If you’re like me, you’ve been using the internet for a significant chunk of your life at this point, and classic YouTube was a big part of the oughts and ‘10s for you. James Rolfe is one of the people who elevated YouTube from just a corporate video hub, to an independent content creator platform, and his passion for sharing what he loves in an endearing way influenced many to make their own videos.
Growing up with an NES, 80s cable, and monster movies on VHS, he knew from a young age that he wanted to be a filmmaker. He’s been shooting short films since he was a child, and although he’s uploaded over a thousand videos to his channel and Cinemassacre website, he’s numbered them based on his own system, and commemorated Cinemassacre 200 in this video, his 200th short film.
I’ve heard praise for him come from many famous YouTubers over the years. Scott the Woz was influenced by him, Egoraptor, JonTron. Here’s a video talking about how James paved the way for the YouTube gaming community. Doug Walker (The Nostalgia Critic) has been accused of ripping off Rolfe, and the Irate Gamer still gets accused of it to this day. All that’s for sure is that the AVGN was influential.
He’s been saying for the past few years that he’s working on an autobiography, and in the 2021 Nerd Room Tour video he stated that it’s…
