Tomorrow, I'll be releasing the first film from my new short film series 'Worst Days'. The first film features my friend Brian Saul. I first met Brian in New York back in 2014, at a hat store in Soho. While looking through a few hats, I heard banter and loud laughing, coming from the other side of the store. I noticed this funny looking dude, was entertaining a bunch of young skaters and they were hanging off his every word. He was a big personality and he couldn’t help but draw attention from everyone in the store, I thought he must’ve been some kind of big deal. Before long, he was standing next to me and he introduced himself as ‘Brian Saul’. We talked for a short while and we instantly connected. I loved his heart on sleeve hustle and strong-minded mannerisms that could only come from a New York native. I thought, it would be cool do some work with this guy. I told him I was a filmmaker and it’d be cool to do some filming and see what comes of it, he agreed and we decided to kick it a few days later.
Over the next few days, I was filming various footage throughout New York City and the greater New York area. I was feeling pretty low mentally; it was hard to leave my apartment at times. I was drinking quite a bit and missing my wife back home.
A few days went by and we met up at a skate shop on Broadway, called Blades. We chilled and filmed a bunch of footage for most of the day. He was such a character, he stopped to talk to every second person on the street, it’s like he knew everyone in New York. At times I felt like I was apart of his entourage haha. He had this glowing confidence, which was admirable. It was cool; he introduced me to everyone and never failed to talk me up, even though he barely knew me. He shed light on the New York hustle and encouraged me to be proud of what I do and never to feel embarrassed to sell myself. I’m still trying to grasp that lesson.
At the end of the day, we came back to Harlem, to kick it at the apartment I was staying at. He agreed to do a short interview to tie the days filming together. A short interview turned into a really cool conversation. Brian shared stories about New York and I shared stories about Melbourne, both of us fascinated with each other’s native insight. I learnt that Brian was vunerable too and he had his own demons to fight. Especially coming to grips with losing his mother. I felt that I got an opportunity to see another side of Brian and it was a humbling experience. Brian expressed that although he’s experienced such hard times, they drove him to want to succeed and make his mother proud. I think he’ll do that.
I’ll be posting our film tomorrow at 7pm (AEDT). Thanks for reading 
☺.