briandavidgilbert
patreon
One Year on Patreon - Thank You!!!
🕑 Added 2021-12-28 20:01:01 +0000 UTCI'll attempt to keep this succinct, but knowing me, it won't be. So TL;DR: Thank you all so very much for your support.
On December 28th, 2020, I became an independent creator. I had been thinking about giving it a try for a while, but with the pandemic and finances and generalized anxiety about "making good stuff," I didn't think it would go super well. Regardless, I planned things out and figured out the absolute minimum I would need to make on YouTube and Twitch and Patreon and sponsorships in order to pay for rent/health insurance/food/the occasional video game, and I took the leap.
By the end of January, I hit the minimum I needed to survive. I hit it just with Patreon.
I could actively turn down offers from companies I didn't like and ideas I thought were terrible without worrying about not being able to pay rent.
I could make a 10 minute sad horror video, knowing that it might not appeal to most of my audience.
I could devote months of work on a silly ABBA cover album with the knowledge that those videos wouldn't make me much ad revenue from the copyright claims.
I could PAY COLLABORATORS with REAL MONEY instead of just offering to buy them dinner sometime.
But I think the most incredible thing that you all have gifted me with is time. Time to work with others on their projects. Time to do random voice acting work. Time to write for video games and shows. And maybe most importantly: Time to feel like shit.
There have been some moments this year that have been pretty rough, on a worldwide and personal level. I've felt burnt out and like my videos suck and like I'll never be able to make anything of value, and in those moments, I've been able to do something else for a bit and refresh. When I've worked for companies before—even the ones that "care" about their employees' mental health—there's still that constant content grind and the omnipresent feeling that your worth is reliant on your productivity. To be honest, I still feel that way a lot.
But this year, I've gotten a little bit better at allowing myself to have a day where I can't do anything. In the past, those days have turned into downward spirals that are nearly impossible to dig out of, but now I feel like I can take a break when I need it. I'm not perfect at it—I joke a lot with Karen about how I need to unionize my brain so I can stop working after 6pm—but I'm getting better. And the only reason I'm getting better at it is thanks to all of your support.
So thanks. Thank you. Thank you very very very very much. You've allowed me to make some silly videos this year and not worry too much about whether people will like them. That said, I really hope you liked them!
I hope you all have an incredible start to the new year. Thanks for everything, and I'm excited to get started on new things in 2022!
Comments
Angelique Lisboa
Your content brings so much joy to my household, primarily by me just playing it constantly. You’re a treat, so thank you, and we’re looking forward to you in the new year. Also very excited to see you in the trailer for the new season of Um, Actually!
Kat Denvir
Your videos and content have brought me so much joy over the last year. The Aaaah!BBA album is rarely out of my Spotify rotation and I'm gutted every time you fire up a Twitch stream and my inconsiderate job gets in the way of me watching it, how dare it!! Thank you for all you do, even amidst the bad brain moments :)
Blair
My dad and I have a running joke about odd-person-out band members, so of course "Just One Day" made it onto my end-of-year playlist for him. So happy for your success this year, Brian! Looking forward to many more where you get to do what you love.
Nick Morozov
It's funny that I spend considerable amount of time wishing to have just a fragment of your talent and dedication, but you, being a human, doubt yourself. Just... thank you, so very much. I never thought I would feel emotions I felt from some silly videos. They aren't, really. I hope you continue to grow and create. Looking forward to the future.
Browniefox
I’m so glad you’ve been able to take that time! And glad I’m able to help give that to you. Also, I absolutely love the content you’ve been producing, it’s amazing :)
Greg
And thank YOU for doing what you do and being who you are. Here's to another (and hopefully better for everyone) year ! Following you from France, à très vite !
Crescent Minor
Something about how you make what you like, all kinds of different stuff, says to me that you're onto something and some brilliant mutation is bound to leak out of your lab if I keep funding you. Or another jorts tutorial.
emily!
awww brian! i've loved you for years, and you're such a source of comfort and inspiration to me. believe me, if i had even a quarter of your talent and drive, i would not still be slogging my way through retail. thank YOU for being a presence in the world, content or no content. you're a rock star.
necr0
Unfortunately I don't have much to add that hasn't been said by someone before me in this post, though sincerely I do agree with all of it. You are a legend and have made my life, in a tangible and real way, better. I will say I still go back and watch old videos all the time. they are gifts that continue to give. Also I love that you somehow redefined "Becoming my own boss" in my head anytime I hear it. Why don't you join me?
Arran P
So glad we can support you! It's been awesome seeing the variety of stuff you've been making, whether you've been making me laugh hysterically, freaking me out, or inspiring me. Or making me dance to Halloween ABBA covers. The value of time to rest and recover is so important. Wishing you and Karen the best for the next year! <3
JD
Congratulations on one year, Brian! I've only been here for a few months but I've really enjoyed seeing what you create. Also, having "time to feel like shit" is so important (especially these past few years, oooh boy) and if our support helps you take that time, then I'm really glad to hear it. Good luck for 2022 and I'm excited to see what you do next!
Lauren Prince
This is the exact reason I wanted to support you on Patreon, and just what I've always chased, too--space to be creative, space to get weird with it, space to be creative, space to not be caged by our own mental health and it's expectations. I'm so, so glad you were able to get that this year ♡ Here's to many more!! 🎉
AlyKat
Okay I was not prepared for tears this evening. It’s hard to even find the right words. I also left my job and went freelance this year. And not only was Brian’s message beautiful but just the amount of support in this comment section…It reminds me that we’re all in this together, that even when we’re scared that we’re not doing enough, or that the things we’re doing won’t be well-received, there are people out there who’ll find beauty and value in what we create. I think we can all be emotionally moved by someone else’s success. Because when you see someone you believe in succeeding, it’s like affirmation that, despite all the other shit, maybe the universe is working as it should. Brian, I’m sure you don’t read the comments but if you do, I hope that every comment, every Patron, is a reminder that people believe you deserve success. And you don’t stop deserving it when you take breaks or take risks. Even one day when you stop making videos, we’ll thank you for everything you’ve done and wish you well. So enjoy your time, take care of yourself, and keep being you. You deserve it. And that’s why we’re all here in the first place.
Mahlon Landis
Proud of you, Brian. Thank you for being you, and happy New Year!
Jag
Quite honestly, there was never a patreon I joined faster than yours! All of your videos are delightful, all genres included. I’m so happy you’ve learned to take those breaks, they are so, so so so important, and yet so hard to allow yourself to take (mentally). I’ve also been getting better at taking them (also doing creative work, but for a company!), and it makes a WORLD of difference. Please continue to go at your own pace, many of us will still be there. I know I will be! Thank you for the hard work you’ve done this year, and thank you for so much entertainment, laughs and even scares! ❤️ continue being you, and thank you.
Christian Haney
Artists make the world worth living in. It's the least I can do for the bright moments and laughs you provide. Never stop being you and always keep chasing your dreams <3
ashurredly
The ten dollars a month I give to this patreon is more than worth it. Thanks for sharing your work with us.
Moira
I can't think of anything particularly eloquent to say, but please know that I love being able to support your independent work in a small way. The leftist in me loves a chance to support individuals over companies. Your content brings me a lot of joy on my own shitty spiral days (which are quite frequent since I am raising a toddler on my own during a pandemic). You're an excellent human and I'm so glad that you exist. ❤️
bird mullet
Brian! I almost commented a long rambling emotional comment and realized maybe this isn't the place for that lol but I just wanted to say thank YOU for all the things you've made. you and your videos are part of what motivated me to finally take the plunge and enroll in film school! so thank you very, very much for that. and also for the strange and cryptic songs I can listen to around my parents to freak them out.
Giu Alonso
I've been a Patreon since day one (I think lol) and I think Amanda Palmer says it best: Patreon is an incredible tool through which we the audience tell artists (like you!) that what you do is not only a transaction (I give you money, you give me an album/a video/ whatever), but a relationship. The world has been in a fricking shitstorm for two years now and we all need a little more understanding and care all around. I'm very glad that Patreon is able to provide this care for you, and I think I speak for a lot of us that our support has little to do with your output of work (which is fantastic always btw) and much more to do with being able to support people we like and admire even when they do stuff that's not exactly on our wheelhouse, or even when they are unable to do stuff because life fucking happens ya know? Amanda has been single parenting for almost two years in a foreign country and some months is only able to post one little thing to keep lights on and I'll be honest I never regret the support. I feel good to see the artists I like enjoying themselves or being honest when they struggle and still feel safe that they will be able to pay for housing and food. That's for me the biggest reward -- knowing that my lil buck or two is able to join a bunch of likeminded people and help another person. So yeah long comment, sorry, you be you, keep doing your weird funky stuff, and we'll be here cheering you on! Happy new year, everyone, I hope 2022 is kinder to us all!
Danish
Your videos are all a delight (even if some of them aren't my thing, they're still great to watch for the time and style you put into them), and it's been great being able to support you. Definitely part of the draw is "I want to know what BDG makes when he's just doing whatever he thinks is fun/wants to try" so I'm glad you're unlearning the Grind.
Ashe
Quality year of content Brian, keep being you and you’ll do great! And take some ding dang time off why dontcha??? You deserve it!
batwinggoth
♥️🧡💛💚💙💜
Well-Spoken Rambler
Having a hard time writing a response cos a lot of the more shit parts resonate, but in a pre-independent-working kind of way. That said, I'm very glad to have been able to support your own work, and am even more glad that you have more space to process when things aren't so good. I think also... Keep doing it for as long as it still brings you joy. If eventually it stops being fun, stops outweighing the bad with good, please don't feel beholden to us either. You're a fantastic creator, but you're also a person, and you've gotta do what's right for you. Here's hoping 2022 is as little Interesting Times as possible!
Ilya Nepomnyashchiy
Thank you for sharing this note! I don't think you've put out a single video that I haven't enjoyed watching, even when they're in random niche genres I wouldn't normally enjoy, and I'm grateful that Patreon lets me be a little part of supporting it happening! Happy holidays and I hope you get all the naps you need in 2022.
Samantha Alexine
It's been so genuinely lovely to get to support you in this whole journey. Your videos have already brought me so much joy these last few years, and I'm real grateful for that. There is so much sincerity and heart in the things that you make, whether it's a sad horror video or a song about caterpillars or anything else. This is the first Patreon I've ever subscribed to but gosh every second has been so worth it 💛✨
seaweed
Really really happy that you're working on unlearning productivity culture, and that we can support in some way! I love how much the videos this year varied in genre, and seeing the creative process has been especially cool. Excited to see what 2022 brings!
OddPittPatt
Put the break in the video and document how to have the most efficient nap - jokes aside thank you for all you're videos and good luck for 2022 and growing even more ❤
Escher Cattle
My partner and I were thrilled at the idea that you'd be able to just do your own things and make work that speaks to you with this move. I think time is the best thing you could possibly get and I'm so, so happy we can all give you some a couple bucks at a time. Wishing you and yours a safe and healthy end of the year with lots of rest and joy.
Charlie Miller
BDG your videos have kept me afloat a couple times this year, it is a pleasure to be able to support the work. Happy New Year <3
The Potato of Fire
bro you gotta take a nap. love you though
Joanna Zaleski
I will be posting on my drag tiktok! Marty McGuy :)
Jennifer Mileta
Brian it has been an absolute pleasure supporting you on Patreon. So thankful that you can create to your heart's content while also practicing self care. You're amazing and I'm looking forward to what 2022 has in store! Well for your content anyway... Not sure about the rest of it 😂 Congrats!!! Very well deserved!
Kit Brogden
Hell yeah Brian!! I also quit my corporate job this year to become my own boss and pursue creative stuff and had a really similar experience. Being able to turn off “work brain” to rest up really elevates the quality of your creative and personal life. It’s so great to see you creating what truly excites you! I hope your independence continues to help you grow as a person and creative, and enables you to internalize your many huge accomplishments. A big fuck yeah and happy new year to you, good sir! ✨
Steph Gilliam
I don't know if you read these comments, but I hope you see this, because I think this is a sentiment echoed by a lot of us: take those breaks. Have the days where you don't actually do anything productive. It's so good for your mental health, and without that... what's the point of doing anything, really? Anyway, I don't have any say over whether you're kind to yourself or not, but I hope you are and continue to be. Take care and the content can follow when you're moved to create it. Happy one year of independence, and many more to come.
Luna
Thank YOU for doing what's best for yourself. And for making the content you're excited to make (which, for the record, is all S tier, quality content). And for showing other small artists like me that it is possible to follow your dreams and to take time for yourself. You're truly an inspiration and it's an honor to have helped in some small way. So proud of how far you've gotten yourself in just one year!!!
Moira Kauderer
I wanna see that show!
rionsanura
Time is the very best thing I could ever hope to help get for you. You've contributed so much of it to my life, and how I'm living; I'm so glad and grateful to know I can make it even a little easier to let you chill and hold on and Be, the way you help so many people do.
Robinson
I loved every single video you made this year, and I'm glad that I helped! I'm typically not a horror kind of guy, but both the VCR and the 20k videos I've watched several times each. I regularly listen to your songs, and even though it's not from this year, the song Thumbnail you did with Louie Zong is legitimately one of my favorite songs period. Thank you for making such great content, and I look forward to what the next year brings!
John Pearce
You are absolutely amazing BDG. Thanks for all the entertainment. So many of your videos have lightened dark moments during covid times. Even your old "Siblings" video became a personal Rick rolling game between me and my wife, bringing much joy to a rough period. Keep on truckin'!
Danielle Dunne
I've never sponsored a Patreon so fast in my life by the way! When you figure out how to unionize your brains would you help a sista out please, and send some literature my way?
Joanna Zaleski
Thank you for all of your hard work! I hope you get some well deserved rest in the new year! I personally am so grateful for your Abba covers which I will be using for drag this year! Thank YOU! ❤️
Clee Alice
We're all so proud of you. I'm glad I got to be here to see you grow into the person and creative you are now. Good luck in 2022!
Stephen Struble
Your content legitimately brings me joy, even if it's a topic I'm not super interested in. It's a joy to watch you grow and succeed as an artist.
Jered Abernathy
This is beautiful. I love you BDG ❤️
