Lani Moreno
@Vivalalani07
Brandon Rogers is an alumnus of both Livermore High School and Las Positas College.
He’s a rising YouTube sensation, with nearly 61 million views on his comedic YouTube videos.
You may have seen one of his most popular videos, “A Day With Mom,” where Brandon plays a hyperactive, insane mother, pop up on your Facebook timeline. The video was partly filmed in Downtown Livermore.
Brandon currently resides in Los Angeles, where he has easier access to the film business. Brandon will soon be arriving at one million subscribers on his YouTube channel, under the same name, and will be hosting a celebration in his hometown of Livermore to commemorate his success and as a thank you to his fans and the people who have helped him get to where he is.
Rogers came up with the idea of starting a film club at Livermore High that fueled his passion. The club consisted of students making videos in their backyards, transferring them to VHS and playing them for others to enjoy at the end of the week.
This happened during the year that the popularity of YouTube surfaced, and Rogers said, “‘Great! A way to do this globally!’” Little did he know that he’d become such a phenomenon.
What drives Rogers is his competitive spirit. It makes him want to go the extra mile when he sees his YouTube peers create content that doesn’t require much effort.
“When I see daft vloggers, like those effortlessly raking in that viral fame and surgeon’s salary, it drives me mad on two levels: I can produce something ten times better and (it) is not art, this is trash that got lucky.”
According to Rogers the videos are being shown to this generation, which is ‘too young,’ to recognize the difference between ‘art and trash.’
Rogers’ gets his inspiration from anything and anywhere. “Anything in life can be made fun of, as it should be,” he said, “I’m scared of what (my peers) think of me now.”
Rogers didn’t want to be the only one left behind in Livermore when his friends went off to college and pursue their dreams.
He panicked, left his job, and spent all of his money on an apartment in Hollywood in an attempt to find himself. Rogers said, “Ironically, nobody left Livermore except me.”
He believes that his videos are such a hit partly due to the fact that in order to catch the jokes, you’d have to replay the videos.
Rogers said, “They have twice the amount of punch lines as your average comedic YouTube video, presented in half the time. There’s too many jokes back to back, there’s no way you can watch it once and absorb everything.”
Rogers was originally an aspiring actor, and spent years going to auditions, but never even landed a callback.
“It soon became very clear that one could gain more views on YouTube than the independent films I was auditioning for,” he said.
He decided to be his own director, and has control over his art without worrying about being boxed into a generic mold.
Rogers also now has an enthusiasm for all aspects of film: writing, editing, directing, lighting. Rogers says, “I’ve learned to love it all, except sound. Sound is tough. I hate sound.”
Rogers has many hidden talents: he’s an avid painter, music composer, writer and takes pride in his sense of fashion. “I’m also a colorful lover after hours,” said Rogers.
