Meet the Filmmaker Turned Entrepreneur Who Skateboarded Across the U.S. and Made a Movie About It
Photo courtesy of Arthur Swidzinski.
The pursuit of passion has managed to keep documentary filmmaker and motion graphics extraordinaire Arthur Swidzinski pretty busy. His first feature-length film Shred America, a documentary about a group of friends skateboarding across the continental United States, is set to release this spring. During football season, he works with the Chicago Bears to do the replays on game days and when he’s not doing that, he’s building his own business, Stone Watson.
A decade ago, Arthur’s friend Mike Kosciesza called him with the idea for a cross-country skateboarding trip. Arthur agreed, and because his love for filmmaking stemmed from his love of skateboarding, a movie was born. They shot the trip on tape, not knowing where the story would take them. Now, ten years later, the duo and their team are figuring out final details before sharing the film with the public.
Arthur’s first feature film taught him a lot. It took ten years because it was a side project that, at one point, no one really thought would ever get done. It wasn’t until a few years ago when Arthur quit a job that he dove back into the hundreds of hours of footage, called Mike, and said, “Hey, I need you.”
“Ten years is a long time and not many people stick with you. There’s no expectation of finishing. It takes perseverance on your end, because after a certain amount of time you start to give up on yourself, too. Having a partner like Mike was essential. We pushed each other when things were not coming together for the film.”
Arthur began working for corporate America as a motion graphics designer as soon as he graduated college. He attended Columbia College Chicago with, he says, no intention of getting a degree in order to get a job. Reminiscing instead back to high school days when he would stay up into the early hours of the morning working on skateboarding videos.
“I was in this space where time froze and I loved that about it.” Flow, a psychological phenomenon that describes peak productivity and the feeling of time stopping, is perhaps relevant to mention here, as it signifies what we truly feel passionate about. For Arthur, those high school days were hinting at the future that he created.
Photo courtesy of Arthur Swidzinski.
Though he credits luck, it was his passion and work ethic (“You have to be one of the hardest workers in the room, otherwise someone else will surpass you.”) that opened doors to Kaplan, Sega, the NFL, and eventually led him to build his own business, Stone Watson. But he also had jobs he wasn’t happy in and it was those ruts that led him to exactly what he wanted, whether it be diving back into Shred America or establishing Stone Watson, a motion-graphics based company making products such as commercials for corporate clients.
Reflecting on both positive and negative experiences, he highlights the importance of investing in yourself, a piece of advice he received not once but twice in his life. Every job, even one we don’t like, is an opportunity to invest in ourselves, whether it be taking those earnings and hiring a good salesperson or building a website.
Arthur also emphasizes the importance of making connections. Networking is important, but so is saying hi to your neighbor. You never know who you’re going to meet or who can help you.
“A big thing is leaving the house. Sometimes you don’t want to leave the house, but you never know who you’ll meet. I talk to everybody. You can’t think that the only way to get into somewhere is via an application or an online introduction. The best tool is people seeing your face and seeing who you are and how you interact with the world and bring positivity into the world.”
All of those things – the passion, the work ethic, the humility and friendliness – have molded Arthur into who he is not only as an employee, but now as a leader. And in developing Stone Watson, which already features a number of videos and short films, he knows the kind of leader he wants to be.
“I want everyone to be a larger part of the company than just being employees. Right now, I’m a creative person trying to be a business guy, I don’t have any business background, but I know what kind of business people I don’t like.”
Photo courtesy of Arthur Swidzinski.
For updates on Shred America and other projects, follow Arthur on Instagram @artyswiss and @stone.watson.