"As an artist, I feel that we must try many things-but above all we must dare to fail"

John Cassavetes

John Cassavetes filmmaker, director, actor, writer and iconoclast was a true original, a man who stood for what he believed in who fought with passion for his art.

Born in 1929 to Greek parents in New York City, he went on to study dramatic arts at American Academy. He auditioned for the actors studio but was rejected. He then started to teach his own alternative to the method in NY and through this class came the concept for his first feature Shadows(1957/59) a piece of celluloid jazz about love, people and the human condition. As he told radio host Jean Shepard he wanted to make films about little people different from the Hollywood fare. The '59 version is considered a watershed moment in independent American cinema.

He shot the '57 version first put it out there and when it was rejected, not liked or just didn't get the response he wanted he didn't crawl into his shell and hide. He went back and reshot half the film, that's a lesson for all of us, sometimes its better just get your 1.0 product out in the world let it be misunderstood or disliked, just iterate make it better and it could be that watershed moment in your industry.

Cassavetes also gained some crowd-funding by announcing on Manhattan radio show that if every listenser just sent in a dollar he could make a movie, John was surprised a few days later that he had received thousands of dollars from willing listeners.

A little antidote serves to understand him as a person. On the set of the troubled, A child is waiting (1963)  Cassavetes saw a young kid lurking around the set watching he asked him what he was doing, when he found out the young man wanted to be a director. Cassavetes allowed him to direct him for the day, that young man was a very young Steven Spielberg.

There is so much in Cassavetes I recommend grabbing a good book like Cassavetes on Cassavetes,  or checking out A Constant Forge a great documentary made a few years ago.

To finish with a quote from John

"you must be willing to risk everything to really express it all"

Robert Noyce the mayor of silicon valley, one of our heroes and inspirations here @loststudios,

“You have to risk going too far to discover just how far you can really go.”
 T.S. Eliot
 

Christian Hosoi rocking the Christ Air

Here @ Lost we love to look to people who inspire us and who pave the way for a new path. Breaking new ground in a world set in one grove, skipping that needle and starting a new movement. 

Skateboarding of the early 70s was drab, silly tricks, staid rules and just not cool. But a set of guys broke those rules and broke though to the public. Influencing not just popular culture in a major way, but business innovation also. 

Over the next few articles we will be profiling some of the greatest names in skateboarding and entrepreneurship, exploring the links between what they do and how they think. It is not uncommon for many of the greats of Skateboarding to also be truly self-made millionaires and innovative Business people. 

One of the reasons for this is the obvious need to make a living at a time when the sport didn't provide one. But the sheer innovation, risk taking and persistence is ingrained into the individual through the sport and the crossover to entrepreneur is not the leap it first appears. 

From Tony Alva and the Zephyr Crew, Stacey Peralta and Bones Brigade through Lance Mountain and the finger board. All the way to Rob Derek's Fantasy Factory serial entrepreneurship and philanthropy. 

From the new entrepreneur, to that kid or adult in love with a sport, an idea, a hobby that everyone around says their is no way to make a living, grow up, get real. These skateboarders showed that not only is there a living in your passion but much, much more. For each person, dreaming their own dream, living their own life they can learn a lot from these innovators. 

Let's leave it to the great Rodney Mullen to highlight some really great ideas on innovation and growth. (and check out that dark-slide)  

Van Damme the resurgence

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Here @Lost we are fans of Jean-Claude. A man who came to Hollywood from Brussels, with only a few words of English, a BB in Karate and some epic splits. He is a self made man. Working as a carpet layer, while showing off his Martial arts skills to a producers on the streets of LA. But It was with his performance in No Retreat No surrender that we started to take notice and with Bloodsport he burnt into our childhood memories. In Kickboxer he showed a generation of men how to dance.

Living in the public sphere, Van Damme's many challenges and choices pushed his career towards the Z list. It was with his performance in JCVD (much admired by Nicolas Cage) that he showed some heavy acting chops to go along with the high kicks. It renewed integrity in his image and allowed some true moments of catharsis.

Jean-Claude Van Damme - Monologue - The explanation of a hero [English Subtitles]

It wasn't much of surprise to us when agencies around the world saw this and promoted the Muscles from Brussels into campaigns from Coors Light to Volvo Trucks. The later being a favorite of ours and 76 million others. JCVD we salute you, comment below and let us know your favorite Van Damme moment!

Watch Jean-Claude Van Damme carry out his famous split between two reversing trucks. Never done before, JCVD says it's the most epic of splits -- what do you think? Please share & comment! This live test was set up to demonstrate the precision and directional stability of Volvo Dynamic Steering -- a world first technology that makes the new Volvo FM easier to drive.