James Mitchell

As a child in the 80s and 90s, I grew up with a father who was an entertainer. I remember watching my father rehearse for plays, Write scripts, and I remember being with him while he worked at a radio station as a DJ where he had 20,000+ listeners everyday. Being in a radio station, I learned studio etiquette as well as a mass of other knowledge which, at that time, I had no idea would be important for my future adult self. My father and I had a great relationship. When I was still very young, We would watch movies together and he kind of taught me what actually made a good movie. My earliest memories of watching movies with him were movies from the 30s and 40s. Silent films, Universal Classic Monster films, Laurel and Hardy films, all kinds of movies from all kinds of different times in Chicago and Hollywoods life (Chicago was Americas first "Hollywood" and later California became the place to be if you were an aspiring actor). Most children, when they see a movie, want to be the main character and have the spotlight on them. However, I related more to being the person who MADE the movie. I understood there was a director and what their job was and I wanted that. Back then, A camera wasn't something everyone had let alone an entire set up of analog equipment to make your own movies or tv shows. Basically, The idea of being someone who made movies seemed like fantasy and not something I would ever be able to do. Also, during this time in my life, I was very enthusiastic about video games. I would watch my Dad play games like Zelda, Shadowgate, and a variety of others. I began playing these games and growing a love for them. I remember discovering a way to record my game play with a VCR and I would watch back my playthrough and thought it was one of the coolest things ever but no one would want to watch someone else play video games and, aside from my friends, who would even be able to watch it?
Little did I know that in 2005 a website called "Youtube" would change everything.
I began making videos on Youtube back in 2009 or so. My videos were based on displaying customized video game consoles that I had created. Through this, I obtained many customers who wanted their gaming consoles customized and I was able to make a little money doing it. I spent probably about a year trying to make console repair and customization into my own business. I learned how to customize the consoles by using the internet as a guide. You see, When I started, I knew nothing about how any of it worked. I didn't know what tools I needed, how to power the lights from a power point in the console, or how to spray paint. During this early process of learning, I remember thinking "I wish someone would make video tutorials on how to do all of this". You can pretty much find any information on the internet about how to do anything you want to do but, for some reason, there were absolutely no video tutorials on how to customize your own console. I thought about being the first one to do that but I didn't really own a computer capable of making videos and, after making so many customized consoles for people, I figured it would be a real hassle to do. I did enjoy making the modifications and displaying the work on Youtube and I had a pretty decent response but I kept running into people who really didn't appreciate my time or vision in their projects. Depending on how complex and detailed the project is going to be, It can take up to 20 or 30 hours of work. Because of those run ins and a mishap with Ebay fees from my repair service I was running, I decided to abandon my channel and focus more on a rock band I was in which was aiming for the stars. This band was my life and was something I genuinely believed in. I worked day and night learning how to record better, write better songs, and manage the group. I was in this band from about 2007 until around 2012 when we finally disbanded due to lack of commitment from the members. When this happened, I was lost with what to do with myself. Ever since I can remember, I always wanted to be an entertainer and, now that my band was no more, I had no idea of what to do to pacify the creative side of my personality. I had spent all of this money on building a recording studio and all of my energy in learning about recording and audio engineering stuff but now it was just wasting away. For a year, I was angry and bitter that things had not worked out and was becoming someone I didn't want to be. I noticed I was quick to snap at people and I enjoyed trolling simply because I had nothing else to do. It had effected my interactions with people and I came to realize this and wanted to make a change. During that year, I was also watching Youtube quite a bit and came to enjoy content from gamers like FrankieonPC, Game Grumps, and a few others. These channels inspired me to revive my channel and begin making more video game based content. I began making Machinima (Short stories using video game characters and the games engine to create my own story) and "tips and tricks" style videos but I also decided to make a do it yourself tutorial on how to customize an Xbox One controller. This video obtained thousands of views in the first week and I realized that I was on to something with this idea. My next big tutorial was how to make a custom Xbox One console in the theme of Fallout 4. This video exploded with over 300,000 views and my channel went from 100 subscribers to 3000 subscribers in a matter of months. I began making other types of video game based videos which also began to get thousands of views. I was able to use my recording studio to make professional quality sounding narratives on the videos I was creating so this meant I was using the studio again. Although not for my intentional purpose, Using the studio was so rewarding to me. I was becoming happy again with this passion for creating videos and I was feeling more like myself rather than the bitter man I had been in the past.
Through the years that I have been active as a Youtuber, I have met wonderful people and made friends I never would have met without Youtube. One of my best friends is someone I met on Youtube and I cant imagine what life would be like without having that guy in my life. I have had more success with this channel than any band I was in or, for that matter, anything else I have ever done creatively.
Spending that time with my father during those early years was very special to me so I want to bring parents and children together to work on my DIY projects, watch my playthrough videos, and learn about their favorite games history and help families spend some quality time together while learning, bonding, and creating something they both love and are proud to have created. My channel is my life and I have finally found my calling : Help others achieve their ideas and give as much useful information as I can to help people achieve their own dreams and bring their own passions to life.

Its never too late to be who you want to be but you will never be anything if you do not try.

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