On YouTube, he is very popular. Its subscribers have reached more than 12.4 million although lately it has not been very active and only uploads once a few months. But it was YouTube who made his name. His fate now contrasts with the sufferings of his past.
His name is Casey Neistat from New York. He often posts videos about gadget reviews, traveling and all kinds of things with his unique style.
This man born in 1981 had a difficult childhood. At the age of 15, he dropped out of high school and never graduated. It was so, he then decided to leave the house with his girlfriend, Robin Haris. The lover then became pregnant and gave birth to a child named Owen.
In those difficult times, they could only afford to stay in the caravan. Casey and Haris decided to get married, but their marriage only lasted a month. He has worked odd jobs such as dishwasher and chef.
When he moved to New York, his first job was a bicycle delivery man. "I moved to New York at the age of 20 and started making films non-stop. I didn't have any friends so I just stayed home all night and edited on my iMac," he said.
Become an Influential YouTuber
Casey, who visited Jakarta in 2017, told his life story. In 2003, he made a video about an iPod whose battery replacement costs were very high. He uploaded it to the internet, at that time it wasn't on YouTube because this site didn't exist yet.
Unexpectedly he 'successfully' got an email directly from the late Steve Jobs, who was very angry with the video. After some time, Apple changed its policy. "One thing I've learned from that experience is that one person's voice can change the world, as long as we believe in our own voice," he said.
Not only that, in 2011, he again made a video that shocked New York. At first, he was very annoyed with the police who fined him for riding his bicycle off the track. He said the lanes were sometimes dangerous, but officials insisted that cyclists should stay on the paths.
In the video, which he called very stupid, he protested by continuing to ride his bicycle in his lane, without thinking of any obstacles. He kept 'crashing himself' because there were too many obstacles, such as trucks, taxis, and even the police car himself.
The viral video on YouTube forced the Mayor of New York to step down and hold a press conference in response. Then, he was also known to have collaborated with the New York Times after that.
"You never know what will lead you forward. So, continue to do the best you can do," he said, giving the moral value of his experience.
Then, he got the opportunity to work with Nike 5 years ago, which he admits was one of the greatest opportunities of his life. "In this collaboration, I was assigned to make three videos to promote their newest product," he said.
Initially, two of the three videos were made as they should be to make a video for a company like Nike, with a script, budget, full proposal, and production process. When he was about to make the third video, he felt tired. Then had an unusual idea to create that final video.
With a friend, they traveled the world for 10 days, from France to South Africa, using the budget provided by Nike to create advertisements. From that trip, he got 45 hours of footage, for a commercial that was only one minute long.
At first, Nike wondered what Casey was doing. He also explained his unusual idea, which wanted to give a message to continue living life, take opportunities, and do something useful. He showed the video at Ideafest 2017, documenting his journey from home, taking Nike's latest activity tracker, traveling the world, and returning home.
The video became the beginning of his success on YouTube, even giving him the opportunity to study technology at MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). "From that experience, I realized how valuable it is to dare to take risks and opportunities," he said.
Find Your Own Way
Finally, he presents a video that gives the message to do what we can't do. In the video, he tells about his experience that people often doubt.
"When people tell me I'm not a filmmaker and can't make movies, I prove it to them with The Neistat Brother, a television series that airs on HBO," he said.
"When everyone doubted that I didn't have a higher education, didn't even graduate high school, I proved it by creating a tech startup called Beme which was later bought by CNN last year. There is no definite benchmark for success in the creative industry. It all depends on us. himself," he added.
"Find your own way to find your passion regardless of your limitations. When you have an interest in the creative industry, nothing can provide greater opportunities than social media, no matter where you come from," he said.
"However, the convenience that social media and technology offer today with all the great opportunities strewn everywhere does not make it easier for us to succeed. It will still be difficult to become, for example, the next Picasso or Steven Spielberg," he concluded.