If we would use just one word to describe Alex it would be “creativity”…
Born in France, but a nomad at heart, Alex has been considered for years one of the most creative, talented and interesting individuals in the skydiving community. I had the privilege to meet and get to know him a little during the 2017 Dymanite Days boogie at TNT Brothers, my home dz. One of his best videos, Johnny, was filmed then.
Stating that Alex is not a big fan of social media is an understatement, to say the least, and researching for this interview was quite a challenge for me. But in the end it was an incredible and surprising process of discovery with his work at the center of it all. And the work speaks volumes about the man.
People that I talked to about him frequently use words like “creative”, “focused”, “dedicated”, “genius” in describing him… I came to believe that Alex already has the most important thing in life – he is very much respected and loved by his friends (or his “tribe” as he considers them).
What better “business card” can a human being have?
Hi, Alex. Thank for taking the time to talk to us. Let’s start…
What do you do for a living?
Running my company Satori Factory and since the beginning of the year, I’m full time dedicated to my sponsor – Uprising.
Photo by Marine Descols
How was the Satori Factory project born?
Satori Factory was born from the desire to live my dream life. A few years ago it became a company to be able to function in society while doing projects that society doesn’t understand.
You are considered one of the most creative individuals in your field with videos that captured a lot of people – Freefly the World series, Johnny, Freefall to mention a few. Which one was your favorite one and why?
If I have one to mention it would be Freefall as it reflects the closest how I perceive things. But I feel like my actual favorite video is still cooking in my brain and hopefully will emerge sooner or later.
Working (or just hanging out) together with Alex, is always a true pleasure. There are only a few people in our industry with whom I would plan a film project. And Alex is, to my taste, the most all-round skilled and creative person I know of”
MARTIN KRISTENSEN
FREEFALL – in the breath taking landscape of Voss in Norway with multiple skydiving world champion Martin Kristensen.
You have worked for Red Bull, Samsung, DJI and Ralph Lauren in the past, to name a few. What were the most challenging moments in your projects? Can you give us some examples?
Humans are always the most challenging things to deal with. When you manage projects in a high-risk environment, including highly unpredictable factors such as weather, snow condition (…) with the pressure to deliver and satisfy a client, things can become really complicated if the team is not perfectly aligned.
There have been so many difficult moments and situations… so I wouldn’t know where to start to give an example but my conclusion is that failures are the building blocks of success. Fail fast, fail often and fail without irreversible outcome… from then you can only get closer to success.
Alex, I insist :). Give me an example!
Ok, ok 🙂
The one most vivid in my mind now is this one – Vincent Descols from Skyvibration created a very special stunt: bungee jumping from a wingsuit. The first jump of this kind was done last year but he developed a system with a longer bungee – 20 meters long that can extend up to 60 meters.
We only had two jumps to test the system and get the shot. Imagine shooting a two way wingsuit rodeo with variable separation from 0 to 60 meters including a 20 kilos rope moving in an erratic way…
Without a doubt the most challenging skydive I ever shot and I have to say I’m super stoked by the result!
Bungee jumping from a wingsuit extravaganza
A Frenchie video-editing genius, a world class paraglider, skydiver, tunnel and wingsuit flyer. He has all the air sports ingredients… but ”don’t cut his cheese the wrong way” 🙂
“Focus” and ”Dedication” should be his first and last name”
PETTER MAZZETTA
Satori Factory has a very interesting environment program – Clean Air Force – that has a special approach to this complex subject. What made you start this?
The desire to take action. Regarding the ecological disaster we are facing, there are three classic responses: ignoring the facts, feeling guilty, taking action … which one did you choose?
The mini documentary about the Clean Air Project was filmed there
Photo by Pierre Rénié
We saw you are part of the new @UPRISING project. Tell us more about it.
@Uprising is a platform created to inspire positive change. We aim to work on three levels: the individual, the tribe, and the world. We believe that change comes from within on the individual level and radiates outward to the collective.
We are at a very early stage of the project so right now we are mostly sorting out our team dynamic and how we will tackle bigger goals in the future. This is by far the most interesting project that I joinned but only time will tell us what we’ll achieve.
Anyway, I am very happy I am living these experience because the main positive outcome from the humans factors’ challenges, is about finding your tribe. People that are align with your system of values and goals and preferably with a skill set very complementary from your own to maximize the collective potential. And I feel like it has never been closer to that than what we are building with the Uprising team.
I hope everyone gets the chance to learn from and create with Alex at some point in life”
MARTIN KRISTENSEN
What’s your favorite place in the world to jump & why?
It has never been about the place, it is about the people.
Selfie by Alex with Jenny Norin
Tell us a quirky fact about yourself, something people don’t know
I’m Vegetarian and then Vegan for +20 years.
Describe yourself in 5 words or less
Fly. Play. Love. Learn. Explore.
Alex’s biggest strength is his ability to learn. What others see as impossible, Alex knows he can achieve. I’ve seen him go from zero to hero in anything from sports and photography to learning to speak English. When he gets hooked he goes full immersion and soaks it up like a kid”
HÅVARD FLAAT
What do you think is your best achievement so far?
My best achievement is that I’m living my dream life and I’m trying to help the people around me fulfilling their maximum potential … the rest is secondary.
Whom do you admire, who are your mentors and why?
I admire anyone that lives a life of purpose and seeks progress.
My mentors are everybody… everyone has something to teach me but it rarely happens in formal teaching set up.
Photo by Jokke Sommer
What was the biggest breakthrough of your life?
Giving you the “biggest” means that I would organize them into hierarchy which doesn’t match my model. As I visualize it, breakthroughs are a sphere in expansion, each of them increasing the volume of the sphere but most importantly increasing the contact surface between my subjective reality and objective reality, more understanding, more perception, and hopefully in expansion until the end … If I isolate one and describe it independently of the rest it will lose most of its meaning.
What’s your pet hate? Inside and outside the sport
I don’t have a pet hate, I obviously feel annoyed or irritated but I’d rather prime my mind on love than hate.
Do you have a motto or favorite quotation?
I have a bunch, but the first that comes to my mind is: “The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance; it is the illusion of knowledge.”
We, humans, are full of bias and other psychological blind spots, I’m always very skeptical about my own opinion and belief since the probability to be wrong is always higher than to be right.
Who are your sponsors?
Uprising is my main sponsors and I get support from UPT, Tonfly, and LB altimeters.
Photo by Jacob
What’s your favorite skydiving moment of all time?
Every single time that I manage to let my intuition fully take control of my action.
What’s next for you, and what are you most excited about?
There are too many things cooking to pick one, most of it is related to Uprising and Satori Factory. There is a high-performance training center under construction south of France, we are organizing tunnel camps combined with mental coaching and hypnosis, we are setting up a big wave surfing center in Nazaré, a lot of flying in different disciplines: acrobatic paragliding, dynamic 4 way, wingsuit flying, sailing adventure and this is just about the next 3 months. But to be honest the most I can’t really talk yet about the most exciting stuff so if you are really curious best is to follow me on Instagram and subscribe to the Satori Factory newsletter on www.satorifactory.net
Alex is truly special… he is one of the very few that can both perform at a high level as an athlete, as well as be a coach in all disciplines, while being a content creator in the mix of it all. He is the strong foundation that pushes us towards new strengths in the sky, while creating amazing ideas and visuals”
Jokke Sommer
Alex and Jokke over the Palm, photo by Vitor Benassi
Anything you would like to add?
I think we underestimate what can be achieved collectively, we live in a critical time that demands us to do more, better, and be smarter. I’ll be curious to see what positive outcome would become reality if everyone would take action.
And if you don’t know where to start you should check out the Clean Air Force and Uprising 🙂
