We were lucky to catch up with James Dewayne recently and have shared our conversation below.
James, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you wish you had started sooner?
Of course everyone wishes they started earlier but I think I started this new channel [James Dewayne] at the perfect time. I’m a firm believer in the butterfly effect, meaning if I were to change anything in the past I wouldn’t be where I’m at right now or certain things wouldn’t have happened. If I started earlier or later I might not be doing this interview right now. But the timing was perfect because as I started switching to TV Show content, the main show I was covering [Manifest} started to gain a cult following, yet it hadn’t gained enough attention for any other YouTubers to have it on their radar, making me the only one discussing it on the platform at first.
James, 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?
I started making YouTube videos in high school about music, I’ve always been a music nerd. After creating my first channel, for the next 2 and a half years I reacted and reviewed as much music as I could, I think I had around 400 total videos, but this became very draining and would ruin my experience with a lot of music I liked. Instead of enjoying the new Tyler the Creator album, I had to react and come up with a bunch of opinions about it before my video would get lost in the sea of other reactions. I was watching this show “Manifest” at the time and after finishing the first season, I went to YouTube to find a video on it but quickly realized no one was talking about this series. I already wanted to switch up my content, but I thought I should just make a new channel on the side so I didn’t throw away all the work I had put into the first channel. “James dewayne” is now the main and only channel I have and has taken off better than I could ever imagine the first one could. At first it was just explanation videos to shows and movies that are more sci-fi/thriller and have all these hidden connections and meanings, but now my favorite type of content to make is video essays about the meanings of certain films and series and how they relate to my life and life in general. This way I can connect to my subscribers more and also make the content I’m passionate about. My plan is to continue to make both and overall show the connection between life and art.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
By far the best part about making YouTube videos is knowing that someone not only took time out of their day to watch something I made, but they were entertained by it. People spend 10,20,30 minutes finding comfort and enjoyment, by in a way spending time with me. Theres countless subscribers that have said the nicest things I could ever imagine, but the fact that they are there and exist is all I need. It still doesn’t make any sense to me
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
Once you know what your audience wants, you have to keep providing, but that doesn’t mean stop making what you want. It’s all a balance, consistently provide the service your customers want, in my case people wanted videos on only Manifest, but then every couple weeks or so I’d introduce some other content that I was passionate about. “Hey you liked this, so you might like this new thing, but if not I will still have what you came for”. Then from there you bring in new audiences and niche fanbases and just hope as many as possible stick around for the rest.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://youtube.com/@jamesdewayne
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_jamesdewayne_/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/james-rosson-684652263/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jamesdewayne/featured
Image Credits
Finn Arnold (MANIK Co.)