Family Entrepreneurs: Brothers of Invention

Sept. 19, 2015  :  With The New York Times
Next Project: Family Entrepreneurs: Balancing Business With Art →
About the Project

View the piece on NYTimes.com in an article by Stacy Cowley: "6 Entrepreneurship Lessons from Family Businesses" 

The journalism unit of Blue Chalk Media produced “Family Entrepreneurs” in collaboration with The New York Times video department and business desk. The six-part series celebrates a range of family-owned businesses across the United States—from taquerias to hand-sewn bowties, advanced technological helmets to breweries.

This episode, “Brothers of Invention,” follows two brothers with no tech-background trying to make it in the Silicon Valley. After crashing in his motorcycle, Marcus Weller dreamt of a futuristic helmet that could have prevented his accident. That’s when he started working out of his garage on “Skully,” a next-generation motorcycle helmet.

The first prototype, AR-1, generated so much interest that Skully raised $2 million dollars in pre-orders. Realizing that the organization was growing beyond his ability to manage everything by himself, Marcus convinced his brother to move to California and join the risky venture.

“Family Entrepreneurs” is the second major initiative to come from the Blue Chalk journalism unit, designed to report and produce visual journalism with news organizations and knowledge brands

Contributors
  • Greg Moyer, Executive Producer
  • Andrew Strenio, Series Producer
  • Eleonore Hamelin, Producer
  • Luke Versalko, Associate Producer
  • Pablo Durana, Director of Photography
  • Daniel Quintero, Editor
  • Vanessa Avery, Production Assistant
  • Elizabeth Lim, Composer
Services Provided
  • Original Cinematography
  • Original Music Composition
  • Post-Production