The Real Story of FantomWorks: An Exclusive Interview with Dan Short
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 ต.ค. 2024
- Take a deep dive into what happened in the original FantomWorks show and why Dan is opening the shop again to another show. This in-depth and raw interview is with Dan Short, owner of FantomWorks and Ashley Zahorian, director of FantomWorks: Off-Grid.
Links from the interview:
fantomworks.cm...
fantomworks.co...
ezhomesteading...
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Always loved Dan's no nonsense , be blunt and honest. That's what this world needs more of .
This man is true red white and blue thank you sir for your service
Thank you. Perfectly said. God bless the women and men of our armed forces.
Much respect, on 76 years Young add after a 50-year career in dentistry I am focusing on Volkswagens and Cadillacs I've learned a lot from you thank you Dan a fellow veteran
I was always a fan of Dan Short and Fantom Works. After watching this video, I have a new appreciation and respect for him, his company and his philosophy. Thanks so much Dan.
First of all Dan, thank you and your wife for your service. I am so happy that I found your channel, I missed your show so much. We'll see you next time.
I'm happy Fantom Works is alive and kicking. I miss the show and can't wait for new material.
A new show? Excellent!! and, BTW, THANK YOU for your service, Dan Short!
I will always watch whatever Dan puts out for many reasons
Great interview. How can you not like Dan, his ethics, and his character? Best wishes for all your endeavors.
Thank you, Dan, for really opening up about your struggles with the show and the shop. It was eye opening to see how destructive the show was to your business, your life and your health. I'm happy you were able to turn things around and take your life back. Many of us dreamed about being in your shoes, to find out it was a nightmare for you. I hope you take those hard learned lessons to make back what you lost. I'll cheer you on whichever platform you share with us.
Dan seems like such a good guy. I’ve watched every episode of his show and would continue watching whatever he produces
I met Dan at one of his Shop Tours a few years ago, I got to say that he was one of the most Genuine people I've ever met. What you see of him on TV is exactly what you get from him in person, maybe more so. No "Ego" or Bravado whatsoever. He took time to answer questions from the others in the Tour. It wasn't long after that that they stopped doing Tours, I hope they started this back up with the new show...... I'm a "Car Guy" so I will be tuning in to the new show and supporting PhantomWorks as much as possible........ Good Luck Dan & Company!!!
I think it sucks that people would screw you over on their car builds. Do you think some once they "figured out the system" or however you worded it brought cars in knowing they did not have the money to do the job but planned to take advantage of fantomworks? You have an intersting story to tell Dan. Looking forward to hearing more of it!
Miss the show. I keep watching the old show.
I'm glad the show is back, being an Army vet myself and having my own shop it's the only show I could relate to.
Thank you for your service.
Terrific interview! Much respect Dan! Wishing you the best!
Watched every episode, love the honesty and the story is very compelling and heartbreaking. Great to see you back and under your terms. Great words of wisdom as we are working to bring our TV episodes to a larger audience without losing creative control.
Great News !!
The show is coming back!!
It is so great to watch Dan get stuff done!!
Happy to see you back Dan!
Dan, so sorry you suffered during the FantomWorks show. It never was apparent nor did your stress seem overly so. I am so very disappointed in the people that took advantage of the network schedule leaving you holding the bill on their restored vehicles. Glad you are continuing and have come up with a new formula. I'm an amateur auto restorer and would get a kick out of working (learning) on something in your shop. Maybe a resto class on different components. You seem eager to teach a variety of life skills, I would take an automotive class. I have always admired your approach and truthfulness. I've seen most of the episodes twice, and am not sure how long I might wait to watch a third time! Thanks for sharing your experience and your goals.
GOOD JOB DAN, AWESOME IDEA. I'M STILL WATCHING ALL THE RERUN'S ON TV. GREAT IDEA FOR ARE COUNTRY AND THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. GOD BLESS YOU BOTH. THANK YOU.
Excited to see the new episodes you put out and its very good news to me that Fantomworks is back!
I’ll be tuning in to the new shows you all do such great work! It’s truly a passion! ❤
Dan, your honesty about the show is a complete eye opener. Much respect, and I'm looking forward to see your dream fulfilled enjoying life on your self sustained floating farm under the blue sky and clear waters around Fiji. Cheers from Maroochydore, Queensland
God bless Dan.
Thanks for ur service, and for ur show. Ive been a small business owner for 27 years, rebuilding houses, i get more joy from remodeling than building new homes. Keep up the goor work Dan.
Only mechanic I’ve seen on tv that I can honestly say is a real perfectionist
This is so exciting, I listen to it as a rise from the ashes situation and it’s so refreshing to have this to look forward to.
Congratulations!!!
I thank you for letting me knew what happened to the show
I always liked your show for the simple reason that you told it like it is, no fluff and no manufactured drama, I saw a lot of myself in you, I did everything I possibly could do to restore my car myself, and I scrimped, saved and bartered for the rest to finish it. no way I could have paid to have it done, took me twenty years, but I did it.
Thank you Dan for your service, I am 68 and from the quality of the jobs that leave your shop looks like you do top shelf work. If my 402 k hadn't been devoured in 2006 I would have had you do one of my projects,and I seldom let anyone touch my vehicles except me. Now that I'm disabled I have alot to ponder who fixes and where the $$$ comes from. Best of in your business. Northwest Indiana bench racer.
I'd heard about the issues, but nothing to this degree. How absolutely awful that the network and clients treated you this way. I loved the show and had always liked your attitude and approach Dan, but after watching this, I'm even more of a fan! All the things you even lightly touched on - CXVID, government overreach, off-grid living and more are so appropos and in line with my approach, thoughts and feelings. I hope you have much more success in the years to come.
Absolutely great to hear from Dan Short again and to hear a return of Fantom Works ...Can you buy series on DVD????
Why can't we have men like Dan to be President of the US. In my country NZ why can't we have men like this to be Prime Minister. They actually do exist, Dan Short have shown this to be true. I would go as far as taking a car restoration to Fantom Works from NZ. Such is my trust in this man. Just subscribed, thumbs upl.
The single most interesting interview I have watched. Thank you both for your service! I started my channel for the same reason you started your company. Oh yes.....I started a company in 1999 and traveled many of the same roads you have described here. I am looking so forward to seeing your next steps and hope to meet you sometime when I am in Va. God bless!!
Thank you for your service Dan.I hope you can keep your dream alive in Fantom Works . You do things the right way and us car guys know it. Good Luck to you and your family and your crew.
Incredible interview!!!
Im a retired senior NCO and I fully agree with your ideas and understand your struggles. I hope you are successful in whatever direction your business takes you.
I’m so impressed by Dan and his philosophy on conservation and preservation. He’s a true American hero. I’m inspired to make changes in my life, thank you, Dan!
Thank you for your service brother!
Just like you, I'm trilled at just understanding how peoples ...probably 10X more intelligent than me came out with those great inventions. Being able to restore them and gave them a second life is a legacy to those great inventors
I have never watched an entire episode of Fantomworks but I find the story and people behind it to be fascinating.
I am familiar with the classic car restoration and modification industry but haven't given much thought to the added complexity of producing a television series around a functional business.
I thank you both not only your service to our country but, for your ongoing contributions to the betterment of society through education and entertainment.
Thank you. We really appreciate that.
LOVED THE SHOW FROM THE BEGINNING AND NOW, KEEP UP THE GREAT WORK. IM A CAR ENTHUSEIST AND I DABBLE WITH MY OWN CAR BY LEARNING FROM SHOWS LIKE YOURS! THANK YOU!
Love the new concept and am and will always be a fan! Dan and Ashley look forward to the new format!
What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Thank you all for persevering... you're doing a great thing here. I'll support you anyway I can.
We're from central Queensland Australia 🇦🇺 and have watched the show from the start to the end and then your you tube channel and yes I felt your pain doing 6 years of he'll, but look forward to the excellence you produce on magical cars, I wish you every success for the future. Keep safe stress free haha , looking to enjoying the new adventures ahead, cheers mate
Enjoying this interview-it covers SO much more than you think it will...!!
I have always enjoyed his straightforward honesty about the costs of restoration. It’s not a cheap endeavor having restored many vehicles myself. It’s amazing how many people have unrealistic expectations!!
Growing up on a farm, I can appreciate and relate to your message. Not everyone might have the skill set to recycle a car or turn it into art…but nearly every single person on earth this can push a seed into dirt and nurture it…same with animals…we feed ourselves and many of us know what a child needs to survive so applying that to animals is almost a universal skillset. I love the reference to Insurance as well as the mention of world crisis that we literally have all faced since 2020. Video wasn’t what I expected AT ALL…but it was the history and respect for Dan that kept me from turning the channel when it went away from cars. 👏🏼
The way of work and the way Mr. Short leads his team was an example to me and teached me a lot by watching the show. I want to express my admiration and respect for your work.
By the way , the question of using the supposed waste is a question that people on my community is trying to address and the point Mr Short makes is absolutely important.
Regards from Brazil.
Thanks for the new FantomWorks Dan. And also thanks for your service from a fellow Veteran and Military retiree. I'm a retired Air Force MSgt/K-9 Handler as well as a retired Air Force civil service employee. Keep those video's coming. I still watch the reruns of your original show. Now with the real story, it puts a different perspective on the episodes.🤠
like others here..loved the show, was extremely disappointed when it stopped airing and very glad to see you are coming back. I watch a lot of car shows but Fantom works was in a league of it's own..
It was real.despite the network pressure and dead lines you got to see what really went in to restoring a car and the true craftsmen that do it.
What really drew me in as a Veteran was Dan's presence, his demeanour and his blunt honesty..you can tell he is ex military. Thank you and your wife for your service sir..I look forward to following your new endeavour.
Dan just seems like a good dude. Glad to see you doing well!
Thank you for your service. I love the show with no drama and senseless deadlines. Thats not how you build cars and i love your approach on customers and business model.
I can't wait to see what your new venture is and tune into. Still watch all the episodes that come on like I haven't seen them before.
Dan I watched most of the car restoration shows but enjoyed yours the most. Never realized the financial strain that you were under - that was terrible. Looking forward to watching the new show!
Thank you for your service Dan. My grandfather was a career Military man. Totally understand your P.O.V on giving back to the greatest country on earth.
One of the most impressive qualities about the original show was that you never allowed it to degenerate from it's primary goal, restoring cars. Of the dozens of car oriented shows, many( maybe most) introduced comedy relief for entertainment value. Scenes of eating sloppily, throwing food( food fights), planting fake snakes, air hose fights, water fights, air horns in someone's ear, and relying on employees to try stunts to get laffs. One specific cable channel in particular uses this approach, and favors high risk stunts. It's disappointing how far afield car shows have become. Thanks for staying focused.
Coulda shoulda held the projects in hand until full payment remitted? You're too nice. You need an accounts person to play bad cop while you shrug and smile. Glad to see you making content again!
Thank you Dan---for your service!!!
I am a car guy my whole life & spent 40 years of my life working for a major automotive brand. Boy did I find this episode eye opening. Was so sorry when you packed it in but now I totally understand why. Keep your health & family as the prime objective. So glad to have you back.
Thanks for pulling back the curtain and taking the shine of being an entrepreneur. It is critical that wantrepreneurs know what they are getting into.
Dan, I pray that God continues to bless you and yours. My God bless this venture and keep his hand upon you. In Jesus Name, Amen 🙏
Awsum show, glade to see you back
Great video. Miss seeming Dan working on thing. How alighting on how thing went. Good on you Dan. Thank you for bringing the story to us Ashley.
I always liked your show. I am looking forward to the next chapter
best show ever
We need more people like him.
I know some of the drama, and cussing from the original show was for effect,and such. My Wife is a 21 year AF mechanic Veteran. She went in originally to keep her out of prison, and as time went on,she advanced,and became to love it. A lot of the show drama turned her off from the show, but I kept watching it.
I like Dan's view that everyone should go into the service, I wish I had.
Thanks for your service Dan, it's greatly appreciated.
Been following you since your 1st show Dan... love your work.!
I've been professionally building restorations for many decades. Dan is spot on here. You are depending on customers to pay on time and pay for the agreed upon terms. In reality that is a fight 90% of the time...... I was approached by 3 different production companies to film a show. I was caught up in the excitement of it but wisely I sat down and did the math,,,,did the math again,,,, did the math again. I kept coming up with the same numbers. I was going to have to add employees to meet the deadlines. That cost could have killed the company if everything didn't go perfectly. Needless to say, I turned them down. I have a whole new respect for Dan after watching this because I always wondered if I made the wrong decision. Great interview!!
My dad owned two Mercedes 190-SLs; a '59 which he traded for a '62. The '62 was faded banana yellow with blood red leather interior. It was one of the most beautiful car that ever existed. He paid $2000 for it and it would be worth 100 times that today. My dad would take my sister and I for drives in the country on weekends. Other than those short stints it lived its life in our garage. Sadly, in the early 70s he sent it to a friend to have it painted silver. While it was in the paint shop someone broke in and knocked holes in the body panels with a crowbar. I think about that car once a week and I wish he would've kept it. Other than the holes, it was in mint condition and I know you could've made the car new again.
My dad in the late 50s, started flipping foreign cars, Jags, Austin-Healeys, Porches, etc. He got a 1957 gas engined, 190 sedan, this was around 1967, it was dark green with dark brown leather interior. I remember it had a, Blaupunkt radio, where you would push a button on the radio and the dial would go back and forth until it came to the preset station.
I can completely understand Dan's Logic here. I, as a child always wanted to know how
things work. So, my toys, as a child, almost always got taken apart, not always put back
together properly, but at least I understood how they worked. Even now, as a 64 year
old male, I still have this passion for everything mechanical. I even know the fundamentals
of electronics. ie- what a diode does, what a capacitor does, what a resistor does, and
the transistor, which has two basic functions, one as an amplifier, and also as a kind of
electronic switch. Thanks Dan for your insightful wisdom, and your "Passion" for
American Cars, that I also have here in the UK.
As to what I said in my comment above, I also fixed quite a few old household
appliances. Vacuum cleaners, Hedge Trimmers, VCR's, Radios etc. Its handy
when you know how something works.
I'm looking forward to seeing more
this guy is direct and to the point which i liked about his show,had no idea that he was going through all that hardship ,im glad he didnt stop fixing cars wish you luck dan
Dan - Not having been raised on a farm BUT around farming (grandparents) I was hired on a dairy in the late 70's and became their tractor operator. They had pigs too. Which brings me to this fact as you described what pigs love to eat; In the milking parlor the cows where elevated and the excrements went down a grated area into a "holding cell". I had the privilege a few times to clean up which consisted of using a hose and scooping up all that plus whatever feed that didn't make it to their mouth into 5 gallon buckets. If memory serves it was around 2 five gallon buckets that I hauled out to the pig pen and gave the hogs. THEY LOVED IT.
Looking forward to the future!
Great work Fantom Works was my favorite show loved the reaction of the people that got there cars restored
This channel deserves so much to be bigger. Still mind blown at only 31k subscribers.
Fantastic interview, straight talking. Dan is a man that puts things into perspective no matter how dark the truth is. It’s refreshing to watch contents that isn’t staged. I love cars but this is so much deeper.
Awesome! information about you and your show. Thank you ! I've learned a lot just from watching your show. I have a few ongoing projects that I need a exit strategy... 64 riviera plus tons of parts for the 63 64 riviera . My one I'm going to save is my 40 Studebaker.. to pass on to my sons. Keep on keeping on with the new show.
I wish you guys success, that's for sure, and I'll definitely check out the off-grid stuff too.
I'm a huge fan of yours Dan I enjoyed watching you on Discovery Channel always enjoyed your dedication and passion. Thanks for everything you've done and continue to do an above all thanks for your service! A true no BS badass.
Very interesting interview! Honesty!
Thank you Dan God bless you
Loved your show, I had no idea of what it took to run a restoration shop.
Dan loves your four stories and thanks for your service, Looking forward to hearing more of it
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Can’t wait to see more content Dan! Been wishing you would be back. best of luck, I will keep watching!!
1st Dan Thank you for your service and yey!! Glad we can watch you again. Good luck Dan!!!
Excellent insight into your business and your philosophy. I learned a lot and agree with where you are going. Here's hoping you are successful.
Looking forward to seeing and enjoying the new content! I watch the Fantom works reruns when they are shown! And also, Thanks Dan for your service!
Dan, I completely agree with your decision to axe the show. You stood your ground and that took guts.
Loved the car show. The insight and quality was so great. I’m sure the next adventure will be just as good. Looking forward to it!!
Hey Dan was a big fan of your show on TV will be great to watch on TH-cam
Interesting details on the real costs of reality TV
These two are awesome.
I am amazed at the employee turnover you had to endure. I can only imagine how disruptive that was to the shop. I wonder how many ran off to try and start their own endeavors and how many succeeded or failed. Best wishes to you both.
Right on Dan good luck will watch
I never intended to watch more than 5 minutes of this but I watched to the end.People with principles are few & far between these days.Great interview,not at all what I suspected!Well worth watching.
At about 40.06 i realized that you were talking about my grandparents and how I wished i would have paid more attention to them.