The Vintagent Selects: A collection of our favorite films by artists around the world.
THE RIDER (2024)
Run Time: 29:43
Producer: Greg Moore & Adam Fitzgerald
Director: Roberto Serrini
Key Cast: Matias Corea, Yve Assad, Chris Myott
FILM MAKERS
Roberto Serrini is no stranger to The Vintagent. His film Moto Borgotaro (2015) made a distinct impression on the motorcycle industry at large, and his following work continued to impress. American Wall Of Death (2016), Norton Commando at 50 (2018), Earned: The Story Of Keith Hale’s Ducati 750SS (2021), All The Pretty Things (2021) can all be watched in the Archive. Serrini’s newest film, a three part series he directed for BMW’s centennial films collectively called ‘The Rider’ was made in collaboration with Greg Moore and Adam Fitzgerald, the two luminaries behind the quintessential motomag Iron and Air, who were tasked by BMW with telling the 100 year story of Motorrad.
Roberto says “Greg and Adam had just formed The Simple Machine and this would be their first project as a creative automotive production company. They chose Yve Assad, Chris Myott and Matias Corea as their subjects. Everyone had a very different origin story, character, and philosophy, and this was really what I was wanting to capture; that while each of them was a staunch BMW rider, it wasn’t about the brand so much as it was about the person. I don’t think we ride because we love bikes, it’s because we love the ride, and being a rider.”
SUMMARY
“In the absence of a rider, a motorcycle is just a bloated gas can. The rider is really what makes a bike a bike, and what brings it to life. Twisting the throttle on your machine is akin to tugging on the strings of a marionette – except these puppets can do burnouts.”
In this triptych featuring Yve, Chris, and Matias, we are also introduced in a deeper way to the Director, despite this not being his first time appearing in his own films. Which seems fitting because Serrini also loves BMW’s. “I bought my first bike, a very beat up R65 with a seat made from torn up old leather motorcycle jackets, off some guy in Harlem for 800 bucks. That bike is the reason I first met Peter Boggia (Moto Borgotaro), which eventually led to me making one of my most important films about bikes, which led me to meeting Greg and Adam and doing this project. It’s rare to find clear lineage in our life’s journeys, but not with motorcycles, and that’s really what all these stories are about, which BMW to their credit understood from the conception.”
“I give BMW a lot of praise for letting them (Greg & Adam) freely create these pieces. I have fortunately been able to work with most of the top brands in my career, launching iconic machines like the Honda Goldwing and the reincarnation of the Indian Scout. These projects have huge crews, budgets, and creativity behind them, and take months to complete and launch. BMW understood the power in these stories, these films have won some amazing industry awards, film festivals, and contributed to the largest amount of sales on record for BMW, proving you don’t have to show the product to sell it.”
The Rider (2024) is proudly sponsored by BMW and is currently on the festival tour. Be sure to stay tuned, as we know we’ll be featuring more of Roberto’s work here soon.
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Love the blatant honesty . Love the fact that BMW actually let them do this despite the honest and .. err … disparaging ? comments about the realities of M/c riding… love the stories … love the fact that BMW is the center of all of them . hell .. the only thing I don’t love is the disparate fluff music that seems to infect the majority of the film having nothing to do with the visuals .
Well .. that and the fact that … well …. hate to say it … but way too much suburban urban hipster wanna be snowflake zeitgeist . Seriously … a little more age and experience would of knocked this up an entire level
And again … the crap music … seriously dudes … put a little effort and $$ into it … a good soundtrack is as if not more important than the film itself
But damn its too bad I&A became yet another victim of the waning of M/C culture and media
Speaking of the waning M/C media , culture and business .
Anyone take a hard look at KTM’s numbers ? Eeeesh … makes one wonder what everyone else’s numbers look like ..but I’m betting they aint good .. eeesh
BTW .. if its any ” Small Source of Comfort ” ( come on gotta be at least one Bruce Cockburn fan out there )
The prices of used / collectable guitars are falling like a stone in a pond … with guitar sales overall …. in the proverbial toilet .
Seriously folks .. whats this world coming to ? No Guitars ? No M/C’s ? Whats next … no cars or trucks either ? Hell … lets take out boats n’ planes while we’re at it …
Rush’s ” Red Barchetta ” coming to mind … becoming closer to the new reality than any of us’d like to think .
Eeesh ! Times like this growing old becomes a blessing … cause … well … you know
” Save me … save me from tomorrow .. I don’t want to sail with this ship of fools ”
Touche’ PdL 😎