James is the ozzy Osborne of youtube. Not in control of his own art, all the work is outsourced, he jus has to show up, record vocals and go home, but the entire brand is centered around him.
Ozzy doesn't deny that. Sharon gets all the credit for managing his career. Even with comparisons to undermine James, you weirdo fans have delusions of grandeur.
@@FearMonarchhonestly yeah. If he had survived the tragic plane crash, Randy had been planning to leave the band. Ozzy and he had had some heated disagreements on the Diary tour prior to Randys death. Probably not dissimilar to the discussions about corporatism and the weird commodification of James thats been taking place.
17:01 "Remember that episode when I made this joke haha? That was a joke." I probably watched/listened this video 10+ times, and that part always kills me.
Kieran on his quit-stream claims Kieran, Mike and James played The Last Ninja together and the three of them wrote all the 2022 episodes together with Kieran being the showrunner/head writer. This completely contradicts James claiming in "Writing AVGN Scripts" he did all of that stuff by himself. Wish you had gotten into that.
Mike played The Last Ninja on stream a few months before the AVGN video came out. If you watch that stream the AVGN episode definitely sprang from all the comments Mike made on his stream.
@@jhenson6706 I watch Mike on Twitch and watched his Last Ninja stream. That footage was in that episode and that part with the frustrating jump was all Mike. Bimmy is full of it.
Oh hell yeah. You can tell he didn't write that episode. That's one of the episodes you could tell he did not give a fuck. The most striking way to tell was when he'd speed through details of a game, not finish the game himself/not finishing the review. To this day the one script I really hope and feel that he didn't write was that terrible Shrek one. Sheeeeesh
Hes not going to talk about it anymore. He doesn't want to talk about it. Hes not going to talk about it. Hes done talking about it. ......... He might eventually talk about it.
@@rickylewis1451 to be fair to James, he at least never murdered his girlfriend then got Vince to help get him off the hook for it . but that's still a good comparison anyway 😂
Great video, was fun to hear all you guys thoughts on his most recent behind the scenes Nerd video. Also I'm glad you enjoyed part 1 of the Channel Awesome Retrospective!
I was never a N.C. fan so the new video is slightly out of my wheelhouse, but i have still been watching it in chunks. That fucking melvin : brother of the Joker is something else man. Lmao
As someone who followed TGWTG pretty closely back in the day I’d say your vid was therapeutic in many ways lol I loved hearing your personal takes on the individual segments.
Cool to see my favourite creators in the wild! I love your stuff Dylan mate, you constantly improve and impress and you have a great way with not just editing and words...but you back it up with research and you present it all in a very interesting and attention grabbing way without being sensational about even the wackier things. You write with fact and humour and in a relatable way that new and old people to the subjects can enjoy.!i wish you all the best in your career and I hope you reach all your goals for this year and the ones after. Take care 👍 from Dublin
It's weird that James finally admits to other people writing AVGN scripts from 2017 to 2021(aka peak slob era), but insists he's written everything since then by himself, and doesn't mention Mike Matei's scripts for episodes starting from 2006 and onwards. There's a video on YT, 'Mike Matei AVGN help compilation' or something like that where Mike talks about writing several classic era AVGN episodes completely by himself.
That's the biggest elephant in the room. Beyond Kieran writing episodes for a few years. Mike was writing and recording episodes with James since day one.
Which is odd since Mike is the real gamer, and James is more into film...James could never take full credit since the complaints are more Mike, and jokes would be collaborated at most
I’ve watched this video a few times and Frankie’s rant at 10:45 makes me laugh hysterically every time. “What the fuck are you talking about?! You are an idiot, sir. You’re making shit up.”
There's a Jackie Stallone type quality to it. Sylvester got his lip droop due to some forceps mismanagement during birth, but then goes on to have a very successful carreer. Mother Jackie Stallone wanna clout chase, but nobody knows who she is just by looking at her. So she starts fake-drooping her lip as well to make it look like it's hereditary. And Frankie is now doing a Jackie Stallone impression, i.e. imitating a washed up functional alcoholic woman who in turn imitates a guy with a birth oopsie.
This is actually the premier source source for avgn news. I love your takes on it, and it's made me interested in the other things you produce as well. Just go with it, we'll all love it.
14:26 No, the reason Mike got credited with "Help" is because he did a lot of stuff. He helped with camera setups, with "story" ideas, with editing, with picking out games for the show, with playing the games sometimes for B-roll. He did title cards... etc. He did a lot of stuff. So it was always easier for James to simply say he "helped."
But "Help" is not much of a credit, especially for someone who does that many important jobs. At the very least James could've given Mike a "creative producer" credit
@@dm6905 I don't agree. I think people would still find a reason to bitch. There is some nit picking bullshit in some of this content. I get it, there's been some bullshit going on, but come the fuck on. Has Mike ever complained about it? Then don't worry about it. More than likely they talked about it behind the scenes. It also felt very true to the AVGN character that it said "help." "Yeah, he fucking helped." It's a non-issue.
@@OpenMawProductions It doesn't matter, giving people proper credit is the least you can do. Always be gracious to the people who work on your videos, especially when you can't afford to compensate them properly. It's the decent thing to do, whether they ask for it or not. It just shows James' narcissism when he prefers to make it appear as if he does all the important stuff by himself.
Come on - at least credit him as “assistant writer”, “assistant director” and/or even “assistant set designer”. That at least would sound more professional. I even credited my sister as “assistant director” on one of my short films when literally all she did was make a suggestion.
The most bizarre thing is how he talks about Mike's contributions. Mike is unquestionably a huge part of the show's history and success, and even current production at times. In old episodes that Mike says he wrote entirely, he is credited with "Help by Mike Matei" if he's credited at all. In recent years when James mentions Mike, he almost always uses the phrase "Mike drops by." His example in this video of Mike's help is Mike making a joke that reminded him to write a joke? An extremely indirect example of someone who contributes very directly
I think Mike IS the Nerd - from the mannerisms, sophomore jokes and energy - while James is the Cinematographer/Director/Producer/Whatever who took that character and ran with it.
I do recall Mike not wanting to be in the movie, so he might just not want to be in that spotlight like that, at least not as a writer or an actor or a character. At most, he enjoys playing games (and getting paid is a nice bonus) so he does Twitch. I know they at least always gave credit for the art in early AVGN to Mike, so he didn't mind recognition for that? Also could just be not wanting to step on your friend's toes.
33:06 This is the only point I disagree with. James is the kind of creator that is the problem with Patreon. I've seen so many creators who find success with Patreon and their content suffers because of it. RLM is a prime example and a sore spot for me. They rake in over $60k a month** and barely put out 1 video a week, and when they do it's rarely a movie review and when it is they rarely can be bothered to put on the Lightning fast VCR Repair shirts. James' recent work ethic indicates that finding success on Patreon would further incentivize him to be even less involved and prolific as he is now. Other creators have moved from shorter content to longer more professional content that takes longer to produce, but still take a monthly fee from their subscribers. A Patreon backer that gives $5 a month and waits 6 months for a video paid $30 to watch it... That's more than going to see a movie at a movie theater, and theaters may as well be robbery. Here's a few other creators doing well on Patreon that hardly bother producing content (at least once a month), but still take a considerable monthly contribution: Nerd City, Lindsey Ellis, Fredrik Knudsen, Everyday Astronaut, hbomberguy, Steve1989MREInfo, Soup Emporium, Folding Ideas, Ordinary Things, LazyPurple, Summoning Salt, Defunctland, ArhyBES, Web DM, Internet Historian... These are just creators on my radar that I've been following for quite sometime and have noticed a considerable drop off in content or quality. Now I don't think Patreon ruins EVERY creator that finds success on it. Adum from YourMovieSucksDOTorg has found good success with Patreon and remains just as prolific as ever. But I've certainly experience more harm than good when it comes to the overall sample size of Patreon success. If I were a creator in that position, I'd have to switch from monthly to per video contributions just out of guilt. I don't see how these creators justify collecting $10~$100s of dollars from their most loyal fans for each video. Thank you for attending my TEDx talk. **I estimate this based on when RLM had less than 4k Patreon supporters, their total monthly take was visible and averaged about $6 per Patreon. They now have almost 11,000 Patreon supporters.
Do you want them to put out rushed trash and end like AVGN? Just no pleasing some people. No creator owes us shit. Watch them if you like, don't if you don't. Simple
@@DrMurdercock I think his point is, yeah they do when there is an explicit monetary transaction taking place. It is what a "patron" is for an artist, after all.
Mike gets memed on, and rightfully so sometimes, but Mike should get more credit for how much he does. I remember the fan backlash when Mike started having a larger presence… fans would say “We want james, not mike!” No, you actually want Mike. James just narrates all of Mike’s thoughts and observations from Mike’s gameplay. I definitely oversimplified the process, but my point is that AVGN is Mike’s product just as much as it is James’.
I am positive the reason they’re do weird about giving proper credit openly is that a lot of their biggest fans are terminally online autistic weirdos who will have a meltdown over a UA-cam legend becoming corporate. You can go to Boogie2988’s channel and in his videos he’s being a creep and saying or doing some things that would raise a red flag to people who are well-adjusted and can pick up on social cues and have a good grasp on what appropriate behavior is. But you read those comments and it’s like, “You’re a real inspiration to me, Boogie!” on a video where he’s filming his dead mom’s grave. Those are a huge portion of AVGN’s fans, too. It’s people like that who are autistic weirdos, it’s people who think Screen Wave ruined AVGN and watch and then complain in the comments, and then it’s normal-ish people who only watch AVGN and completely disengage from all other content involving James. So I think he’s being weird about credit to stave off any backlash from those first two groups, because the 3rd group will never know and won’t care anyway. But it causes a Streisand Effect on the 2nd group and works them up into a frenzy. Or maybe I’m wrong. Who cares? None of this matters.
Bimmy will never admit that he doesn't play the games, and unfortunately there is a lot of people that will never know the truth. Glad we have you guys to discuss these behind the scenes.
Have you ever seen the crazy brainwashing that goes on in the AVGN comment section!!!? ! 😆 they believe Bimmy does everything himself 100% and anyone who makes even a well researched and politely critical comment gets ripped to shreds! It’s been 5:40 For a LONG time for the AVGN character and it’s time he goes!
Judging from the behind the scenes-material from the DVD and Blu-rays that were later uploaded on YT, 2015 was the last year where James and Mike did most of the work on AVGN. And you can tell by the quality of the material.
Many of the older original episodes of AVGN were written by Mike anyway. So he has always had a writer. Just one that was only credited as "help" because he did more than just writing. He did the gameplay wrote notes played characters made drawings and so on. So instead of listing Mike as credit for all those things it just said "help". When really half the credits should have been dedicated to Mike and never were.
James invented the character, Mike perfected the character... I think James is stuck in the "it's mine" mentality when really Mike is the one that kept the character alive even when James wanted to quit long ago. I used to not care for Mike but after learning more about the whole situation, Mike deserves just as much if not more credit than James... I bet James and Mike got into arguments over this throughout their run with AVGN
@@DeRockMedia I feel like James isn't getting enough credit either. Mike is definitely the secret sauce behind AVGN, he brought in the scripts and the jokes, not to mention the inspiration behind the whole thing, but it wouldn't go anywhere without James' videography and performance. As much as we clown on him these days, rightfully so, the way he filmed AVGN episodes back in the day was nothing short of groundbreaking for the internets.
i don't see this as a "you're tearing him down to raise yourselves up". James did this to himself, y'all are just reporting on his self inflicted pain.
One thing about the colour correction: Purr Pals came out after numerous people memed about the piss yellow skin tone of James in previous episodes, and it's pretty obvious that Screenwave realised that and they overreacted, resulting in a completely off white balance where James' shirt looks blue, resulting in that video looking extremely weird and maybe even worse than the episodes that came right before.
@@RedCowArcade I should add that I'm only speculating of course but I remember distinctly this video coming after some of those memes, I can't imagine it being a coincidence.
I've been checking Cinemassacre's channel from time to time just to see what "content" has been popping up since AVGN doesn't have a writer anymore and I was shocked to see the subject of this video didn't have a video yet. Glad to hear your take.
I stopped watching the writing video when James started going on and on about the different types of AVGN videos he makes like Bubba naming every type of way to cook shrimp in Forrest Gump.
You're right about being the press in a way for this situation for the people that care. As an old fan of AVGN I noticed the changes throughout the years and now I get to know the why's while getting a different perspective.
James is trying to take credit for everything so that he can feel like an auteur. And to ensure to his fans that it's still just him making the nerd videos. He really should just embrace it as a team effort. Just lift the veil and show everything as it is now.
A big highlight of the last few weeks was watching AEW and seeing a fan with a sign that said "Big Ryan Fan BTW" with Ryan crossed out and Frankie written in instead
@@RedCowArcade Got to that part and was glad they pointed it out to you! When I saw it on TV I got excited but couldn't fully explain it to the people I was watching with without diving into Cinemassacre lore and coming off as insane ☠
When I first saw the title of his video I thought "didn't he already make this video twice?" His first making of video from 12ish years ago was great, especially for the time. This was just... why?
Thanks for something to watch at the office tomorrow, sometimes those weeks just suck. I hope EJ has a video later this week, sometimes a slow trickle of red cow makes it all more bearable. You are priceless in my eyes.
Seems like there's a disconnect between what is expected from viewers of internet creators compared to the production James envisions for himself. I think at this point the delegating of tasks by James is his way of living out his Hollywood aspirations as a director might do.
I'm listening to this again while working and laughing hysterically. Looking forward to binging some of your latest boxmac when I get a chance to stare at a screen again!
i have been legit back n forth arguing with my friend for almost a year over this Lol...... i been telling him "na man .... james doesnt write the avgn.. or he sorta does but he has a team helping him write the show" .. and my buddys been like "naaaa man no way, thats pure speculation" .... well now we have James, to camera, saying mike or keirnan wrote 1st draft of a lot of episodes
@Tom Wills yeaaa his whole operation is suspicious now. I give james ZERO benefit of the doubt. There is no chance this guy is playing video games in his free time and coming up with ideas for nerd episodes.
John being on the podcast is like when your childhood friend, that you always went to their house to hang out, is now visiting your house and you're excited but also confused.
I think MegaMan was the last true AVGN episode and James has just given his likeness since then, so we've simply been seeing an AI deepfake all this time.
I just want to say this clip got me to watch the main red cow channel after following this channel for a bit. Junt has a ton of charisma and has really lifted my spirits. So thanks for this video.
I know Frankie hates todo these videos but we love them so much! So let’s try enjoy and soak as much of that RedCow goodness as we can. I know there’s a lot of people that’s been waiting for this one. Thanks guys, and JUNT too this time
Man, I'm really glad you guys brought up all that positive business about Kieran. Just because we think he's funny doesn't mean we wish him ill, right? Same goes for all the rest of them.
I feel like James is still using language that suggests AVGN is still a “it’s just us pals making videos” thing. Like Mike dropping in, saying he has final say on scripts etc. I do think that he’s out of touch enough to think that if people see behind the curtain too much he won’t succeed.
Does anyone have any videos of James giving his idiosyncratic "Yeeaaah"? it's something I distinctly remember him doing but I can't remember any explicit videos where he does it.
It's wild to me just how little people understand what editing is. I know people who've BEEN TO FILM SCHOOL and think that like, the editor is the guy who should have cut the Klan scene out of Django Unchained.
I think it goes like this: For awhile now, James has been how he's been and just nods and says, "Mmhmm," to whatever the Slobs puts together for the episode. It just doesn't interest him, and he has very little to no passion for the subject matter. It's just a job after all and he is just WAY too busy. But then, as mentioned, as James sits on his couch and preoccupied with the 24/7 all consuming time and effort eating, herculean task of child rearing...a flash in his mind! Earthbound! "I'd actually like to play that Earthbound game I've heard Mike and other roomgoers talk about! Betcha I can make an episode of that!" And boom goes the dynamite, he actually has some investment and interest again and makes a decent episode where he sat and toiled away, taking notes on his notepad while he ACTUALLY played the game. "Ha! Yes," he shouts, "Wouldn't it be funny to talk about that cccrraazzyyy strategy guide and ewww stinky winky scratch n sniff! That'll be a blast for my fans!" And so he puts his best effort forward and contributes the majority of writing and creativity in that episode. James for a fleeting moment, gets his mojo and youthful passion back, and we get a fun and entertaining episide of AVGN. Long story short: If the game actually interests James, we get some effort from him and a little more care and that original AVGN flavor makes it into the episode. And we can tell. Oh HOW we can tell.
Back when he did the James and Mike Mondays you could tell that James is not a very good gamer, especially for someone who has allegedly played these games for the last 20 years.
I just don't understand why James has to keep up this "I'm in total control, but sometimes others help me" image. There's a 1 hour compilation of clips from Mike's live streams where he talks about instances he contributed to AVGN. I don't understand why it's so hard to say that it's a collaborative effort.
And that right there is the enigma of a man, James. While it's fun to try and analyze, I don't think we'll ever see with clarification on his thought process.
It was clear to me at the start of the pandemic that all James was doing is literally waking up, recording lines for AVGN, and sending it back to Screenwave...then went back to playing Mario Maker with his kids
The new BTS absolutely exists because Kieran quit, the assumption is that now all the rigorous editing duties have to be delegated to someone else. This will likely throw their production schedule off for the foreseeable future.
I think screenwave and james made this video to talk about old episodes to try to get people to go and watch them and it worked cause i went and watched some. Then i realized what was happening.
Okay I did not expect anybody to do reaction to James just describing how he writes episodes of AVGN. I was considering it just because I have been reacting to new episodes of AVGN since 2020, but I just didn't think it'd be worth it to react to anything having to do with just writing the episodes but okay with the amount of views you got on this surprisingly I guess you've proved me wrong
My interest in retro Massachusetts retail got me into Junt's Cart. The Cinemassacre drama got me into the podcast. I didn't know the two were connected until a few months ago. 😅
I think it IS important that the perception is that AVGN is James baby. Imagine if Scott the Woz suddenly told us that he was working with a team to write, edit, and direct those episodes. AVGN might not have James name in the title like Scott does but the brand IS James.
I get excited every time you guys talk about Avgn that’s where I initially found you and love the new stuff that comes out the next avgn response excuse videos lol.
James is the ozzy Osborne of youtube. Not in control of his own art, all the work is outsourced, he jus has to show up, record vocals and go home, but the entire brand is centered around him.
So is Mike Matei the bat or Sharon Osbourne?
@@UnCreativeDeconstructionismSharon is Ryan(na).
@@UnCreativeDeconstructionismMike is Randy Rhodes rip
Ozzy doesn't deny that. Sharon gets all the credit for managing his career.
Even with comparisons to undermine James, you weirdo fans have delusions of grandeur.
@@FearMonarchhonestly yeah. If he had survived the tragic plane crash, Randy had been planning to leave the band. Ozzy and he had had some heated disagreements on the Diary tour prior to Randys death. Probably not dissimilar to the discussions about corporatism and the weird commodification of James thats been taking place.
He's weirdly non-self aware for a guy who's so protective of his own image
It’s like he’s so self protective he’s wrapped around to completely clueless. He has no idea.
17:01 "Remember that episode when I made this joke haha? That was a joke."
I probably watched/listened this video 10+ times, and that part always kills me.
Kieran on his quit-stream claims Kieran, Mike and James played The Last Ninja together and the three of them wrote all the 2022 episodes together with Kieran being the showrunner/head writer. This completely contradicts James claiming in "Writing AVGN Scripts" he did all of that stuff by himself. Wish you had gotten into that.
Mike played The Last Ninja on stream a few months before the AVGN video came out. If you watch that stream the AVGN episode definitely sprang from all the comments Mike made on his stream.
@@jhenson6706 I watch Mike on Twitch and watched his Last Ninja stream. That footage was in that episode and that part with the frustrating jump was all Mike. Bimmy is full of it.
I know the Red Cow guys are sick of this topic but we expect nothing but the best from our niche reporting tbh
@@SKMCTV watching Mike Matei play ninja turtles or whatever on twitch is proof your generation is doomed.
Oh hell yeah. You can tell he didn't write that episode. That's one of the episodes you could tell he did not give a fuck. The most striking way to tell was when he'd speed through details of a game, not finish the game himself/not finishing the review. To this day the one script I really hope and feel that he didn't write was that terrible Shrek one. Sheeeeesh
Junt is not a slob. He is a roomgoer.
and a chef
and holds several patents !
The second I saw James post that video I thought “red cow is gonna have a field day with this”
They're back and they're not holding back
I thought the exact same thing... lol
Me too 😂
Since he posted the video I've been having expectations of the assholish variety
I didn't even watch it because I wanted to wait for this
When you said “Look who we have on the podcast,” I was hoping it would be Kieran.
lol I was hoping it was Junt!
Hes not going to talk about it anymore.
He doesn't want to talk about it.
Hes not going to talk about it.
Hes done talking about it.
.........
He might eventually talk about it.
I love how you address multiple issues first, a "state of the onion" if you will
.... If you wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiill 😂
All the cinnemassacre scandals reminds me of the old WWF scandals 😂 so many now
Can of coke to you sir.
"State of the Onion" ......sweet
@@rickylewis1451
to be fair to James, he at least never murdered his girlfriend then got Vince to help get him off the hook for it . but that's still a good comparison anyway 😂
Frankie sprinkling in James's "Yeahhhhhhhhh" mannerism every now and then never fails to make me laugh. Great vid guys!
Great video, was fun to hear all you guys thoughts on his most recent behind the scenes Nerd video. Also I'm glad you enjoyed part 1 of the Channel Awesome Retrospective!
I skipped all NC content that wasn't a review back in the day, so I really appreciate your retrospective bringing me up to speed
I was never a N.C. fan so the new video is slightly out of my wheelhouse, but i have still been watching it in chunks. That fucking melvin : brother of the Joker is something else man. Lmao
As someone who followed TGWTG pretty closely back in the day I’d say your vid was therapeutic in many ways lol I loved hearing your personal takes on the individual segments.
Cool to see my favourite creators in the wild! I love your stuff Dylan mate, you constantly improve and impress and you have a great way with not just editing and words...but you back it up with research and you present it all in a very interesting and attention grabbing way without being sensational about even the wackier things. You write with fact and humour and in a relatable way that new and old people to the subjects can enjoy.!i wish you all the best in your career and I hope you reach all your goals for this year and the ones after. Take care 👍 from Dublin
Just talk faster! But otherwise great job!
"so, yeah i have the final word. If someone plagiarized, i had to make a video to explain that i didn't write a thing "
That edited in "especially Kieran..." part is some real Poochie-level "my planet needs me!" editing, haha!
It's weird that James finally admits to other people writing AVGN scripts from 2017 to 2021(aka peak slob era), but insists he's written everything since then by himself, and doesn't mention Mike Matei's scripts for episodes starting from 2006 and onwards. There's a video on YT, 'Mike Matei AVGN help compilation' or something like that where Mike talks about writing several classic era AVGN episodes completely by himself.
That's the biggest elephant in the room. Beyond Kieran writing episodes for a few years. Mike was writing and recording episodes with James since day one.
Mike is a douche though
Which is fine but being so hush about it is puzzling and now, after all this time, it makes it [seem like] a big deal.
Which is odd since Mike is the real gamer, and James is more into film...James could never take full credit since the complaints are more Mike, and jokes would be collaborated at most
The Gungan Who Walks…
I’ve watched this video a few times and Frankie’s rant at 10:45 makes me laugh hysterically every time. “What the fuck are you talking about?! You are an idiot, sir. You’re making shit up.”
You can tell how genuinely pissed I am 🤣
Frankie knows it's 1 AM and wants to trap us with super captivating discussion
No, it's almost 5:40
Super captivating? In what world lmao
@@johnkallday This one. Lmao
@@thefdvproduction whatever you say . lMaO
I love how expressive Frankie's face gets when doing voices he legit transforms at 10:34
There's a Jackie Stallone type quality to it. Sylvester got his lip droop due to some forceps mismanagement during birth, but then goes on to have a very successful carreer. Mother Jackie Stallone wanna clout chase, but nobody knows who she is just by looking at her. So she starts fake-drooping her lip as well to make it look like it's hereditary. And Frankie is now doing a Jackie Stallone impression, i.e. imitating a washed up functional alcoholic woman who in turn imitates a guy with a birth oopsie.
@@kimkimpa5150 Jesus, that was dark. 😂😂😂
It is insane how this single topic is such a rabbit hole. I can't get enough of this stuff. I'm really glad people can make a living off of it.
This is actually the premier source source for avgn news. I love your takes on it, and it's made me interested in the other things you produce as well. Just go with it, we'll all love it.
I find it jarring that James green-screen himself to the basement backdrop.
He don't have time
@@gianniyuma8852 Especially after 5:40.
Can’t stop laughing at the coping from Bimmy. The mental gymnastics he goes through to save his ego
14:26 No, the reason Mike got credited with "Help" is because he did a lot of stuff. He helped with camera setups, with "story" ideas, with editing, with picking out games for the show, with playing the games sometimes for B-roll. He did title cards... etc. He did a lot of stuff. So it was always easier for James to simply say he "helped."
But "Help" is not much of a credit, especially for someone who does that many important jobs. At the very least James could've given Mike a "creative producer" credit
@@dm6905 I don't agree. I think people would still find a reason to bitch. There is some nit picking bullshit in some of this content. I get it, there's been some bullshit going on, but come the fuck on.
Has Mike ever complained about it? Then don't worry about it. More than likely they talked about it behind the scenes.
It also felt very true to the AVGN character that it said "help." "Yeah, he fucking helped."
It's a non-issue.
@@OpenMawProductions It doesn't matter, giving people proper credit is the least you can do. Always be gracious to the people who work on your videos, especially when you can't afford to compensate them properly. It's the decent thing to do, whether they ask for it or not. It just shows James' narcissism when he prefers to make it appear as if he does all the important stuff by himself.
@@dm6905do you produce videos on UA-cam?
Come on - at least credit him as “assistant writer”, “assistant director” and/or even “assistant set designer”. That at least would sound more professional. I even credited my sister as “assistant director” on one of my short films when literally all she did was make a suggestion.
The most bizarre thing is how he talks about Mike's contributions. Mike is unquestionably a huge part of the show's history and success, and even current production at times. In old episodes that Mike says he wrote entirely, he is credited with "Help by Mike Matei" if he's credited at all. In recent years when James mentions Mike, he almost always uses the phrase "Mike drops by." His example in this video of Mike's help is Mike making a joke that reminded him to write a joke? An extremely indirect example of someone who contributes very directly
Also the Nerd is a parody of Mike Matei, funny how things turn out right now.
I think Mike IS the Nerd - from the mannerisms, sophomore jokes and energy - while James is the Cinematographer/Director/Producer/Whatever who took that character and ran with it.
I do recall Mike not wanting to be in the movie, so he might just not want to be in that spotlight like that, at least not as a writer or an actor or a character. At most, he enjoys playing games (and getting paid is a nice bonus) so he does Twitch.
I know they at least always gave credit for the art in early AVGN to Mike, so he didn't mind recognition for that? Also could just be not wanting to step on your friend's toes.
33:06 This is the only point I disagree with. James is the kind of creator that is the problem with Patreon.
I've seen so many creators who find success with Patreon and their content suffers because of it. RLM is a prime example and a sore spot for me. They rake in over $60k a month** and barely put out 1 video a week, and when they do it's rarely a movie review and when it is they rarely can be bothered to put on the Lightning fast VCR Repair shirts. James' recent work ethic indicates that finding success on Patreon would further incentivize him to be even less involved and prolific as he is now.
Other creators have moved from shorter content to longer more professional content that takes longer to produce, but still take a monthly fee from their subscribers. A Patreon backer that gives $5 a month and waits 6 months for a video paid $30 to watch it... That's more than going to see a movie at a movie theater, and theaters may as well be robbery.
Here's a few other creators doing well on Patreon that hardly bother producing content (at least once a month), but still take a considerable monthly contribution:
Nerd City, Lindsey Ellis, Fredrik Knudsen, Everyday Astronaut, hbomberguy, Steve1989MREInfo, Soup Emporium, Folding Ideas, Ordinary Things, LazyPurple, Summoning Salt, Defunctland, ArhyBES, Web DM, Internet Historian... These are just creators on my radar that I've been following for quite sometime and have noticed a considerable drop off in content or quality.
Now I don't think Patreon ruins EVERY creator that finds success on it. Adum from YourMovieSucksDOTorg has found good success with Patreon and remains just as prolific as ever. But I've certainly experience more harm than good when it comes to the overall sample size of Patreon success. If I were a creator in that position, I'd have to switch from monthly to per video contributions just out of guilt. I don't see how these creators justify collecting $10~$100s of dollars from their most loyal fans for each video.
Thank you for attending my TEDx talk.
**I estimate this based on when RLM had less than 4k Patreon supporters, their total monthly take was visible and averaged about $6 per Patreon. They now have almost 11,000 Patreon supporters.
Do you want them to put out rushed trash and end like AVGN? Just no pleasing some people. No creator owes us shit. Watch them if you like, don't if you don't. Simple
@@DrMurdercock I think his point is, yeah they do when there is an explicit monetary transaction taking place. It is what a "patron" is for an artist, after all.
Mike gets memed on, and rightfully so sometimes, but Mike should get more credit for how much he does. I remember the fan backlash when Mike started having a larger presence… fans would say “We want james, not mike!” No, you actually want Mike. James just narrates all of Mike’s thoughts and observations from Mike’s gameplay. I definitely oversimplified the process, but my point is that AVGN is Mike’s product just as much as it is James’.
James would’ve quit years ago if it weren’t for Mike. James was the poster boy. And Mike was the spirit of the show.
I am positive the reason they’re do weird about giving proper credit openly is that a lot of their biggest fans are terminally online autistic weirdos who will have a meltdown over a UA-cam legend becoming corporate.
You can go to Boogie2988’s channel and in his videos he’s being a creep and saying or doing some things that would raise a red flag to people who are well-adjusted and can pick up on social cues and have a good grasp on what appropriate behavior is. But you read those comments and it’s like, “You’re a real inspiration to me, Boogie!” on a video where he’s filming his dead mom’s grave.
Those are a huge portion of AVGN’s fans, too. It’s people like that who are autistic weirdos, it’s people who think Screen Wave ruined AVGN and watch and then complain in the comments, and then it’s normal-ish people who only watch AVGN and completely disengage from all other content involving James. So I think he’s being weird about credit to stave off any backlash from those first two groups, because the 3rd group will never know and won’t care anyway. But it causes a Streisand Effect on the 2nd group and works them up into a frenzy.
Or maybe I’m wrong. Who cares? None of this matters.
another classic film, also i am very much honored that you included my 5:40 video at the end, thank you guys a lot and keep up the great work
So good!
That was so damn awesome.
Bimmy will never admit that he doesn't play the games, and unfortunately there is a lot of people that will never know the truth.
Glad we have you guys to discuss these behind the scenes.
Have you ever seen the crazy brainwashing that goes on in the AVGN comment section!!!? ! 😆 they believe Bimmy does everything himself 100% and anyone who makes even a well researched and politely critical comment gets ripped to shreds! It’s been 5:40 For a LONG time for the AVGN character and it’s time he goes!
He never watches the movies either.
NO TIME!
I'm so happy I found Red Cow Arcade. I really hope they continue to cover James.
speculation: james hasn't written any of this shit in like 6 years.
More than speculation I would say.
Judging from the behind the scenes-material from the DVD and Blu-rays that were later uploaded on YT, 2015 was the last year where James and Mike did most of the work on AVGN. And you can tell by the quality of the material.
Many of the older original episodes of AVGN were written by Mike anyway. So he has always had a writer. Just one that was only credited as "help" because he did more than just writing. He did the gameplay wrote notes played characters made drawings and so on. So instead of listing Mike as credit for all those things it just said "help". When really half the credits should have been dedicated to Mike and never were.
James invented the character, Mike perfected the character... I think James is stuck in the "it's mine" mentality when really Mike is the one that kept the character alive even when James wanted to quit long ago. I used to not care for Mike but after learning more about the whole situation, Mike deserves just as much if not more credit than James... I bet James and Mike got into arguments over this throughout their run with AVGN
@@DeRockMedia I feel like James isn't getting enough credit either. Mike is definitely the secret sauce behind AVGN, he brought in the scripts and the jokes, not to mention the inspiration behind the whole thing, but it wouldn't go anywhere without James' videography and performance. As much as we clown on him these days, rightfully so, the way he filmed AVGN episodes back in the day was nothing short of groundbreaking for the internets.
i don't see this as a "you're tearing him down to raise yourselves up".
James did this to himself, y'all are just reporting on his self inflicted pain.
James overseeing an edit on his way out the door "okay that's right or fix that "
One thing about the colour correction: Purr Pals came out after numerous people memed about the piss yellow skin tone of James in previous episodes, and it's pretty obvious that Screenwave realised that and they overreacted, resulting in a completely off white balance where James' shirt looks blue, resulting in that video looking extremely weird and maybe even worse than the episodes that came right before.
Fascinating. What the heck man?
@@RedCowArcade Being a lousy, self taught video maker and editor and obsessed with colours, those episodes drove me mad haha
@@RedCowArcade I should add that I'm only speculating of course but I remember distinctly this video coming after some of those memes, I can't imagine it being a coincidence.
You know what MATEI? Fuck 5:40, let's keep playing!
I don't even watch this red cow podcast, but all I watch is their AVGN content. It's gold.
I love that you filmed EJ and Jon's reaction to the 2021 video 😂
I just want to hear Frankie say surrounded by Shitty Gaaaamessss !
I need it on a loop, please make this happen.
“*I don’t have that money.*”
Had to squeeze that in there in the very last second. 🤣
I've been checking Cinemassacre's channel from time to time just to see what "content" has been popping up since AVGN doesn't have a writer anymore and I was shocked to see the subject of this video didn't have a video yet. Glad to hear your take.
I came initially for the AVGN, stayed for the Box Mac and retro gaming / media videos
He's Bimmy!
Love Junt, happy to see him on this channel (the Micro Center vid was great btw). Those ending edits were great lol.
I stopped watching the writing video when James started going on and on about the different types of AVGN videos he makes like Bubba naming every type of way to cook shrimp in Forrest Gump.
Why would that bother you that much
@@cloudseven9041 It was boring and unnecessary.
You're right about being the press in a way for this situation for the people that care. As an old fan of AVGN I noticed the changes throughout the years and now I get to know the why's while getting a different perspective.
hell yeah new avgn episode from the boys
Diabolical
I knew this reaction was coming eventually, but I didn’t expect Junt to be on it as well! Awesome!
James is trying to take credit for everything so that he can feel like an auteur. And to ensure to his fans that it's still just him making the nerd videos. He really should just embrace it as a team effort. Just lift the veil and show everything as it is now.
"I've been looking forward to this" - Count Dooku
A big highlight of the last few weeks was watching AEW and seeing a fan with a sign that said "Big Ryan Fan BTW" with Ryan crossed out and Frankie written in instead
Mentioned in this video!
@@RedCowArcade Got to that part and was glad they pointed it out to you! When I saw it on TV I got excited but couldn't fully explain it to the people I was watching with without diving into Cinemassacre lore and coming off as insane ☠
I remember seeing a Sushi X sign on a WWF show as a kid.
When I first saw the title of his video I thought "didn't he already make this video twice?" His first making of video from 12ish years ago was great, especially for the time. This was just... why?
Thanks for something to watch at the office tomorrow, sometimes those weeks just suck. I hope EJ has a video later this week, sometimes a slow trickle of red cow makes it all more bearable. You are priceless in my eyes.
Seems like there's a disconnect between what is expected from viewers of internet creators compared to the production James envisions for himself. I think at this point the delegating of tasks by James is his way of living out his Hollywood aspirations as a director might do.
I'm listening to this again while working and laughing hysterically. Looking forward to binging some of your latest boxmac when I get a chance to stare at a screen again!
Dylan the night owl is killing it with these retrospectives.
Big thumbs-up for the lady decade soundbite at the end 😂
i have been legit back n forth arguing with my friend for almost a year over this Lol...... i been telling him "na man .... james doesnt write the avgn.. or he sorta does but he has a team helping him write the show" .. and my buddys been like "naaaa man no way, thats pure speculation" .... well now we have James, to camera, saying mike or keirnan wrote 1st draft of a lot of episodes
yep. The plagiarized monster madness debacle, they said someone else wrote it. But now he says he always writes his stuff?
@Tom Wills yeaaa his whole operation is suspicious now. I give james ZERO benefit of the doubt. There is no chance this guy is playing video games in his free time and coming up with ideas for nerd episodes.
@@tomrwills and before that he dismissed the very idea that someone could write opinions for him.
Big guy reminds me of John candy
Yea!!! Thanks for highlighting your fans!! Honored to be a small part. Thanks so much!
John being on the podcast is like when your childhood friend, that you always went to their house to hang out, is now visiting your house and you're excited but also confused.
James has spent the last year trying to rebuild his reputation, not necessarily that successfully, but it feels positive that hes trying.
What's positive about making it seems he's doing everything by himself when he's not? 🤦♂️
It's after 1 am and I have work tomorrow. You just HAD to release an AVGN video, didn't you? 😂
I think MegaMan was the last true AVGN episode and James has just given his likeness since then, so we've simply been seeing an AI deepfake all this time.
I think so too
And Earthbound was a brief moment of clarity
Muh mind, soul, and ears are ready.
I just want to say this clip got me to watch the main red cow channel after following this channel for a bit. Junt has a ton of charisma and has really lifted my spirits. So thanks for this video.
Junt was a pleasent addition to this Bimmy discussion
Babe wake up new red cow just dropped
Why is babe ALWAYS sleep
I found you guys cause of you talking about AVGN and I'm glad I did. Tons of other content here on this channel too! Nice!
I know Frankie hates todo these videos but we love them so much! So let’s try enjoy and soak as much of that RedCow goodness as we can. I know there’s a lot of people that’s been waiting for this one.
Thanks guys, and JUNT too this time
Post Screenwave Cinemassacre is just way too fascinating.
I was waiting patiently to your reaction video to this. It's finally here 😂
Man, I'm really glad you guys brought up all that positive business about Kieran. Just because we think he's funny doesn't mean we wish him ill, right? Same goes for all the rest of them.
Stop with the cope out to defend Screenwave as a whole. It's the same cope out that fanatics use with James.
I feel like James is still using language that suggests AVGN is still a “it’s just us pals making videos” thing. Like Mike dropping in, saying he has final say on scripts etc. I do think that he’s out of touch enough to think that if people see behind the curtain too much he won’t succeed.
Final Cut Pro is a great program. It’s a bit of an acquired taste, but it works great with large files, and it’s super easy to edit on.
Does anyone have any videos of James giving his idiosyncratic "Yeeaaah"? it's something I distinctly remember him doing but I can't remember any explicit videos where he does it.
30:43 PLEEEASE make this your intro! 😂🤣
jimmy "no time" ralph
If there’s a cinemassacre iceberg you guys definitely made it on there
It's wild to me just how little people understand what editing is. I know people who've BEEN TO FILM SCHOOL and think that like, the editor is the guy who should have cut the Klan scene out of Django Unchained.
I think it goes like this: For awhile now, James has been how he's been and just nods and says, "Mmhmm," to whatever the Slobs puts together for the episode. It just doesn't interest him, and he has very little to no passion for the subject matter. It's just a job after all and he is just WAY too busy. But then, as mentioned, as James sits on his couch and preoccupied with the 24/7 all consuming time and effort eating, herculean task of child rearing...a flash in his mind! Earthbound! "I'd actually like to play that Earthbound game I've heard Mike and other roomgoers talk about! Betcha I can make an episode of that!" And boom goes the dynamite, he actually has some investment and interest again and makes a decent episode where he sat and toiled away, taking notes on his notepad while he ACTUALLY played the game. "Ha! Yes," he shouts, "Wouldn't it be funny to talk about that cccrraazzyyy strategy guide and ewww stinky winky scratch n sniff! That'll be a blast for my fans!" And so he puts his best effort forward and contributes the majority of writing and creativity in that episode. James for a fleeting moment, gets his mojo and youthful passion back, and we get a fun and entertaining episide of AVGN.
Long story short: If the game actually interests James, we get some effort from him and a little more care and that original AVGN flavor makes it into the episode. And we can tell. Oh HOW we can tell.
Just enough time to watch this before work!
I love how they end it with scared lady decade saying "I don't have that money!" Lol
..."scared lady decade"? Which decade was that?
Back when he did the James and Mike Mondays you could tell that James is not a very good gamer, especially for someone who has allegedly played these games for the last 20 years.
8:58 as they say, "garbage in, garbage out"
Can we get more of Junt on the podcast. Big Junt Fan BTW
I look forward to your AVGN videos, keep up the great work guys!
John is the Antislob
I’ve been enjoying Boxmac for the last couple weeks. It’s so addictive. You guys are great. Junt is perfect as the straight man host.
Been waiting all week for this!
I've become a fan of the Red Cow media empire because of the AVGN episodes, subscribing and watching your other channels and videos.
I love all three of you guys!!
I just don't understand why James has to keep up this "I'm in total control, but sometimes others help me" image. There's a 1 hour compilation of clips from Mike's live streams where he talks about instances he contributed to AVGN. I don't understand why it's so hard to say that it's a collaborative effort.
And that right there is the enigma of a man, James. While it's fun to try and analyze, I don't think we'll ever see with clarification on his thought process.
It was clear to me at the start of the pandemic that all James was doing is literally waking up, recording lines for AVGN, and sending it back to Screenwave...then went back to playing Mario Maker with his kids
New to the channel but when I saw AVGN post the Writing video I couldn’t wait for you guys to talk about it 😊
Let's get John on the podcast more please.
Why does that dude have a mortal kombat II cabinet playing a Mario 3 rom? 😂
The new BTS absolutely exists because Kieran quit, the assumption is that now all the rigorous editing duties have to be delegated to someone else. This will likely throw their production schedule off for the foreseeable future.
As they said in the video it actually seems like James was making this video well before he quit.
I think screenwave and james made this video to talk about old episodes to try to get people to go and watch them and it worked cause i went and watched some. Then i realized what was happening.
Okay I did not expect anybody to do reaction to James just describing how he writes episodes of AVGN. I was considering it just because I have been reacting to new episodes of AVGN since 2020, but I just didn't think it'd be worth it to react to anything having to do with just writing the episodes but okay with the amount of views you got on this surprisingly I guess you've proved me wrong
This is what we've all been waiting for
My interest in retro Massachusetts retail got me into Junt's Cart. The Cinemassacre drama got me into the podcast. I didn't know the two were connected until a few months ago. 😅
I've been waiting anxiously for this episode!
I KNEW it was coming!
I think it IS important that the perception is that AVGN is James baby. Imagine if Scott the Woz suddenly told us that he was working with a team to write, edit, and direct those episodes. AVGN might not have James name in the title like Scott does but the brand IS James.
I get excited every time you guys talk about Avgn that’s where I initially found you and love the new stuff that comes out the next avgn response excuse videos lol.