Summer is in full swing folks and if there is one documentary  that you need to watch this summer that will inspire you and motivate you to succeed in life,  is  The Entrepreneur directed by the successful entrepreneur himself, Jonathan Bricklin.

 

Brickin  needs no introduction. Many already known him as the co-owner of the popular NYC ping-pong lounge, SPiN, www.newyork.spingalatic.com where some of the most beautiful people in NY come to socialize, play  ping-pong and of course try to meet Bricklin. Co-partnered with Academy Award winning beautiful and ageless actress Susan Sarandon and businessmen Franck Raharinosy and Andrew Gordon, the social club continues to be one of the hottest spots in the city drawing in thousands of people and tourists.  Currently SPiN has social clubs in Milwaukee, Toronto, Los Angeles, Dubai and New York.

I first met Bricklin a few years ago with his pal, award-winning documentary filmmaker Morgan Spurlock ( no intro needed here folks. The guy is a total household name and his CNN show “Inside Man” rocks!) when both filmmakers were involved in WilliFest, a Brooklyn, NY based film festival that serves as an incredible platform for emerging filmmakers, actors and directors. Fast forward and we meet  again at the premiere party for his well received film The Entrepreneur, a documentary five years in the making  based on his brilliant dad Malcolm Bricklin and his  successful journey in the auto industry.  Bricklin Sr. known for bringing the Suburu and Yugo to North America  is also responsible for the first sports car with gull-wing doors.  The man is a genius folks. Plain and simple.

Due to some internal issues, the film could not be shown until just recently (it was completed in 2009) but since the release, it has gotten positive reviews from auto industry fans, universities and film festivals. The Entrepreneur is now available on on-demand cable, iTunes, Hulu, and SnagFilms.

“A lot of people have reacted very powerfully to the movie which is pretty amazing  and I  love it,”  Bricklin Jr.  exclusively told The Ravi Report at the recent sexy premiere party held at SPiN.  The director sat down with The Ravi Report to share his thoughts on directing his dad and how the success of the film inspired his own business.

 

RR: Jonathan, great seeing you again. Loved the film! May I ask, what you found most interesting in working with your dad?

JB: He is such an interesting guy. It was fun putting a story together that happens to star my dad and which happens to be true. But it also very subjective and we know storytelling is subjective. We had over 1000 hours of footage to edit from but we did it and are pleased with the outcome. My dad is one of the most open-minded, non-judgmental people I know.

 

 

JB: I give all the success to the ping pong club by getting 100% inspired by spending time with my dad. I really value that and owe it all to him. Making the film was indeed a journey for me.

 

 

JB: Morgan’s support to my movie was so important to me. It was invaluable because  Morgan himself makes amazing documentaries. I am so looking forward to his new One Direction coming out later this summer.

 

 

JB: She has such a large fan base and is a great promoter and with all our  business sense, we all had enough confidence to at that time to invest a couple of million dollars into opening a ping-pong lounge with a strong sense of what the social scene would be like with food and alcohol and it paid off.

 

 

JB: Well, growing up with my dad, I thought anything was possible so we thought this idea would be possible and it worked out. But it’s a team effort and we are very lucky to have a good team and that’s the important thing here. Just like film making is a team effort, life is a team effort.

 

RR: With the success of SPiN, will you and your partners think of expanding the brand?

 

JB: We are interested in growing the SPiN Galactic Universe Ping Pong club to as many clubs as possible across the country and maybe even internationally.

 

JB: I loved India. I was traveling and making this film and was in India in 2004 where I visited a high-tech design company and saw employees playing ping-pong during their lunch breaks and thought how cool is that!