Meet Mr. "Nice-Tat". No really. Film extraordinaire
Casey Neistat is often approached about the pronunciation of his last name. "When asked how to pronounce it, I point to one of my tattoos and say 'see that? That is a nice tattoo, it's a nice tat'," he says. And while Neistat dons an array of unique and motivating ink, he is probably more well known for his roles as a film director, producer and creator of a variety of popular YouTube videos. In his web exclusive interview, Neistat talks to Inked Magazine regarding the motivations behind his ink, his films and his life.
Inked Magazine: Tell us about your most recent collaboration with Nike.
Casey Neistat: I have worked with NIke a lot in the past. I have a great relationship with them. This project was far more out of the box then their traditional stuff, it was also much lower budget. I am excited about how the film turned out. It's tough having 30 hours of great footage from traveling to all these great places then trying to distill it all to a single idea and just a couple minutes.
Inked: In the video you actually get a tattoo - "Do More" - who did it and where? Why did you decide to have it done on this particular occasion?
Neistat: I got that tatttoo here in New York CIty. it was during the editing of Make It Count. We were really struggling, working around the clock and that was a tattoo i had been wanting to get. I wandered into Fun City Tattoo and had Big Steve do the tattoo before coming back to the office after a couple hours of sleep. I filmed it because I film everything and it just worked with the theme of the video. It also provided a nice break.
Inked: This isn't your only tattoo. You seem to have a very particular style that you like, tell us about that.
Neistat: I have a bunch. All notes. Things I don't want to or can't afford to forget. It says work harder on my left hand, that's the one I read the most. I dated a girl who said that tattoo stressed her out, she didn't like reading 'work harder' all the time but the reminder means a lot to me. I owe everything to hard work.