How did you find out about Big Vinny and the Scraper Bike movement and get connected with each?
Cooper and Canepari: Both were totally random. We heard about Big Vinny from another used car salesman in Alameda. We had already been shooting a bunch of empty used-car lots in the area but we were still debating how the story was going to play out. We knew the empty lots were interesting for what they represented and, at one point, we were thinking about just creating a visual montage of the lots with a bit of text. Then Drea saw Big Vinny’s name painted on the window of an abandoned office. Another used car salesmen still in business mentioned Big Vinny and said he was still unemployed and living with his mother. After a month of pleading phone calls and desperate text messages, Big Vinny gave us 45 minutes. We learned about the scraper bikes as we were researching another story on medical marijuana. After spending the day visiting clinics all over Oakland and coming away with nothing but a heap of frustration and a handful of pamphlets, our marijuana story seemed to be hitting a de
