- Who
- James LewisSoulCycle instructor, New York
- Since
- 2016Teaching in New York City
- His ride
- Spirit and noiseSpirituality, rowdy fun, togetherness
- His music
- Hip-hopAnything that gets you out of your head
- Advice
- Keep goingOne foot in front of the other
- The film
- 60-second docufilmSoulCycle, 2020
Ask James Lewis what SoulCycle means and you get a list: all things human, all things real, all things love and positivity.
He’s been teaching in New York City since 2016. His rides are, in his words, a perfect mesh of spirituality, rowdy fun and togetherness. The music is hip-hop, or anything fun, or anything a little rowdy. Anything that gets you out of your head.
“All things human,
all things real.”
Forget how hard you’re working
He makes the music the priority, so that by the time the hard part arrives you’ve almost forgotten how hard you’re working.
Around town
He doesn’t think one thing inspires him. Life in general is so beautiful and so awesome, he says, that it’s inspiring enough. We followed him from his apartment in Midtown through the city on foot, on a board and, briefly, with lunch.
Keep going
His best advice is simple: keep going. You are who you are, and if you work with it, you’ll row your boat to exactly where you’re meant to be.
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 James’s.
James
“I try to make music the priority so that you almost forget how hard you're working.”
James has taught in New York City since 2016. His rides are a mesh of spirituality, rowdy fun and togetherness, set to hip-hop and anything that gets you out of your head.
“Put one foot
in front of the other.”
Our Instructor Portrait Series
James’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, Francis, 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
- James Lewis
- 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