I'm Casey Neistat, co-founder of Beme and a YouTuber — AMA!

Why did you and Van stop working together?

EDIT: Casey answered the question:

"The generic answer, which has a lot of merit, is our creative relationship had run it's course. We'd worked together, litlerally side-by-side, for 10 years and we both wanted diffferent things. I really really wanted to make videos/movies/tv with main-stream appeal, Van wanted desperately to focus on his sculptures and fine art. Money, earning an income and security was a priority of mine - less so for Van. I think me having a kid grounded my goals (still does) moreso than Van. The money thing - being broke, not being able to afford rent or food or the basics is probably the scariest thing in any parents life and right up until HBO that was something that was right in my rear-view mirror. It still kept me up at night. That has real impact on your priorities. There are a million little details that accumulated and ultimately yeilded us ending our working relationship but that was the big picture. Van is and forever will be the most creative guy I've ever known and the art he continues to make is just brilliant."

I feel like I'm getting the cold shoulder...

He dodged this question for sure.

1300+ comments, and he gave 24 answers so far.

For someone who made his bones by using social media he isn't acting very social

I think he made 90% of his wealth shooting advertising (it's none of my business). But yeah, for someone who champions social media as being the future, he is doing a pretty bad job with using it in this case.

We get it, you're a busy guy, but bang out some more responses at least.

im trying im trying. middle of the day AMA was hard!!!!

The generic answer, which has a lot of merit, is our creative relationship had run it's course. We'd worked together, litlerally side-by-side, for 10 years and we both wanted diffferent things. I really really wanted to make videos/movies/tv with main-stream appeal, Van wanted desperately to focus on his sculptures and fine art. Money, earning an income and security was a priority of mine - less so for Van.

I think me having a kid grounded my goals (still does) moreso than Van. The money thing - being broke, not being able to afford rent or food or the basics is probably the scariest thing in any parents life and right up until HBO that was something that was right in my rear-view mirror. It still kept me up at night. That has real impact on your priorities.

There are a million little details that accumulated and ultimately yeilded us ending our working relationship but that was the big picture.

Van is and forever will be the most creative guy I've ever known and the art he continues to make is just brilliant.

Casey,

I recently became addicted to your vlogs. I always had a preconceived notion of what a 'vlogger' was (high pitched, squeeling, pre-pubescent teen). Yours are obviously different. I love how you still seem to be filmmaker first, and vlogger second. While it seems you still do things for the vlog, I really get the feeling that vlogging for you is just a way to keep on creating, which I think is something us videographers/filmmakers need to embrace.

My question is: Would you ever be willing to record an editing session and show us your editing workflow? I know I personally would find it fascinating, and the rest of us over at /r/VideoEditing might enjoy it too. You often talk quite a bit about what goes into filming vlogs, and the editing seems to be put to the side.

Thanks!

i want to get into live streaming some how. i feel like this kind of sharing would maybe applicable there. i am not against sharing what my workflow looks like i am just against sharing something really really boring and just watching me edit would be a lot like watching paint dry or watching someone code. it would be interesting if i talked my way through it, maybe explaining what i am doing and why BUT this would distract me so much i wouldn;t be able to actually edit. not sure if this makes sense but that's about how far in the consideration process i've gotten.

one thing is for sure, i would never record myself editing and share that on my channel. its; way too boring for the masses.

Yo Casey!

One question, an annoying one:

Beme! Android! When?!

hi! Beme is there on Android. We have hundreds of users on Beme on Android in the wild. Matthew our Android lead is a tremendous engineer and he's been killing it. BUT our iOS app is still in beta, still under construction in a major way. We roll out a new version every two weeks and are charging ahead on our product road map at full steam. Rather than have a beta product out there on two platforms we are keeping it public only on iOS until we pull it out of beta then we'll launch Android.

Sometimes your wife seems angry with the camera or maybe with your constant vlogging... is she happy with your vlog?

Yes! She's a huge supporter of the vlog, if she didn't she wouldn't appear. When I started she had no idea how to be or act (she also takes issue with how some folks act fake on youtube). We talked about this a lot. Eventually she got comfortable with just being herself. She's NOT a do-nothing person. She doesn't apologize for who she is and she certainly does not feel a need to smile or be cute because the camera is around. People misinterpret this and disapproval, the reality is this is just her being her. Candice is what honesty looks like and she doesn't give a shit if commenters take issue with that.

Will Dollar Pizza ever make its return to the vlogs?

I hope not. That stuff is toxic

Why does Reddit scare you?

I said that in jest but reddit is a site i go to and time seems to evaporate. I can spend hours and hours on here and walk away with no recollection of what I was doing. Anything that addictive scares me.

THAT'S IT!! gotta get back to work (i am literally about to make grilled cheese sandwiches for the Beme team right now).

Thank you all for your thoughtful questions. I look forward to doing this again.

Has user adoption at BeMe met, exceeded, or fallen short of your and Matt's projections? How much do you attribute the growth of the platform to your independent success and visibility as a web-celebrity?

It's doing well for a beta product. The crazy launch was a result of my visibility and social reach. The reason why I seldom talk about it on the Vlog now is because we want to see how people react to the product, not my marketing. What we are seeing now, in the absence of marketing, is hugely optimistic.

Your time-management skills never cease to amaze me. What's your absolute most important priority for each day?

Is there one constant? Or does it shift as/if needed?

Getting home at 6pm to give Francine a bath. That's number 1

What is Owen going to study in college?

He's currently interested in computer science. I hope that sticks but he's young and keeping an open mind is very important at that age.

Why do you always use the lowercase letter "i"?

because TiP TOE WiNG iN MY JAWWDiNZ

Dear Casey, Question about RUNNING: How did you progress into running more and more miles each time? How did you make your runs longer? Thanks, huge fan!

I always give the same advice here. Focus on time. Minutes spent running. If you can run for 5 minutes without a break then start there. Push to ten, then 20 and so on. When running an hour feels easy buy a watch and pay attention to distance and speed. Good luck!!!

Casey!

Why do you refuse to wear a helmet when riding the Boosted Board througout NYC? I live in a busy urban area (downtown Toronto) and I bike to work everyday and also am weaving around traffic just like you and I cannot imagine not wearing a helmet. The helmet looks uncool, but dying from a head injury is even more uncool. We all know you are a really experienced skateboarder and a bit of a rebel but dude.....Owen, Francine, Candice - they need you and your excellent brain, why not put on a helmet when on that Boosted Board? It's bad enough to be going top speed splitting lanes on the board without a helmet, but to be doing it while distracted and holding your camera rig in your hands and talking to it?

Dude... just seems so not safe.

there is NO excuse for not wearing a helmet, i certainly don't have one. it's about the dumbest thing you can do. I don;t refuse (that would mean i have some objection to helmets) it's really just a matter of me making a dumb, stupid, idiotic, decision not to figure out a way to always have one with me.

just incase there is any ambiguity here; YOU ARE AN ASSHOLE IF YOU RIDE A BIKE OR A SKATEBOARD WITHOUT A HELMET. i don't exclude myself from this..

How do you store all of your videos? The cloud, external hard drives?

it's too much data to currently store in the cloud (i accumulate roughly 60gb a day) i keep it on big RAID drives that i back up to other storage drives periodically. less than ideal, i still havent found the ideal

What would you say is the most defining characteristic that distinguishes Beme from Snapchat?

great question! Snapchat is about creation, creating little snapsterpieces with video, filters, images and text. Beme is about sharing. Sharing is as passive as we could design; no review - no preview, no seeing what you're capturing, no manipulating. You see something and share it in it's purest form.

i do love snapchat, the stuff they're doing is amazing. especially lenses, puking rainbow will always be my favorite but the place these two products occupy in my brain is very different.

Will I be in the Vlog?

haha. it kind of sucks because i feel like a dope when i say no but i've stopped(or at least slowed down with) putting folks in the vlog. the reason is it created this expectation that eeryone i met could be in the vlog and that's impossibe. so i was alsways disappointing (or worse lying to) most of the people who i'd film after they'd ask.

wednesday morning 5am - imma answer more questions now. keep asking. this is my first ama and i'd like to keep it open to questions until it feels fully baked. i'm very slow at this and i am terrible at spelling ; )

Casey, you always seem really positive, even when half asleep with Francine. That being said, have you every had depression? How do you cope when/if you do feel low?

depression no. frustration yes. i often, somewhat irrationally, get frustrated if things don't go my way. seems strange typing that out as a 34 year old adult! but its the truth.

Why canon over nikon?

I have no loyalty to Canon. I mostly use their gear (which generally is great!) because it's easier to use hardware from one manufacturer. My 7D batteries work in my 70D and my 5D, my lenses fit on all my bodies etc. I don't know much about Nikon or Sony but I am sure they make quality cameras.

Do you think you can estimate how many dollars worth of equipment you have broken?

no idea.. too much ; )

Don't you think you should be less.....flippant with that stuff? I mean I get the philosophy behind "it's a tool...use it" but why not give the camera that is 100% functional with a broken microphone port to a kid to pursue his dream?

for years i kept a canon xl1 (look it up) in a huge padded camera bag. I polished the lens with a dedicated cloth after every use. i used tape head cleaners often and i cleaned the buttons with a q tip. it was my only camera i and i sure as shit could not afford to replace it. it was precious. along with that preciousness was me being highly considerate with when i'd use it. i never spontaneously whipped it out and caught something amazing. only carefully considered, premeditated instances where i could treat it with the respect i had to. in short - i missed a lot.

my filmmaking now is made up mostly of the stuff that happens in-between the action. it's lifes little moments that i love to capture and share. when i'm out i usually have a 70d in my right hand, camera on with my thumb over the record button. this enables me to capture moments that are long gone by the time i wouldve had the xl1 out of it.s bag.

this is a luxury. one that had to be earned. my friend dances in the New York City Ballet. she wears custom, hand made, point shoes. they're expensive. and usually she gets 1 performance out of them. i have no doubt when she was starting out she had to beg her parents to buy her shoes now they are a tool that enables her to do her job.

my cameras are some of my only overhead. they are disposable, they are not precious. they are tools to enable me to do my work and nothing more and, yes, if they are faulty - if they prevent rather than enable me - then i put a fucking axe through them.

It pains me to see Dan Bilzerian wreck an $800k lamborghini but i am not going to give him a hard time about simply because i can't afford a lambo

Tips on waking up early and being productive at that time?

Mornings are such a productive time of the day. I hate getting up just like everyone else but sleeping in always makes my days feel rushed and short. It's never easy though!!

Hey Casey, your vlogs are sick and I've been wondering what's a normal run week look like for you and how many times do you hit the gym to allow yourself to not use your feet as much?

I try to run 6x a week. Depending on my training schedule 55-75 miles. I go to the gym 4 or 5 times. I hate the gym but feel weak when i skip it. We recently installed a pull up bar here at Beme HQ, that makes me happy !!

Hey Casey!

I've notice that you always say movies instead of videos. In your opinion what's the difference?

Also I love your videos!

ok i just googled what 'movie' means and what 'video' means. in short there is not much difference but movie generally refers to a very generic motion picture whereas video is a slightly more technical term pertaining to a specific kind of motion picture.

to answer your question. when i think of video i think of my mom holding a huge camera in my face on my birthday. when i think of a movie i think of a story i watched on tv or in a theatre.

i guess i prefer to think of my movies as stories rather than something that was simply captured. that;s all.

honestly never given it this much thought before ; )

Casey, what did you spend your HBO check on?

Started a production company with my former partner and my brother. That's what we did in the years after selling the show. Eventually my partner and my brother pursued other interests and I transitioned what was left of that company into my own production company which was what I did right up until starting Beme.

As a big cyclist myself, I'm curious, what's the most you've ever biked in one day? If you can run dozens of miles regularly and enjoy biking I feel like you'd be a great endurance cyclist too. P.s. my record is 151 miles :)

Probably close to that. I've done 4 Ironman Triathlons. They include a 112 mile cycle portion. Training for those races included some serious distance

What are your thoughts on soylent, huel, joylent etc? Seems like they'd be right up your street in terms of sorting your diet out and stretching out every useable second of the day?

Some of the team here at Beme used Soylent for a few days. It did not go well. They all got angry and irritable. It was funny. Sometimes I will go on a strict raw vegan regiment. I love the way it makes me feel but it's too expensive to maintain.

Will this AMA be in the Vlog?

No. Text + Video is a hard sell ; )

Casey!

Why do you think your crazy german water park video is your most viewed?

it was a perfect storm for a viral video. bfore i go on i want to say i think it;s a great little movie but no where near my best.

but it had; a catchy title, great thumbnail, was rated PG, professionally shot, interesting little story, had undertones of OMG and WOW, and on and on.

all of these factors made it perfectly safe for every publication and grandmother and everything in between to click SHARE. it was fun and harmless and didn't make you think very hard.

If you were to choose one of the three giveaway items available, as per your most recent youtube video, what would you choose and why?

Tough question!! That's why I picked them. They were the 3 best things i could think of. Certainly the camera is the most practical but the Boosted board is just so fun and that drone is incredible.. so I don't know. for all who have no idea what i'm talking about-> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYqE8dSiXJE

it is now 6:16am. i have to stop, headed to the airport with the baby in tow. apologies in advance for everyone else on this jetblue flight for the screaming kid.

keep asking questions, i'll keep answering.

THANKYOU

Hi Casey! How much time do you spend watching YouTube content other than your own? I love YouTube but it takes away from my productivity. I have been running on the treadmill while watching your vlogs. Thanks!

not enough time. i love watching MKBHD )because im a tech nerd) i like ben brown, love jacksgap (which they posted more) and funforlouis, i like unbox therapy. anything The Verge puts out. but i don't regularly sit down and click play.

Hey Casey,

I know that you're always looking for ways to grow and improve, but at what point in your life did you realize that you made it and all the risks that you took paid off?

I am not there yet, that's for sure

Do you want Owen to start posting YouTube videos?

not to sound lame but i want him to do whatever makes him happy. he has never cared much for social media or filmmaking so i don't see him posting on youtube or anywhere really. he loves making movies with me but that;s because (or at least i like to think it's because) it;s us spending time together doing something fun. not because he's into the process of filmmaking.

How do you make money off Beme?

like any new social product you have to first prove there is value there. build a huge userbase etc. we have not done that yet. and that must come before monetizing a platform. from afar there are lots of ways beme could generate revenue with a huge userbase but to devote resource to that now instead of focusing those resources on building that userbase would be putting the cart infront of the horse.

all of our money now is from investors. we are 100% venture backed

Hello Casey!

If/when you move to LA or elsewhere what's going to happen to your carefully, meticulously and lovingly crafted office?

really havent thought that far out... one step at a time!!!

Hi Casey, As a poor college student who wants to travel like you, what's the best single place to travel? Thanks!

i don't understnad the question? travel is usually dictated by budget. you can go almost anywhere cheaply but i wouldnt single any one place out. MORE INFO PLEASE and i can answer more specifically

ok, i'm back. it's 10:15 am, im on a plane with frankie and candice. on our way to the airport this morning the baby puked, like the exorcist kind of puke, in the car on the way there. candice was in the line of fire. not a super fun morning.

why do you play baby songs in spanish to Francine?

we really want her to be comfortable with more than one language. exposing her to spanish now will only make her learning it that much easier. with the exception of me (i can barely speak english) she is almost entirely spoken to and with in spanish

How do you feel vloging daily has helped or hurt your career?

It's matured my own understanding of the media landscape in a way I could have never imagined. It's also made me a much much better filmmaker. As far as my career as a YouTuber.. much more difficult to assess. The main focus of my career is running Beme, not YouTube. I am not pursuing television or movie deals, not going after branded content or ad deals and not being proactive in exploiting all that comes along with a successful YouTube channel.. except, of course, if it benefits Beme.

I think I will be much better suited to answer this question in a few years.

Please keep asking questions!!!

Do you use your iPhone for any video editing? If so, what are your recommendations for apps to download? Thanks!

I do not edit on my phone. I use it for shooting all the time - today in fact!! always impressed by the video quality of the iPhone

WILL BEME HAVE A SUPER BOWL COMMERCIAL?

No. Beme will not have a Superbowl commercial. Alternatively the Superbowl will not be advertising on Beme... so their loss really.

Of all the questions I can ask..

I've noticed that instead of waving, you open and close your hands. Is there some story behind this, or is it something you've always done?

(Oh and side note, Your vlogs are amazing, keep doing your great work!)

hahahaa!! you have no idea how many peopl have asked me that. i started doing that because when you wave quickly infront of the camera when shooting at 24fps it looks really strange so opening and closing your hand was a way to wave without so much movement. now i do it because Francine does it!

Hi, Casey! Welcome to Reddit, I hope you enjoy the AMA.

From what we've seen in your vlogs you don't have a shy bone in your body and don't really care what people think about you. What's your advice for those of us who have a hard time being outgoing and interacting with people?

it's a really elusive lesson to learn but knowing we are all the same. the prettiest, tallest, richest most intimidating person has all the same insecurities the ugliest, shortest, poorest person does. we are all just people who live and die. that sounds more magnanimous than it should but it's the truth.

I know "they" say do what you love and people will find you, but in such a huge haystack of YouTube channels, how can you expect to be found?

i wish i knew the answer to that question. i don't. i do know that no 2 trajectories are the same so anyone who claims to know the answer is full of shit

Do you watch every minute of your footage for your vlogs or do you just remember the good parts and import those?

i import everything. i rememeber most of what i shot but generally i at least skim it all, making sure i don;t miss anything.

What are some of the top things on your bucket list?

my bucket list items are not that interesting. i want to say healthy. i want to have a happy family. i want to die gloriously while fighting an entire pride of lions (jk). the little things like jumping from an airplane - if i want those i am in a position to do them and i have.

Do you color correct your vlogs?

sometimes i play with color a little but not as a regular thing. also - im terrible at it

What was your worst rejection experience when asking out a girl?

ugh. i first met candice when i was attending an event in tx and she let my brother and i stay at her parents house with her. there was some late night drinking invovled and i slid into bed with her. not sure excately what happened next but i woke up in the kitchen sleeping with the dogs. that was pretty bad.

What was your ultimate rock bottom moment? What change did you make to be who you are today?

There were a couple months in the fall of 2001 where I was stealing food. Not like a digging through trash kind of destitution but I'd have $20 to get me through the week and spending 4 on lunch was a scary prospect so I would shoplift a powerbar or candy or something. not proud of that, i was young and desperate. those were tough times because i couldn't see light at the end of the tunnel. I had little prospects that felt real. Just dreams and not much else. Scary scary.

How much time do you spend researching music? Why is the search for music never a part of your vlog? I imagine you have many talented musician friends that probably want to debut albums. How much of a backlog of music do you try to keep on your computer?

So much time researching and finding the right song. Sometimes several hours digging around for the right track. I keep a big, pretty well organized, library on my drive and that;s where I start.

Casey, I'm so happy I got this live.

Your work is driving me man. I'm still in high school and I want to know what I can do at this age. I feel like I can't do much but your work always inspires me. How can I be the best filmmaker I can when I can't even get a job yet?

You're the man Casey.

YOure lucky to live ina time when resources are avaiable to you. just keep making movies. dont stop. use your phone, you schools equipment your moms camera. whatever you have. just use this time to create. i'ts a wonderful position to be in

I always read everywhere that finding investors for a non-existing app (basically an idea) is practically impossible. How did you manage to convince investors to give you 2 million for BEME?

Conviction is half, convincing investors you can actually realize that conviction is the other half. Luck is the other half. (3 halves is impossible, so is fundraising)

Hey Casey, huge fan here. How do you feel about the city of Chicago, and deep dish pizza?

Chicago is great. Owen and I spent sometime there together.. as have Candice and i. Deep dish makes me sick. It's too delicious and has too much cheese. that combination is deadly

Hi Casey. Do you have any plans to return to making movies other than your vlogs?

Thanks!

I do and if i had more time right now I would. I will though in the future. I love making really deliberate, highly considered short videos. That;s what my career was built on

Hi Casey!

So, how many time of footage do you record for each daily vlog?

depends on the day but usually about an hour total not including timelapses or b-roll stuff.

[deleted]

I tried to be super clear in the vlog. It's something talk about, not much more. Any move would be years off.

Where is yours and Candice's favorite date night spots? Aside from the movies.

haha. she HATES the movies. with few exceptions (she loved Creed) she usually just sits on her phone in the back of the theatre. we have a couple places we like to eat. meet friends.

hey casey! how many places have you lived in NYC?

6 or 7 ? i think.

Hey Casey, I'm a major fan! A question that I have always wanted to ask is when you are running what camera do you use to vlog?

Almost always my iPhone because I have it with me anyway. Occasionally i'll bring my gopro session

are you ever gonna come visit Canada?

I love Canada!! been there a bunch. I especially love how your great country has welcomed Syrian refugees at a time when the USA has never felt more xenophobic.

I started watching when Bike Lanes came out an have stopped after watching 20 or so video logs, they're just not my thing. Will you still be making those great short films like Bike Lanes or is that on hold for now?

On hold until i can find more time but I do look forward to getting back to them in addition to my daily vlogs