- Who
- Francis DollowaySoulCycle instructor, New York
- From
- BrooklynBorn and raised
- Since
- 2017Teaching SoulCycle
- His music
- Hip-hopA little Jay-Z, a little Biggie
- Favourite song
- The first oneStart strong
- The film
- 60-second docufilmSoulCycle, 2019
Francis Dolloway is from Brooklyn and has been teaching SoulCycle since 2017.
When he isn’t sure what to play next, he leans on a little Jay-Z, a little Biggie. Hip-hop is the music he grew up on and the music he connects with. What drives him is hearing artists put their heart and soul into a record. It makes him want to be the best at what he does.
“Speak your truth.”
Start strong
His favourite part of class is the first song: getting a nice, strong start. And if the start isn’t strong, the job is getting the room there before the 45 minutes are up.
Home court
We spent the day with him in Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn: shooting hoops, stretching on the steps and jumping off the base of the Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument, with a stop by the green bronze door of the crypt.
He also hates naked pillows. A pillow without a pillowcase is naked, he explains, and that’s weird. Why is that thing naked?
Speak your truth
Whatever you truly believe in, whatever you truly want to do, say it, and make sure it’s really you and from your heart. It’ll never lead you astray.
Alongside the films, we shot a portraiture loop of every instructor against a white backdrop, made to sit beside their name and story on their SoulCycle profile. This is Francis’s.
Francis
“I love hip-hop, it's really the music that I grew up listening to.”
Francis is from Brooklyn and has taught SoulCycle since 2017. When he's not sure what to play, he leans on a little Jay-Z and a little Biggie, and he always starts strong.
“Do what makes you happy.
Find your balance.”
Our Instructor Portrait Series
Francis’s film is one of a whole series of instructor portraits we made for SoulCycle: Charlee, Karyn, Sue, Claire J., Sam Y, Jenny, Sydney, Victoria, Emily T, Samantha Jade, James, Laurie, Melanie, Trammell, Mike Press and Souereya. Each one is a different person and a different ride, filmed the same honest way.
Credits
- Client
- SoulCycle
- Featuring
- Francis Dolloway
- Director
- Chris Maguire
- Producer
- Nastassja Simone
- Director of photography
- Mark Sherman
- 1st AC
- Alexander Martinez
- Edit and color
- Chris Maguire
- Editor
- Brendan Engle
- Sound
- Paul Gibek
- Hair and makeup
- Katie Wedlund
- Production assistant
- Diana Cardona
- Production company
- RIOT
- Agency
- RIOT
ServicesDocumentary·Branded Content·Editing·Color