What we do:
We’re here to help everyone find cars they will really love. A car that makes you want go for a drive… just to drive. Our films use cinematic photography and a unique dual-host commentary to showcase enthusiast driving on great roads. Our podcast “The Car Debate” focuses on answering viewer dilemmas in finding fun cars that also meet their budget and needs.
In a world where most every car has bluetooth, backup cameras, and more tech than a cell phone, we’re focused on the thing most often overlooked. Enjoying Driving.
We’ll show you cars, comparisons, personal builds, and adventures, all within reach of the average person. And occasionally, some outlandish stuff too.
We share it all with you because “You can’t drive a spec sheet”.
“Everyday Driver” is small and fully independent, creating high-quality productions with a fraction of the crew and budget of others like us. You can help us do more by watching, sharing with a friend, buying our feature films, or joining us through Patreon.
Who we are:
Todd Deeken
Co-Host/Producer
Growing up, Todd was obsessed with cars and scoured magazines memorizing stats. If YouTube had existed he’d have been “that guy” in the comments. But in college two things pulled him away from cars; filmmaking, and owning terrible automobiles.
Todd moved to LA to write and direct films and one of his new roommates was Paul. Watching Paul go through Art Center for transportation design reawakend Todd's obsession and bonded the guys over their mutual interest in cars. But over the next decade Todd focused on film and worked as a writer, director, or editor, on projects of all sizes, in addition to his time as Director of Post Production for more than 250 films with New Line Cinema.
Along the way he bought the first car he really loved, a Nissan 300zx Z32. Driving a car he loved through the great roads around LA began to shift his focus from narrative films, to helping others find a car they can enjoy.
Paul and Todd started Everyday Driver together in 2007, with Todd directing a 1/2 hour TV pilot version of the show. After the economic downturn in 2008 left the show without a buyer, Todd began learning the wild-west of YouTube.
Now, after a decade focused on cars of all kinds, Todd has driven many of the cars he obsessed over as a kid. He’s driven on tracks around the world and canyons all over the US. His experience and ability to share a car’s sensations have helped viewers buy everything from cheap Miatas to rare supercars. He works to make the cars the star of the show, and inspire others to love driving as much as he does.
Todd remains the primary director and editor for the show. He also does some of the camera work and written content. Every week he steps away from editing long-enough to co-host the Podcast with Paul.
In addition to cars, Todd enjoys writing fiction, watching movies, skiing, rock-climbing, mountain biking, and in-line skating. He also likes to drive when cameras aren’t rolling. But, free time is scarce.
Paul Schmucker
Co-Host/Producer
Paul was born a car guy. As a child, his parents defied all home decorating conventions and allowed him to draw cars on the walls of their home as his obsession blossomed. In junior high and high school he drew cars in the margins of his math homework, history papers and civics assignments. He could even identify cars by their headlights at night. Knowing he needed to turn his obsession into a career, he was accepted into the Transportation Design program at Art Center College of Design.
When Paul graduated Art Center with honors, he went on to work for Ford Motor Co. in Detroit, MI, and Kawasaki Motors Corp. USA in Southern California. He produced design work for Volvo Trucks North America, BMW USA for The S3 Agency, and Alpine Electronics; eventually becoming a Subject Matter Expert for Autodesk, Inc. in the automotive creative design industry. He counts many worldwide car designers as friends.
Paul considers his first 'real' car to be his beloved 1988 Porsche 928S4. High fees at Porsche dealerships and independent repair shops inspired him to learn basic repairs, and time behind the wheel awakened his joy of speed. The 928 also began Paul's love for German cars and Porsches, which continued when he went on to own a Cayman S.
After many years of helping friends and family with car purchases, Todd and Paul launched Everyday Driver in 2007. Since then Paul has driven cars of all types on roads and racetracks around the world, giving him broad practical experience to add to his design knowledge. His opinions and ability to articulate a particular car's attributes has helped many viewers find cars they love to drive.
As Co-host and Producer, Paul tracks down cars and sets up shoots worldwide. He maintains great relationships with all manufacturers and handles the shows growing administrative duties. In addition to co-hosting, he contributes to the camera work, and is in charge of our weekly podcast “the Everyday Driver Car Debate”.
Paul’s additional hobbies and interests include playing piano, product & furniture design, and a love for being outdoors; skiing, hiking, shooting, cycling, camping and fishing for salmon in Alaska.
Chance Hales
Producer / Camera / Editor
Chance gets his love for cars from his father. When he was young, his parents bought him a Hot Wheels almost every time they went shopping and his love for cars grew from there. The family went rock crawling in lifted Jeeps. In 2001 his father bought a 1967 Mustang as a father-son project car. When they got the car running it became Chance’s.
In high school Chance came across behind the scenes photos of a Ferrari photo shoot and he decided he wanted to be around cars for a living. He attended Brigham Young University-Idaho for a year hoping to design cars before moving to Utah.
Instead of returning to school he delivered parts for a Porsche/Audi dealer. Armed with a point and shoot camera he would take photos of the R8 in the showroom. Before he knew it he had a DSLR and was taking Porsches out for dealer photos. He came across an automotive blog, The Daily Derbi, and started writing and shooting for them. This exposure lead to becoming a respected motorsport photographer at Miller Motorsports Park (now Utah Motorsports Campus).
After landing a photography job at Kirkham Motorsports, builders of the most accurate Shelby Cobra replicas, he got his first cover photo for Kit Car Builder Magazine (Nov, 2013). This inspired him to be an automotive journalist and he enrolled in Utah Valley University to study journalism.
Chance met and became friends with Gavin Pouquette while he working for Kirkham Motorsports. At a local Cars and Coffee event in 2014, Gavin introduced Chance to Todd. A few months later he was offered a spot with Everyday Driver, officially joining the team in January, 2015. He can now look back at that behind the scenes photo and say it is a cool job.
Besides cars, Chance loves music, hockey, video games, spending time with his wife and yes, collecting Hot Wheels.
Nate Kuhn
Cycle Report / Writer
While he is the resident motorcycle guy here at Everyday Driver, Nate is every bit a car guy. He has a shelf full of AutoX trophies and participates in Time Attack, Time Trials and HPDE in his modified Scion FRS.
As for motorcycles, Nate’s first bike was a 3.5hp lime green Sears mini-bike. It was a family heirloom (his dad’s bike as a kid), and he learned to ride it VERY shortly after he rode a bicycle. He was doomed to be obsessed with motorcycles ever since.
As an adult, he’s owned a slew of motorcycles, and currently has three in his garage: a Custom Pro-street Chopper, a Kawasaki Vulcan 1600 Classic and a KTM 990 SM-T. His favorite motorcycle roads are The Million Dollar Highway in CO, Arkansas 123 and of course, the Tail of the Dragon.
Nate LOVES to ride. He usually puts 4-6k miles a year on two wheels with a mixture of commuting, weekend riding and long distance touring. He intends to ride a motorcycle in every one of the lower 48 states. Only 12 states to go!
By day Nate is a graphic designer in the Chicago area. He has worked for a number of different companies, most notably Kmart, Sears, and Ace Hardware. He's also the designer of our current show logo.
Nate was an early fan of the show and has known Paul, Todd and Chance for about a decade, He is a very enthusiastic and energetic mix of the three of them, and has proven to be a great fit with the team.
Aside from cars and bikes, Nate has a slew of hobbies like Movies, Music (listening and playing), Competitive BBQ, Travel, Bourbon, Shooting, Writing, Wrenching, Welding, Video Games, Billiards and probably 15 other things simultaneously.
He and his wife also have a few cats that tolerate them.