“There’s three different things that make up a vlog,” David Dobrik, then a rising YouTube star, explained to Casey Neistat, a veteran YouTuber and filmmaker. Neistat’s camera pans to show a swimming pool, where a member of Dobrik’s ensemble, the Vlog Squad, balances on a jet ski, attempting to toss a basketball from half-court distance over his shoulder and into a hoop. “It’s like, interesting things, cool visuals and funny stuff. And this is not funny unless someone gets hurt.”
As David’s following grew, his stunts became more elaborate. People got hurt. It wasn’t funny.
When Neistat began filming his first feature-length documentary “Under the Influence” in 2019, the older, wiser YouTube …
