“What is the ultimate quantification of success? For me, it’s not how much time you spend doing what you love. It’s how little time you spend doing what you hate.” – Casey Neistat
Casey Neistat (@caseyneistat) is a New York-based filmmaker. His online films have been viewed nearly 300,000,000 times in the last 5 years.
He is the writer, director, editor, and star of the series The Neistat Brothers on HBO and won the John Cassavetes Award at the 2011 Independent Spirit Awards for the film Daddy Long Legs. His main body of work consists of dozens of short films he has released exclusively on the Internet, including regular contributions to the New York Times critically acclaimed Op-Docs series. He is also the founder of Beme, a startup aiming to make creating and sharing video dead simple.
Casey is excellent at breaking every rule imaginable and having people (fans, sponsors, big brands, etc.) thank him for it. In this conversation, we dig into his history, techniques, influences, habits, and more…
You can find the transcript of this episode here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.
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Want to hear another podcast with another award-winning movie maker? — Listen to my conversations with Robert Rodriguez. In this episode, we discuss the making of From Dusk ’till Dawn, Sin City, and what it means to be the “Wizard” of Hollywood (stream below or right-click here to download):
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QUESTION(S) OF THE DAY: Casey is breaking the mold for what it means to be a filmmaker. Who are your favorite entertainers, artists, or entrepreneurs who are breaking the mold? Please let me know in the comments.
Scroll below for links and show notes…
Enjoy!
Selected Links from the Episode
- Here are a few articles about Casey:
Get Away with Murder | Teen Welfare Dad |
- Want to hack commercial flights? Check out Free Business Class Upgrades, everytime (Note: you must fly a whole lot)
- Casey Neistat’s vlogging equipment
- Learn more about Final Cut Pro X
- The Second World War by John Keegan
- The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Malcolm X, Alex Haley, and Attallah Shabazz
- It’s Not How Good You Are, It’s How Good You Want to Be by Paul Arden
- Some of Casey’s favorite bloggers:
- Neil Gaiman’s commencement speech, Make Good Art
- Casey’s favorite movies:
Life And Death Of Colonel Blimp (IMDb) | Little Dieter Needs to Fly (IMDb)
- Casey’s running playlist, Jonny Famous
- Connect with Casey Neistat:
Subscribe to Casey on YouTube | Draw My Life | Beme | Twitter
Show Notes
- On the challenges of working in New York City [2:20]
- How Casey Neistat grew up [3:45]
- The story of Bike Lanes [7:50]
- How Casey Neistat responds when people ask, “what do you do?” [13:45]
- The story behind Make It Count [15:05]
- Casey’s pitch to Nike for the Make It Count video [18:05]
- Suggestions for packing [23:15]
- Thoughts on post production software [25:05]
- Where novice YouTubers waste the most time [26:50]
- Thoughts on how to be successful with YouTube [30:15]
- On the decision to make a daily vlog [34:40]
- The importance of devoting time to communicating with your audience [39:00]
- The story behind Casey’s first paid gig in the entertainment business [40:30]
- When you think of the word successful, who is the first person that comes to mind and why? [44:40]
- Who makes Casey Neistat feel star-struck? [50:10]
- Tips on developing the ability to be well-spoken [54:40]
- Rapid fire questions: Most gifted books, best purchase of $100 or less, and favorite vloggers [1:01:05]
- Common misconceptions [1:07:25]
- On how to say, “no” [1:09:20]
- What is a belief that you have that many people may think is crazy? [1:12:00]
- The thinking behind Beme [1:15:00]
- Top films that may not have been fully appreciated [1:20:50]
- If you could put a billboard anywhere and write anything on it, where would it be and what would it say? [1:23:55]
- An ask/suggestion for the audience [1:28:15]