High school student leads double life on internet
March 19, 2015
From the classroom to his own computer, Junior Eric Estepp produces videos for anyone who wants to entertain or be entertained. His background helped him start both a hobby and a business in his own YouTube channel.
Q: How did your YouTube channel get started?
A: “When I was 12 years old, I got a camera and started making little videos. Then when I turned 14, I realized I could put them on the internet and I just figured ‘why not?.’”
Q: Where did your inspiration come from?
A: “I think my inspiration partially came from my uncle who was working on a movie when I was 12. I went on-set with him one day and was really interested in what was going on. I’m pretty sure I asked for a camera that Christmas. Now I feel like I’m special because I do this and not a lot of people are interested in working with this stuff. I keep going because now there’s 11,000 people who really do want to see my videos.”
Q: What is your channel’s current activity?
A: “Lately I put out way more than I should. I try for one or two videos a week. I don’t really have a set schedule; I’m not like telling people to tune in at seven EST for live feeds or anything. My videos are usually themed a certain way for sports fans. Sometimes I’ll put out a new video with a friend just for fun.”
Q: What is the YouTube channel about?
A: “I do a lot of animation and other random stuff. I also have a racing theme going because I have a lot of racing fans that are subscribed to me. All sorts of racing, like Nascar-type stuff. I kind of have two sides of fans. I have a lot of people like that [NASCAR fans] and people who are just like general fans.”
Q: What attracted you to race cars?
A: “I’ve been a fan of racing for like seven to eight years so I wanted to do something that blended video making and race cars together. I’ve kind of got almost an ESPN-style show where I talk about racing and stuff like that and people ask me questions.”
Q: Do you have any future plans for the YouTube channel?
A: “I’m gonna keep doing what I’m doing for now, but I do wanna branch off on broader subjects. Other than that I just wanna keep the numbers up. I do like it when people say ‘oh you’re so funny.’” More realistically, I’m making money so of course I’ll keep doing it. And everyone’s really nice and entertaining; it’s like a good community.”