Casey Owen Neistat (; born March 25, 1981) is an American YouTube personality, filmmaker, vlogger and co-founder of the multimedia company Beme, which was later acquired by CNN. In 2018, he founded ''368'', a creative space for creators to collaborate with each other.

Early life and education

Neistat was born in

Gales Ferry, Connecticut Gales Ferry is a village in the town of Ledyard, Connecticut, United States. It is located along the eastern bank of the Thames River. The village developed as a result of having a ferry to Uncasville located at this site, and from which the vill ...

. He was brought up in

Reform Judaism Reform Judaism, also known as Liberal Judaism or Progressive Judaism, is a major Jewish denomination that emphasizes the evolving nature of Judaism, the superiority of its ethical aspects to its ceremonial ones, and belief in a continuous sear ...

. He dropped out of high school during his sophomore year at the age of 17. He eventually left his family and had a son named Owen, at age 17, with his then-girlfriend Robin Harris, in 1998. Between the age of 17 and 20 (from 1998 to 2001), he lived in a

trailer park A trailer park,caravan park, mobile home park, mobile home community or manufactured home community is a temporary or permanent area for mobile homes and travel trailers. Advantages include low cost compared to other housing, and quick and ea ...

with Harris and Owen. It was during this time that Neistat decided to move to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Before moving to New York City, Neistat worked as a

dishwasher A dishwasher is a machine that is used to clean dishware, cookware, and cutlery automatically. Unlike manual dishwashing, which relies heavily on physical scrubbing to remove soiling, the mechanical dishwasher cleans by spraying hot water, ty ...

at a seafood restaurant and was a short-order cook in

Mystic, Connecticut Mystic is a village and census-designated place (CDP) in Groton, Connecticut, Groton and Stonington, Connecticut, United States. Historically, Mystic was a significant Connecticut seaport with more than 600 ships built over 135 years starting in ...

Early filmmaking career

Work with Tom Sachs

In 2001, Neistat and his brother Van began working with artist

Tom Sachs Tom Sachs (born July 26, 1966) is an American contemporary artist who lives and works in New York City. Life and early career Sachs was born in New York City on July 26, 1966. He grew up in Westport, Connecticut, attending high school at Green ...

, ultimately making a series of films about the artist's

sculptures Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

and installations.

''iPod's Dirty Secret''

Neistat first gained international exposure in 2003 for a three-minute film titled ''iPod's Dirty Secret'', criticizing

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancest ...

for not having a battery replacement program for their

iPod The iPod is a discontinued series of portable media players and multi-purpose mobile devices designed and marketed by Apple Inc. The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about months after the Macintosh version of iTunes wa ...

line of portable media players. The film received national media attention and brought broad attention to the company's policy towards iPod battery replacements. The film was posted to the

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, p ...

on September 20, 2003, and quickly attracted media attention. The film was praised as "wonderfully renegade" by ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large n ...

''. Apple announced a battery replacement policy on November 14, 2003, and also announced an extended iPod warranty program on November 21. Fox News set the date of the policy change at "two weeks" after the posting of the clip and

Neil Cavuto Neil Patrick Cavuto (born September 22, 1958) is an American television news anchor, executive, commentator, and business journalist for Fox News. He hosts three television programs: '' Your World with Neil Cavuto'' and ''Cavuto Live,'' both on F ...

called it a "David and

Goliath Goliath ( ) ''Goləyāṯ''; ar, جُليات ''Ǧulyāt'' (Christian term) or (Quranic term). is a character in the Book of Samuel, described as a Philistine giant defeated by the young David in single combat. The story signified King Sau ...

story" on Fox News's '' Your World''. Apple spokeswoman Natalie Sequeira denied any connection between the film and the new policy, stating the policy revision had been in the works for months before the film was released.

''Science Experiments''

In 2004, Neistat and his brother produced a film series titled ''Science Experiments''. The 15-minute series featured a number of short films documenting various experiments. The series was included in the 26th São Paulo Biennial in

São Paulo, Brazil SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U.S. ...

. The work was popular, and was eventually featured in Creative Time's 59th Minute program showing a one-minute excerpt from Neistat's film every 59 minutes on the

Panasonic formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka. It was founded by Kōnosuke Matsushita in 1918 as a lightbulb ...

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...

Astrovision.

''The Neistat Brothers''

In July 2008, HBO purchased an eight-episode television series, ''The Neistat Brothers'', for just under $2 million. The series was produced by Casey and Van Neistat, and Tom Scott. Independent film producer Christine Vachon served as consulting producer. Written and directed by Casey and Van, the show is autobiographical and told in the first person. Each of the eight episodes is made up of short stories about the brothers' lives. The show premiered June 4, 2010, on HBO. ''The Hollywood Reporter'' likened the brothers' charm, wit, and simplicity to that of

Dr. Seuss Theodor Seuss Geisel (;"Seuss"
'' Hank Stuever of the ''Washington Post'' praised the brothers' ''

joie de vivre ( , ; "joy of living") is a French phrase often used in English to express a cheerful enjoyment of life, an exultation of spirit. It "can be a joy of conversation, joy of eating, joy of anything one might do… And ''joie de vivre'' may be ...

''.

YouTube

On February 17, 2010, Neistat uploaded a video about when to use the emergency brake cord on train cars in the

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October ...

. Neistat criticized the way that the MTA did not make it clear when the emergency brake cord should be pulled. According to the video, one should ''only'' use the emergency brake system when the motion of the train poses an imminent threat to life or limb. On February 23, 2010, Neistat released a six-minute film on

Vimeo Vimeo, Inc. () is an American video hosting, sharing, and services platform provider headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices. Vimeo's business model is through software as ...

about the Internet site

Chatroulette Chatroulette is an online chat website that pairs random users with a choice between two other users for webcam-based conversations. Visitors to the website begin an online chat (audio, and video) with another visitor. At any point, either user ...

. It explains what the Chatroulette site is, how it works, and why people use it. Various experiments are conducted in the video with the findings presented in

stop-frame animation Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames i ...

s. One experiment found that people on Chatroulette are much more likely to talk to a woman. While 95% "nexted" Neistat, his female friend Genevieve was clicked away by only 5%. On June 7, 2011, Neistat criticized

New York City Police Department The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act i ...

's ticketing of cyclists in New York City for riding outside of the marked

bike lane Bike lanes (US) or cycle lanes (UK) are types of bikeways (cycleways) with lanes on the roadway for cyclists only. In the United Kingdom, an on-road cycle-lane can be firmly restricted to cycles (marked with a solid white line, entry by motor ...

s. In a video titled "Bike Lanes", Neistat encounters an officer and receives a $50 ticket for not riding within the lanes. Neistat then proceeds to comically ride his bike in the lane crashing into various obstructions, supporting the argument that lanes aren't the safest at all times and are even sometimes unusable. In response, ''

New York Magazine ''New York'' is an American biweekly magazine concerned with life, culture, politics, and style generally, and with a particular emphasis on New York City. Founded by Milton Glaser and Clay Felker in 1968 as a competitor to ''The New Yorker' ...

'' called Neistat a "Bike-Lane Vigilante" and the film was covered by most mainstream media outlets. Additionally, ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and event (philosophy), events that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various me ...

'' named "Bike Lanes" number 8 on their Top 10 Creative Videos of 2011 list. In 2022, Neistat uploaded a YouTube video titled "NYC BIKE LANE BOUNTY" discussing a proposal in which New York City residents can report cars illegally parked in bike lanes for a percentage of the violator's perspective fine. In the opening of this video, Nesitat pays homage to "Bike Lines" by abruptly crashing his bike into an illegally parked van while stating statistics about bicycle accidents in NYC. In 2014, Neistat was listed on ''

New Media Rockstars ''NewMediaRockstars'' (''NMR'') is an online magazine which was launched in December 2011 and primarily covers YouTube performers, entrepreneurs, and artists with videos and interviews. In 2013, ''NewMediaRockstars'' closed because of lack of fun ...

'' Top 100 Channels, ranked at #82.

Daily vlogs

Neistat started to post daily

vlogs A video blog or video log, sometimes shortened to vlog (), is a form of blog for which the medium is video. Vlog entries often combine embedded video (or a video link) with supporting text, images, and other metadata. Entries can be recorded in ...

on YouTube on March 26, 2015. Neistat has stated that he sees his vlogs more as a forum as opposed to a daily journal. On January 19, 2016, Neistat posted his 300th vlog, although between November 2016 and March 2017 Neistat stopped making vlogs to focus more on short films. Particularly popular videos have included snowboarding on New York City streets during the

January 2016 United States blizzard The January 2016 United States blizzard was a blizzard that produced up to 3 ft (91 cm) of snow in parts of the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States from January 22–24, 2016. Evolving from a shortwave trough that formed in the Pacific ...

. The video gained 6.5 million views on YouTube within 24 hours. On September 6, 2016, Neistat won ''GQ'''s "New Media Star" Man of the Year Award. In October 2017, Neistat met with Indonesian President

Joko Widodo Joko Widodo (; born 21 June 1961), popularly known as Jokowi, is an Indonesian politician and businessman who is the 7th and current president of Indonesia. Elected in July 2014, he was the first Indonesian president not to come from an elit ...

. As of July 13, 2018, Neistat has released 936 vlogs including other films on his

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

channel since its creation on February 15, 2010. On August 23, 2015, Neistat reached 1 million subscribers which increased to 4 million by August 2016. As of March 2022, his channel has received 12.4 million subscribers. In March 2022, his film titled 'Under the Influence', a documentary following

David Dobrik David Dobrik ( Dávid Julián Dobrík (; ; born July 23, 1996)) is a Slovak Internet personality. He found early success on the video-sharing platform Vine, before starting his vlog on YouTube in 2015. In 2019, he co-founded the photography app ...

and examining various controversies around him, was premiered at

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

Advertising

In addition to his career in television and film, Neistat also directs and stars in television commercials, having worked with clients such as

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

Google Google LLC () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company focusing on Search Engine, search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, software, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, ar ...

, Finn Jewelry, J.Crew, and

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquarte ...

''Make It Count''

''Make It Count'' is a video written, directed, and starring Neistat for Nike. The video begins with scrolling text that reads: "Nike asked me to make a movie about what it means to #makeitcount. Instead of making their movie, I spent the entire budget traveling around the world with my friend Max. We'd keep going until the money ran out. It took 10 days." The video then begins in earnest with Neistat and his collaborator Max Joseph traveling to the airport. Fast editing of their travels with interludes of inspirational quotes make up the film ultimately ending with Neistat returning to New York City where the story began. On April 8, 2012, Nike launched the video on their official YouTube page titled "Make It Count". The next day Neistat launched the video on his official YouTube. Neistat's posting went viral, as within the first three days the film garnered over one and a half million views. As of October 2022, the video had over 32 million views. Mashable's Zoe Fox commented that it was "The Best Branding Story Ever Told". A number of mainstream outlets referred to Neistat's production of the film as 'going rogue' including CNNGo, Fast Company and

Conde Nast Conde may refer to: Places United States * Conde, South Dakota, a city France * Condé-sur-l'Escaut (or simply 'Condé'), a commune Linguistic ''Conde'' is the Ibero-Romance form of "count" (Latin ''comitatus''). It may refer to: * Count ...

Traveler.

Beme

In a July 8, 2015 vlog, Neistat announced that he had been working with Matt Hackett on building a video-sharing app called Beme. Designed as an alternative to highly edited content found in social media, the app enabled users to produce unedited four-second videos, which were immediately uploaded and shared with the user's subscribers, without the ability to review the video. Users could respond to shared content by sending "reactions", photographs of themselves, back to the video uploader. Beme released the first version of the app on July 17, 2015. Shortly after the launch,

BuzzFeed BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Ke ...

described Beme's minimalist design as "deceptively simple and decidedly weird." ''The New York Times'' explained that Beme's user experience was "as if the phone becomes a stand-in for one's body, the camera facing outward to capture what the user is experiencing." Within eight days of the app's release, Beme users had shared 1.1 million videos and logged 2.4 million reactions. On November 28, 2016, CNN announced that it would acquire the Beme company, reportedly for US$25 million. At the same time, Hackett announced that the Beme app would be shutting down on January 31, 2017, saying: "Beme as a single product failed. Beme as a vision for the kind of technology and media that must be built is just getting started." On January 25, 2018, Neistat and Hackett announced that they were severing their ties with CNN, but that most Beme employees would continue to work for CNN.

368

On April 5, 2018, Neistat announced a new project: 368 (named after the address of Neistat's studio at the time, 368 Broadway, New York), a creative space for creators to collaborate. On April 12 of that year,

Patreon Patreon (, ) is a membership platform that provides business tools for content creators to run a subscription service. It helps creators and artists earn a monthly income by providing rewards and perks to their subscribers. Patreon charges a com ...

CEO

Jack Conte Jack Conte (; born July 12, 1984) is an American musician and co-founder and CEO of Patreon. He is one half of the band Pomplamoose, along with his wife Nataly Dawn, co-leader of the band Scary Pockets, and leader of the band Magaziine. Career ...

announced a potential collaboration with Neistat on the project.

''Couples Therapy''

Neistat's podcast ''Couples Therapy'' ran for 20 episodes, from May 4, 2018, to April 15, 2019. On the show, Neistat and his wife Candice Pool discussed the up and downs of their marriage, friendship, parenting, and lives in the YouTube spotlight.

Appearances

Neistat has a chapter giving advice in Tim Ferriss's book '' Tools of Titans''.

Public speaking

Neistat has lectured on topics related to filmmaking and his life experiences including giving public lectures, speaking at

The Nantucket Project The Nantucket Project is an annual gathering that takes place on Nantucket, Massachusetts, housed mainly at the White Elephant Hotel. The event is held in a tent overlooking Nantucket Harbor. The Nantucket Project was co-founded in 2010 by Tom S ...

, and giving a

TEDx TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "ideas worth spreading". TED was founded by Richard Sa ...

talk at TEDxParkerSchool.

Personal life

In 2005, Neistat eloped with Candice Pool in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

. This marriage lasted about a month and ended with an annulment. He later reconciled with Pool and got engaged to her on February 18, 2013. On December 29, 2013, Neistat and Pool were married in a

Jewish wedding A Jewish wedding is a wedding ceremony that follows Jewish laws and traditions. While wedding ceremonies vary, common features of a Jewish wedding include a ''ketubah'' (marriage contract) which is signed by two witnesses, a ''chuppah'' or ''hu ...

service in

Cape Town, South Africa Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

. They have two daughters, Francine and Georgie. He is

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

. His grandmother Louise Neistat (born Louise Celice Grossman) was a

tap dancer Tap dance is a form of dance characterized by using the sounds of tap shoes striking the floor as a form of percussion. Two major variations on tap dance exist: rhythm (jazz) tap and Broadway tap. Broadway tap focuses on dance; it is widely perfo ...

and one of the Radio City Music Hall's Rockettes during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In 2004, he directed a video in which his grandmother made the "world's greatest french toast", and delivered it to his son, Owen. On October 31, 2011, Neistat posted a four-minute short film on YouTube about his grandmother. The video opens with him asking his grandmother how many more years she thinks she will put on her annual tap dance show, then inter-cuts various press clippings from her accomplished life with footage from her most recent tap dance show, the focus being the money her tap dancing has raised for

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

research-related charities. The video was tweeted by YouTube's official

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

handle and appeared on numerous news and viral video websites including the ''

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

''. Twenty-two days after the video was posted, Louise died of natural causes at the age of 92; Neistat wrote her obituary and delivered the eulogy. On May 10, 2019, Neistat announced that he would be leaving New York City and moving to Los Angeles to be with his family, in a video titled, "i'M Leaving NYC Forever..". On September 14, 2022, Neistat uploaded a video stating he was moving back to New York City.

Political views

Neistat supported Democrat

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

in the

2016 United States presidential election The 2016 United States presidential election was the 58th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 8, 2016. The Republican ticket of businessman Donald Trump and Indiana governor Mike Pence defeated the Democratic ticke ...

. On October 11, 2016, Neistat released a video titled "who im voting for president", in which he claimed people having different opinions is "the nature of a healthy democracy, ... but this is not that" claiming the

was different and that the "election had very little to do with politics, policy or legislation". Neistat received criticism for the video because he claimed creators who did not endorse

were "complicit" with Trump's "lying, racist, misogynist(ic)" attributes and were "partially responsible for handing him (Donald Trump) reins of power". On September 27, 2019, Neistat acknowledged that he should have taken a more "effective" route to making the video as he was "too upset, angry and emotional" when it was made. He also said the video lacked "diplomacy" and that he still feels the same way about Trump. Neistat supported Democrat Joe Biden in the

2020 United States presidential election The 2020 United States presidential election was the 59th quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 2020. The Democratic ticket of former vice president Joe Biden and the junior U.S. senator from California Kamala H ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Neistat, Casey 1981 births American documentary filmmakers American YouTubers Living people People from Gales Ferry, Connecticut Sibling filmmakers American television directors Video bloggers Streamy Award winners Twitch (service) streamers American male YouTubers American Reform Jews Male bloggers Jewish bloggers Jewish American artists American Ashkenazi Jews Shorty Award winners YouTube channels launched in 2010 21st-century American Jews