological developments. At the same time, however, there was a shift in the company's direction. Instead of being purely performance driven, this corporate influence brought on by other companies on the board of directors had started to overtake Mr. Hasegawa's direction and focused their efforts on other technologies. This didn't affect A'PEXi USA and we were very profitable. When I left, I was 31 and single and I had been wanting to start my own company for a very long time. It was like playing for theLakers but loving basketball and wanting to do something else with it. I won't lie; if A'PEXi did create an unstable image of itself, it was through the workings of things that were beyond our control and I did my best to secure the people that were around me. Sure, anyone could say, "Look, they're hurting," but does that really make a difference? The parts are still being produced; the company's still around and they have other divisions that are very successful.
SS: How did the Fast and the Furious job come about?
TH: Justin Lin, the director, made an indie film called Better Luck Tomorrow and one of the actors, Roger Fan, is a friend of mine from high school. He called me and said that Justin would have a film that I could help him out with. Then D1 Japan contacted me saying that Universal was going to do a movie on drifting. I was their US contact so they said they wanted me to help them. I also received a third call from my old boss at A'PEXi, but I immediately turned down all three offers. I didn't want to be a sellout. The first movie did well for the industry in certain ways and I just didn't like the second. I could see that it was very difficult to get it to what us car guys would like. Roger called me back, so I started studying up on Justin. It was going to be Justin's first studio-backed movie and he was willing to commit his power and life to making sure it was what I wanted. If I didn't like it, I wouldn't have to put my name on it. I thought about it, but turned it down again. It wasn't the pay; it wasn't the concept-I simply did not want to become a sellout. It had a high possibility of becoming whored out, especially with drifting-it's the hottest thing out. They could have f---ed it up, left, and my company would be labeled a sellout for helping out. Could they sustain the next ten years of my livelihood? But then the kicker came, something they said which really made me think. They said, "The forces that be are going to make this movie whether you like it or not. We're really worried with how it's going to turn out and we really want you to be involved. Can you help us?" Maybe it's the mostcommon play in the book, but I thought about it and said, "Well, if they're going to do it, I should help." What's the worse that could happen? I should be there to make sure it's done right. But I never publicized or capitalized on it. I had no idea what I was getting into. One of the most intense things I've ever done.
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