Ep. 64 - Nikolai Schirmer - The Man Behind The Skiing

Nikolai Schirmer is a professional skier and filmmaker whose videos have been watched by tens of millions of people online. Only a cursory glance through his social media feed will suggest there is more to the man than content creation, and so in this conversation, I wanted to get to know the man behind the skiing.  He discusses his production setup and how he plans a typical winter with film crews and upcoming projects. We go on to talk about story-telling as an art and necessity in making engaging videos, and Nikolai shares insights and anecdotes about his time working in the marketing industry.  We then go on to discuss other topics such as Tolstoy and Thomas Piketty, culture and immigration, activism and education before concluding the conversation with Nikolai sharing his unique business model which puts him as one of the most valuable athletes in the sport of skiing.  It’s a captivating conversation—and one which I hope you enjoy.  Subscribe to Nikolai's YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Nikolai_Schirmer Follow Nikolai on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikolaischirmer/ Find me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/joe.reilly/?hl=en 0:00 - 0:25 - Introduction 0:25 - 2:25 - Insight Into Production 2:25 - 7:00 - A New Way Of Producing Ski Films 7:00 - 12:26 - Story Telling vs. Cinematography 12:26 - 15:56 - Value of Quantity In Creativity 15:57 - 22:10 - Trivialising The Dangers Of Skiing? 22:10 - 26:40 - Is He A Parent’s Dream? 26:40 - 28:41 - War and Peace 28:41 - 34:35 - Thomas Piketty 34:35 - 41:20 - Culture & Immigration of Norway 41:20 - 43:20 - Activism & Education 43:20 - 50:08 - Nikolai’s Business Model