Farouk Boudjellal remembers how his fascination with cars began: watching the French thriller Dobermann and falling in love with the Lamborghini Countach in it. Growing up in the eastern suburbs of Paris, he dreamed of beautiful cars and the city itself. On weekends, he would go to the Champs-Élysées to watch luxury cars cruise past. At home, his family drove a modest Peugeot 504 that his father, a construction worker, repaired himself.

Farouk was working a series of odd jobs when a trip to Los Angeles in 2008 deepened his fascination with cars. “I had never seen so many incredible cars in one place,” he says. “They were gigantic. The V8 engines and the way the cars were customized were so different from what I had seen in Europe.” What he lacked was a way into that world.

A couple of years later, while riding his motorcycle near the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, Farouk noticed a vintage car at what appeared to be a film set. He stopped and struck up a conversation with the man behind the wheel, who explained that he sourced and rented out vehicles for productions.

Farouk bluffed and told the man he was in the same business. A few weeks later, the man called with Farouk’s first assignment: finding an old Mercedes S280. Farouk found the car through a classified ad. More jobs followed, and he gradually learned the ropes.

Today, Farouk runs Spot My Car, an agency he founded that specializes in sourcing and placing vehicles in films, advertisements, fashion shoots, and other creative projects. Its clients and partners have included Netflix, Celine, Loewe, Louis Vuitton, and Vogue. His work often begins with a brief, storyboard, or script. From there, he looks for the right car for a character — one that reflects their personality, social status, and the world they inhabit. “A car is more than just a background detail,” he says. “When chosen well, it helps shape a character and tell the story.”

Outside of work, Farouk is now a car collector himself and enjoys taking his nieces and nephews out for drives. His cars also help him meet other owners and expand his network. He’s studying art history at the École du Louvre and is beginning a course on the film industry at Université Paris Sciences et Lettres.

“When I discovered ChatGPT, it felt like the perfect tool for feeding my curiosity,” he says. “I started using it for daily tasks, but I soon realized it could also become an incredible assistant in my work.” Farouk says ChatGPT helps him present Spot My Car more professionally to production teams, and that more of his proposals now lead to projects.

Here are five ways Farouk uses ChatGPT to run his business (the prompts and quotes have been translated from French):

1. Search for hard-to-find vehicles

I’m looking for [vehicle name] for a film. Conduct an in-depth search to find all online listings offering this model for sale or rent. Make sure each vehicle is located no more than a two-hour drive from Paris.

Why was this chat valuable? “I use various tools, including ChatGPT, to identify and locate available vehicles from private owners, collectors, dealerships, or other professionals who might be willing to provide them for film shoots. This chat saves me time and helps me find promising leads more quickly.”

2. Research local events to find new leads

List all classic-car collector meetups, tuning events, and other types of car gatherings in the Paris region between today and next Sunday.

Then create a spreadsheet with the name, dates, location, description, and link for each one, along with a film-oriented selection of photogenic cars and Instagram accounts.

Why was this chat valuable? “ChatGPT turned event research into an in-person prospecting tool. The research led to actual meetings with vehicle owners, helping me expand my network and uncover rare cars.”

3. Identify the right automaker partners for a project

You are my automotive partnerships assistant.

Help me identify:

• the right automakers for this project
• the press, marketing, and communications contacts to approach
• the product placement pitch
• the exposure we could offer the automaker in return

Then help me draft a professional outreach message for each.

[Project.pdf]

Why was this chat valuable? “It’s useful for developing relationships with automakers and securing vehicles on loan. Previously, reaching the right person often meant finding someone in my network who could introduce me. Now I have a wider range of potential partners and contacts to consider for a project.”

4. Plan vehicle logistics for a shoot

Act as my project manager for this shoot.

Help me plan:

• vehicle availability and schedules
• delivery, pickup, and transportation
• on-site supervision and owner attendance
• insurance, contracts, and condition reports
• on-set requirements and client communications

[Shoot.pdf]

Why was this chat valuable? “ChatGPT helps me plan and coordinate projects involving multiple vehicles much more efficiently, without an assistant. It helps define responsibilities, schedules, risks, documents, and logistics before every shoot or event, so I can organize the operation myself.”

5. Remove sensitive details from a video

Can you remove overlaid text from a video?

Remove the logo and the text at the bottom of the screen for the entire time they are visible. Then cleanly obscure the license plate.