Myles Kovacs is an American entrepreneur and cofounder of automotive magazine DUB , founded in 2000. He is of Japanese and Hungarian origin and spent his younger years in East Los Angeles. Kovacs graduated from nearby Schurr High School in Montebello, California.
After DUB magazine, Kovacs has branched out in the urban car scene market with a design for custom wheels that seem to spin when a car is stopped and die-cast toy cars that are sold at Wal-Mart, Toys "R" Us and other chain stores. MTV uses him to produce its MTV Cribs show when it features celebrities' cars.
He started with about $10,000 — put together with two partners — and practical experience learned from high school jobs that included delivering customized cars to Los Angeles-area celebrities and writing a newsletter about hip-hop clubs around the nation. He started DUB magazine first, then used it as a way to promote his other enterprises. Today, Kovacs advises corporate executives, trade groups and car lovers on the growing auto customizing market. [1] Among the companies he has consulted for are Honda and Coca-Cola. [2]
Myles Kovacs and wife Cynthia Kovacs have recently been on Fox's reality series, The Secret Millionaire, in which $150,000 of their own money was given away to deserving people.
Demolition Man is a 1993 American science fiction action film directed by Marco Brambilla in his directorial debut. It stars Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Sandra Bullock, and Nigel Hawthorne. Stallone is John Spartan, a risk-taking police officer who has a reputation for causing destruction while carrying out his work. After a failed attempt to rescue hostages from evil crime lord Simon Phoenix (Snipes), they are both sentenced to be cryogenically frozen in 1996. Phoenix is thawed for a parole hearing in 2032, but escapes. Society has changed and all crime has seemingly been eliminated. Unable to deal with a criminal as dangerous as Phoenix, the authorities awaken Spartan to help capture him again. The story makes allusions to many other works including Aldous Huxley's 1932 dystopian novel Brave New World, and H. G. Wells's The Sleeper Awakes.
Earl William "Madman" Muntz was an American businessman and engineer who sold and promoted cars and consumer electronics in the United States from the 1930s until his death in 1987. He was a pioneer in television commercials with his oddball "Madman" persona; an alter ego who generated publicity with his unusual costumes, stunts, and outrageous claims. Muntz also pioneered car stereos by creating the Muntz Stereo-Pak, better known as the 4-track cartridge, a predecessor to the 8-track cartridge developed by Lear Industries.
Pimp My Ride is an American television series produced by MTV and hosted by rapper Xzibit, which ran for six seasons on MTV from 2004 to 2007. In each episode, a car in poor condition is both restored and customized. The work on the show was done by West Coast Customs until season 5 when Galpin Auto Sports took over.
George Barris was an American designer and builder of Hollywood custom cars. Barris designed and built the Hirohata Merc. Barris's company, Barris Kustom Industries, designed and built the Munster Koach and DRAG-U-LA for The Munsters; and the 1966 Batmobile for the Batman TV series and film.
Ed "Big Daddy" Roth was an American artist, cartoonist, illustrator, pinstriper and custom car designer and builder who created the hot rod icon Rat Fink and other characters. Roth was a key figure in Southern California's Kustom Kulture and hot rod movement of the late 1950s and 1960s.
Revell GmbH is an American-origin manufacturer of plastic scale models, currently based in Bünde. The original Revell company merged with Monogram in 1986, becoming "Revell-Monogram". The business operated until 2007, when American Revell was purchased by Hobbico, while the German subsidiary "Revell Plastics GmbH" had separated from the American firm in 2006 until Hobbico purchased it as well, in 2012 –bringing the two back together again under the same company umbrella. After the Hobbico demise in 2018, Quantum Capital Partners (QCP) acquired Revell
The import scene, also known as the import racing scene or tuner scene, is a subculture of modifying mostly Japanese-import cars, particularly in the United States and Europe.
Aston George Taylor Jr., professionally known as Funkmaster Flex, is an American DJ, rapper, record producer, and host on New York City's Hot 97 radio station. In 1992, he became host of the first hip hop radio show on Hot 97 in New York, which was a pop radio station at the time.
West Coast Customs is an automobile repair shop focusing on the customization of vehicles. It was started by co-founders Ryan Friedlinghaus and Quinton Dodson in 1993. According to Friedlinghaus, he began the business with a $5,000 loan from his grandfather, but other sources claim that he raised the seed money for the business while working at his father's liquor store. Owing to the patronage of celebrities such as Shaquille O'Neal and Sean Combs, along with appearances in the reality television programs Pimp My Ride and Street Customs, the company has gained a high degree of notoriety and has become a multimillion-dollar business.
William Ray Norwood Jr., known professionally as Ray J, is an American singer, actor, and television personality. Born in McComb, Mississippi, and raised in Carson, California, he is the younger brother of recording artist and actress Brandy Norwood and the first cousin of rapper Snoop Dogg. In January 2017, he competed in the nineteenth season of the UK reality television programme Celebrity Big Brother.
Shanna Lynn Moakler is an American model, actress, and reality television star. She was the winner of the Miss New York USA pageant in 1995 and was the first runner-up at Miss USA 1995. After winner Chelsi Smith won the Miss Universe 1995 pageant, Moakler succeeded her as Miss USA. Moakler began modeling at age 15. She was chosen as a Playmate of the Month for Playboy magazine in December 2001.
DUB, founded in January 2000, is a North American magazine covering urban custom car culture and also features celebrities and their vehicles.
Jada Toys, Inc. is an American manufacturer of collectible scale model cars, figures, radio controlled model vehicles, and dolls. It was founded in 1999 by Jack and May Li. Jada's products are predominantly aimed at the collectible market, and are available and popular at retail outlets worldwide.
Milo Ray Baughman, Jr. born in Goodland, Kansas, was a modern furniture designer.
Brian Donnelly, known professionally as Kaws, is an American artist and designer. His work includes repeated use of a cast of figurative characters and motifs, some dating back to the beginning of his career in the 1990s, initially painted in 2D and later realized in 3D. Some of his characters are his own creations while others are reworked versions of existing icons.
Michael Thomas Green is a Canadian-American comedian, show host, actor, filmmaker, podcaster, and rapper. After pursuing stand-up comedy and music as a young adult, Green created and hosted The Tom Green Show, which aired on Canadian television and later on MTV between 1994 and 2000. The show became popular for its shock comedy, absurdist pranks and Green's manic persona, and influenced later series such as Jackass and The Eric Andre Show. Green has also appeared in the Hollywood films Road Trip (2000), Charlie's Angels (2000), Stealing Harvard (2002), and Shred (2008). Green additionally directed, co-wrote and starred in the cult film Freddy Got Fingered (2001). He was briefly married to actress Drew Barrymore (2001–2002), who co-starred with him in Charlie's Angels and Freddy Got Fingered.
Karl Kani is an American fashion designer, founder and CEO of the hip hop fashion brand Karl Kani. He comes from a modest family from Brooklyn, New York. When he was young, he dreamed of combining his passion for hip hop music and fashion.
Dick Dean, born Richard Dean Sawitskas [Sa-WITS-kas], was an American automobile designer and builder of custom cars. Father of Keith Dean.
"Don't Think They Know" is a song by American singer Chris Brown featuring a posthumous appearance from fellow American singer Aaliyah. It was released on June 17, 2013, as the second official single from Brown's sixth studio album X. The song, produced by Mel & Mus, contains an interpolation from the Tim & Bob produced single "They Don't Know" by Jon B. The song peaked at number 81 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Magnus Walker is a British former fashion designer and car collector. He emigrated to the United States in 1986 at the age of nineteen and eventually established a clothing brand, called Serious, with his late wife, Karen Caid Walker. Having been fascinated with Porsche since childhood, Walker started collecting and customizing vintage Porsches, mostly the air-cooled 911 model. After the documentary Urban Outlaw about his life, Walker became one of the world's most visible faces of the Porsche and car collecting scene. He has since been featured in a multitude of media, such as The Joe Rogan Experience (2015), and Jay Leno's Garage (2017), and the 2015 video game Need for Speed.