We recently connected with Elijah Rooney and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Elijah, thanks for joining us today. Before we get into specifics, let’s talk about success more generally. What do you think it takes to be successful?

First, create an attainable goal that you want to achieve. Second, set a reasonable deadline by which you wish to complete your goal. Third, you should research how to accomplish your goal. Fourth, schedule time in your calendar to work on your goal. And last but not least, implement what you research to the best of your abilities. If you stick to using your time productively and stick to your schedule, you will accomplish your goal. Even if you fail to achieve the results you wanted, at least you obtained results by putting in the work. You can even learn from your mistakes and be more equipped for the next attempt. If you ran out of time to achieve your goal properly, then just extend the deadline until the goal is completed (this concept doesn’t apply to client work or competitions).

Elijah, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hey whatsup, my name is Eli, and I make videos with holograms in them.

Now reading that first line, one would assume that I’m big into tech and sci-fi, and that (ironically) could be further from the truth. I consider myself an artist and a storyteller. Born in New York, based in New Jersey, I’ve been a person who lived in my imagination since I was a kid. In grade school, I loved to draw and tell pretend stories from my imagination. From the visual art perspective, I enjoyed drawing, painting, sculpting, and more. From the storytelling perspective, I got lost in movies and video games. I really wanted to be a successful, financially stable, and well-known graphics artist. But the thing about being an artist, you need to be known for 1 thing, and maybe you’ll get rich, and maybe you’ll be famous. But I wanted to do whatever I wanted, be known for it, and make a handsome amount for doing my craft.

I also loved to watch YouTube videos growing up. I loved to watch the silliest skits from my favorite creators such as DashieXP, Travie Williams, and King Vader. I also loved to watch the professional, yet creative, vlogs of Peter McKinnon and Karl Shakur. In 2019, I was scrolling on YouTube, and I saw a video with a unique thumbnail image and title. “Learn how to create a hologram in After Effects” with Peter looking at a hologram in the thumbnail image. I clicked it, and some other guy named Andrew James appeared. Andrew used a picture of Peter in the thumbnail for views. Before I could click off the video, he showed me how to create a VFX hologram in After Effects. I followed the tutorial and spent hours creating a video to promote my graphic design website with holograms. And for the first time ever, I gained 500 views, 300likes, a bunch of positive comments on a single video!

And from there I knew that I would be able to express my imagination however I want through video as long as I tap my glasses and pop at least one hologram. I started creating more VFX videos for IG, started my YouTube channel in 2020, and started posting to my TikTok in 2021. I noticed that when I was consistent on these platforms, especially TikTok, I would gain a lot of traction and engagement.

In the last few years, I was able to create over 200 pieces of content, including video magic tricks, funny cinematic skits, and a short film. I also collaborated with a bunch of talented artists and did client work for amazing up-and-coming creators.

Last year I took a major hiatus due to mental health. But this spring, I’ll be getting back to my true passion. Telling stories on the internet for entertainment. I’ll be touching on more relatable topics this time around while enhancing the overall quality of the work. So please, join me on my journey to becoming the greatest fictional storyteller on social media @mrelirooney.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

I love it when people actually watch my content and provide meaningful feedback. Even if the feedback is constructive. After spending days, weeks, sometimes even months, it feels nice to finally upload it and watch it. But something about other people stopping what they are doing to watch my videos, and to leave a comment, it feels worth it, it feels like I’m building a community of people who truly like and support me for me.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

Perfectionism is key. I had to let go of being perfect. Some people will say that perfectionism is the opposite of finished, or something like that. But for me, once I realized that humans can never be perfect and that there is beauty and art in being human, I then let go of the fact that I needed to be perfect project after project. It’s funny, I was watching some house tour show, well my mother was, and I was just spending time with her. And they showed off this mirror, the border was hand-woven from branches. And it looked so cool, and so creative, but it was far from perfect. The mirror was asymmetrical, and the wood wasn’t a consistent color. And the tour guides said that it was handmade by an artist. And it was at that moment, I realized the beauty in being human.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mrelirooney/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elijah-rooney-b9701b14a/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/mrelirooney
• Other: I started a newsletter, I would appreciate any subscribers, email me at [email protected] with the subject line “Add me to the timeline” and I will add you.

  TikTok:

  @mrelirooney