Wes Anderson starred in his own short video for Montblanc recently. As writers, we love pens, but we don’t know nearly as much about them as our friend Brian Baker, who reviews and discusses fountain pens and other stationary on his YouTube channel, Down the Breather Hole. So we brought Brian on to talk about the ad, his enthusiasm for fountain pens, and why he’s decided to write exclusively by hand this year.

In addition to his YouTube channel, Brian sells beautiful homemade notebooks, ink seats, and pen beds on his Etsy shop and provides editing services on fiverr.

• 1:00–2:31 – Introducing Brian Baker and Montblanc video
• 2:31–5:51 – Reaction part 1: What are fountain pen nibs?
• 5:51–8:51 – Part 2: Wes Anderson aesthetic and the Wes Anderson TickTock trend
• 8:51–14:04 – Part 3: Montblanc special addition pens + Why are Montblanc pens so expensive?
• 14:04–16:21 – Part 4: Is Wes Anderson referencing his Netflix short films?
• 16:21–20:46 – Part 5: How much would we spend on a pen?
• 20:46– 23:05 – Seinfeld’s pens and is it satisfying for the ink to run out on a pen?
• 23:05–25:51 – Why you should try analog writing
• 25:51–31:44 – Is Wes Anderson’s Montblanc ad a story? What makes a story?
• 31:44–33:20 – How will hipsters vs traditionalists react to the new Montblanc pen?
• 33:20–34:23 – Why doesn’t the Montblanc ad show the pen up close?
• 34:23 – Closing

Do you write by hand?

Let us know in the comments!