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15 MINUTES DORION DOING WHAT HE DOES BEST
Q: How long have you been applying window film? Twenty years. Q: How long have you been head installer at Window Kote? Four and a half years. Q: How did you get started in the business? I watched somebody tint my mom’s car at a local shop and, basically, started working at that shop within the next six months. Q: How many cars do you think you’ve tinted since you started? That’s a good question. I probably do about 3,000 cars a year. I wasn’t doing that the first few years, obviously, but I’d have to say probably about 40,000 cars [total]. I’ve tinted a lot of cars. And the thing that kills me about getting second place, about the time thing, is that I consider myself extremely fast at what I do. Editor’s Note: Tint-Off contestants are timed during the competition and in the event of a tie the tinter with the faster time wins. Q: What do you see as the biggest challenge to window film shops these days? Finding good help. Q: What is your favorite car to tint? A 2005 Mustang. Basically, it’s a 25-30 minute car, very simple to do. We actually [work with] a Ford dealership, so we do quite a few of them and it’s a very easy car. Plus it’s a bad-ass car. I think they look good. Q: What is your least favorite car to tint? Any old, dirty car, period. I’ve been doing this so long now that I don’t sweat doing the VW bug or any car like that. It’s kind of weird for me to say that, but I don’t have a particular car that I dislike, just old dirty ones—the type with 10 air-fresheners. Q: Hardest car to tint? Okay, that would have to be the Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme, four-door. It is the least desirable car to tint—it’s back window. It’s a very tough car to tint. They generally take me two to two and a half hours to do. A typical four-door car usually takes me [less than] an hour to do. Q: If you could tint one car (that you have thus far not tinted), what would it be? That’s a good question … I’ve tinted so many … One I haven’t tinted would have to be … [long pause] the Porsche Carrera GT. It’s a $500,000 car. They actually have one of these at a Porsche dealership that we work for, but the chance of us tinting one of those is very slim. It’s not something anyone wants to tint, they want to be seen in it. Plus, if I got to tint it, I’d get to sit in it – they won’t let you sit in it at the dealership. Q: How do you prepare yourself, not only for the competition but to consistently perform at the level that you do? Boy … have a good attitude. I try not to get frustrated, I try not to get mad. When you’re upset, it makes work a lot more difficult. You know, for the competition, like [first place winner Dan Sanders] said in his interview, it was stressful. I went into that competition, I really, really thought I was going to win it. In my mind I had it won. As for what I did to prepare for it, just try to be calm. The last few competitions I was so stressed out I just tried to work as fast as I could. In this one I tried something different to slow myself down. For my door I took 17 minutes. I never take that long on a door. Usually I do them in five. I’d never make money if I took 17 minutes on a door. But in the last couple of competitions, time wasn’t a factor. Maybe to get into the final for some of the guys, but it had never been for me.
The biggest obstacle would definitely have been the lighting in the facility. But, basically, everybody had to tint in the same lighting, every one had dust flying around in there. You don’t see it, but it wasn’t an ideal place to tint. The way you had it set up, was excellent and so that we could walk around the car … that was perfect. But the lighting was an obstacle—I brought my own. [Another obstacle was] just staying calm. When the winner got the perfect score, I started getting nervous. Was I going to qualify? I just had to stand behind myself and remind myself I was going all the way. Q: How challenging was the tint-off this year—in general and compared to previous years? Definitely the best one. I won a little bit of money. I probably spent that much money that weekend, but it’s all good. But I got to spend it with my family – my wife and child were with me this year and we had my wife’s mother, who is from Hungary and doesn’t speak any English, she got to witness it. It was quite an experience for her. She’s never gotten to see me work. The family and the fact that my registration and hotel were paid for were great. Q: Will you compete again next year? I don’t know. I don’t want to sound cocky, but I need to get sponsored to compete. If my film distributor wants to pay my way, I’ll definitely be there. Q: What are your hobbies? Racing motocross, riding street bikes and hotrods. |
For the third time in four consecutive competitions, Andrew Doiron has come away from the International Window Film Tint-Off™ with an award. The St. Petersburg, Fla., native has won second place in three of the last four years, including this year. Doiron took a few minutes to chat with Window Film magazine and tell us what it’s like to maintain such a high-caliber performance from one year to the next.
Q: Did you encounter any obstacles in the tint-off?WINDOW
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