German-born filmmaker Jean Pierre Kathoefer's short documentary film, The Distinguished Gentleman, is an inspiring modern tale of how a community can come together in a time of crisis. With a run time of 17 minutes, it documents the story of beloved men's health fundraiser Vincent Nicolai's survival of a disastrous propane accident in his Sunnyside, Queens, New York home. Though the accident left him with burns covering over 40% of his body, he not only survived, but persevered. The resulting support of his family, friends, and the New York City motorcycle community was a life-changing experience which speaks to the triumph of the collective human spirit.

The film's title comes from the global fundraising event, The Distinguished Gentleman's Ride. The ride is open to all genders, and was founded by Mark Hawwa in Sydney, Australia in 2012. Participants are encouraged to adhere to the ride's dress code––dapper clothing such as tweed jackets, silk vests, and stylish hats––and ride classic and vintage style motorcycles in an event that draws awareness and raises support for critical men's health issues such as prostrate cancer and suicide prevention. The original inspiration for the ride was a photograph of Mad Men's Don Draper clad in a fine suit and sitting atop a classic bike. At the moment of this writing, Vincent Nicolai is currently the top fundraiser, worldwide, for the organization.

“I think it was in my DNA, my father was a motorcycle rider. And I always wanted that freedom, just to get on it and turn the key,” Nicolai says in the documentary.

For Vincent Nicolai, motorcycles represented personal freedom. Having grown up in beautiful Saint-Tropez, a coastal town on the French Riviera, his passion for motorized vehicles began at a young age. Scooters and motorcycles were plentiful in the small French town, especially in the summer months when the town was flocked by jet-setting tourists and other visitors. Having a motorized two-wheel vehicle of his own meant he had the key to go wherever his heart desired, so he got his first job at the age of fourteen in order to buy one. This entailed him waking up to unload food trucks at 4:30 in the morning. This was grueling labor, but it was all worth it when he was able to purchase a scooter––his very first two-wheeled motorized vehicle––and thereby the key to his freedom.

After moving to America and eventually settling into the fast-paced New York City restaurant scene, he fell in love with his next door neighbor Maria, whom he ended up marrying. One day, he decided to apply for a motorcycle driver's license in the U.S., and the call of the open road beckoned. With nothing more than a tent and a sleeping bag, he traversed the country on his scarlet and silver 2008 T100 motorcycle via the historic U.S. Route 66. On his motorized adventure he went from coast to coast, traveling from NYC, New York to the Santa Monica Piers in California over a period of 13 days.

Having devoted his time to raising money and being a voice for men's health awareness with The Distinguished Gentleman's Ride, Nikolai makes efforts to de-stigmatize health issues critical to men today, and encourages open discussion of these issues. He likely never imagined that one day, the community he worked so hard to help support would turn around and repay his efforts, big time.

Sunday, February 10th 2019 was just another ordinary day in Sunnyside, NY, but for Vincent Nikolai it would be the day that his life would change forever. With his young son at his in-laws, and the love of his life inside their home, Nikolai went into the garage to work on his beloved motorcycles. In a freak propane tank explosion, he felt a huge ball of heat heading towards him before being engulfed in flames in mere moments. Nikolai was rushed to the hospital, with skin hanging off of him, where doctors told him just how life threatening his accident had been. The explosion was so bad that it left the garage door of their family home burned and warped off its hinges, melted from the intensity of the heat. In the aftermath of the tragic event, $77,000 was raised by the NYC motorcycle community to help Nicolai recover, something which astonished him.

Director Jean Pierre Kathoefer, a motorcyclist himself, was the perfect person to capture Nikolai's heart-tugging story on film. The match was suggested to Kathoefer by his talented co-producer Kirsten Midura, when Kathoefer was in search of inspiration for his next project, and the rest is history. Founder of the dirt bike group The Dirty Gents, and NY ambassador and host for the global motorcycle network The Moto Social, Kathoefer is passionate about both motorcycles and community building. He is the proud owner of a 2012 Suzuki DRZ400 and a 1978 Yamaha SR500. His production company, johnnypuetz Productions, specializes in creating motorcycle-related video content.

In The Distinguished Gentleman, classic documentary features are employed, including a narrative arc based on the events that transpired, and which presents the story in an easy-to-follow, and emotionally relatable way. The film was shot with a Canon 80D DSLR camera. Obtaining enough B-rolls and archival footage for the film was a challenge. Supporting footage and images were acquired thanks to Triumph America and the local moto community. The inclusion of these was smoothed out to fit seamlessly with the rest of the film thanks to the experienced film editor, Tom Ragan. The wonderful sound quality was achieved through professional sound equipment by sound mixer Anna Khromova.

In the interview “Unravelling The Distinguished Gentleman” by Rahoul Ghose on August 18, 2019 on nycmotorcyclist.com, Kathoefer describes the balancing act of directing a documentary when intense emotions are involved. He illustrates the importance of these pivotal emotional moments:

“This is how you tell the story … being able to connect with your audience on an emotional level is the key.”

Being able to forge this connection seems to be one of Kathoefer's strongest qualities as a director. He is also a powerful visual storyteller. Some of his other projects include: “Escape in the City: Women Riding Motorcycles in NYC” which are short film profiles on interesting female motorcyclists, and “Union Garage: Zero in 60 Seconds.” He creates motorcycle-related content for social media and works with moto brands, and is skilled in creating memorable promotional videos that you actually want to watch. One example of this is the charming, gorgeously shot promo he created for Dapper Tours: Exploring NYC in a Sidecar. He is making big impressions in the film industry, having won Best Picture 2018 in New York City's “Motos and Photos” contest. Additionally, The Distinguished Gentleman was named an official selection for this year's Toronto Motorcycle Film Festival.

The general vibe that his videography projects is: professional, community-oriented, joyful, emotionally buoying, and impossibly cool––all powerful elements for success. The emotional payoff in his work across the board is huge, and the attention to the development of emotional pacing throughout the film work is both subtly and overtly evident. The common thread amongst Kathoefer's work, whether documentary-style or promotional, is his uncanny ability to access a spark of truth in whoever or whatever he films.

Truth in filmmaking, even in documentary films, is a difficult thing to capture. The way someone directs a film says a lot about them and their perspective. Somehow Kathoefer's work manages to achieve a sense a truth in storytelling, capturing not only the true essence of the story at hand, but also highlighting the beautifully human things about his subjects. The way he films others endears us to them instantly, we are pulled as if by an ocean's deep and imperceptible undercurrent towards his directorial perspective. It is clear in his community-embracing approach just how much he believes in the power of community, and this is reflected in his work.

Jean Pierre KathoeferAnother important aspect in filmmaking, as Kathoefer explains, is trust. This trust needs to be deeply rooted from the first interaction, and carefully maintained through a creative project's lifespan. His success in connecting with the people he films is due partially to the effective way he communicates, both in film and in real life. Real trust is an impossible thing to forge, which makes this filmmaking quality perhaps one of the most important. Since it's so essential that those he films feel entirely comfortable with sharing their truth with the world, he is very considerate of this aspect of the filming process. With the key elements of trust, truth, and magnetic storytelling, as well as having the creative brilliance and an all-star production team to pull it all together, it's no wonder johnnypuetz Productions is off to such a roaring start in the moto film industry.

The Distinguished Gentleman's world premiere will be at the Toronto Motorcycle Film Festival on October 4, 2019. The film's production team, along with Vincent Nikolai, will ride motorcycles up to Canada in a two-day ride to watch the premiere. A more intimate local premiere will be held at a theater in the Kickstarter headquarters in Greenpoint, NY on October 9. To learn more about Kathoefer's moto filmmaker company, visit https://www.johnnypuetz.com/. His YouTube and Instagram feeds (@johnnypuetz), highlight his own motorcycle adventures and ongoing film projects.