James Rolfe / James D. Rolfe / Angry Video Game Nerd (AVGN) / Rex Viper and Cinemassacre / Screenwave - Now with not much grieving about a 41-year old man still making videos on YouTube. We're the balls on the dick.

Which videos do you like the most from Cinemassacre?

  • Angry Video Game Nerd

    Votes: 1,813 63.5%
  • You Know Whats Bullshit

    Votes: 143 5.0%
  • James and Mike Mondays

    Votes: 96 3.4%
  • Board James

    Votes: 443 15.5%
  • Monster Madness

    Votes: 270 9.5%
  • James' movie reviews

    Votes: 90 3.2%

  • Total voters
    2,855
Yeah, having a awkward shy guy having a Podcast and two unlikeable piggybackers/tardwranglers is going to turn out well... Yup. Yup. Yep.
I wonder if since he signed to Screenwave he ended up making less money from YT? Before Screenwave came on board, it was just him doing the bulk of the technical work with maybe Mike and his wife helping out with the occasional input from the likes of Bootsy and Kyle. But now that Screenwave is doing all of the technical work they're obviously getting paid much more than Mike or James' other friends were getting. So now I wonder if the take from YT is 50/50 between James and Screenwave?

We could endlessly speculate over the financial side of things with Screenwave. Maybe they offered him a big sign on bonus and didn't realize "Oh, now I have to make even more videos than before..."
 
@BrunoMattei I mean, they have a pretty nice office, don't know about the rentals on those in the "Amerikas", but since Silverman is one of God's chosen (albeit i believe it's "Stinkin' rich for some reason Ryan" that really pulls the strings) it surely is some trickery into it, James is perhaps the only one who get paid a reasonable sum but off course he's probably sacrificed alot of net gain by letting Screenway "take care and groom" his ventures, so that's why he is so stern about talking just positively about them and calling the fans assholes if they think something else about his sacred staff. Lol. Sacred staff.
 
Has James ever spoken about the AVGN movie since it has released? It's almost like the black sheep of his "filmography", he talks about The Head Incident more.
I think he only ever brings it up when he's trying to sell it. It's kind of crazy how he spent so long talking all about it, building it up, posting stuff about it, and when it finally dropped, he promoted it for a little bit and that was that. Didn't even bring any elements from the movie into the show, and even dropped the ending of the movie (E.T. review) on his channel shortly after release as its own AVGN episode.

And the show suffered from that point onwards. Not ending up bad immediately, but the gradual decline became more and more apparent.
 
An Extra talked about their experiences on the set of the AVGN movie. https://www.reddit.com/r/TheCinemas...yn/my_experience_on_set_avgn_movie_adventure/
These are parts just talking about what Kevin, April, and James did on Set.
The part about April got me to look more into her Q&A session based on what was presented in the comments of that thread and it's very interesting in spite of the memes going on about her:


9. What was my original reaction to James’ work? How did my parents, friends and family feel about it? Did I know then that he’d be successful?

I saw some of James’ work on our second date. We doubled with Kyle Justin and he made a point to break out some of James’ videos to show me. Of course, one of those videos was “Stony” because Kyle acted in that one. I thought they were funny for sure and his passion for what he was doing was undeniable. I definitely saw that spark in him back then and new it’d take him places. As for my parents, friends, etc. and their reaction… they were pretty used to the crazy shit I was doing so I think it didn’t really phase them much. They are very understanding of artists, and James fit that bill. They love him to this day and we all have a great relationship.

11. Do I help with behind the scenes stuff? Filming, props, scenery, sets, etc? Do I plan to continue?

Yea, as I said, I pretty much help where I’m needed. I have a serious work ethic, so I’m always looking to use my talents and strengths to benefit the company. I do not have a proper background in film, but I’ve learned over the years the basics of operating a camera, lights, fog machine, etc so when James needs an extra hand I’m always there to help. I’ve even learned how to edit sound and have helped in that department a few times. I’m also super organized and schedule oriented so I’ve used that strength to help out on the business end of things and all the event scheduling. Occasionally I’m able to use my artistic talents to help the cause as well. I make a mean Styrofoam gravestone and can Photoshop short key with the best of them. I certainly plan to keep helping in any way that I can and continue to learn along the way. I’m just happy to be a part of it in any capacity. Again, more of this type of thing will be covered as I share my stories.

14. What is it like to know other internet celebrities like Doug Walker? Or co-stars in Cinemassacre Productions like Mike Matei and Kyle Justin etc?

Speaking of travelling and new friendships, that’s how I’m able to meet other internet personalities. I’m in awe of how tight knit this “family” is. There really is a sense of respect and community among the majority of them that is really inspiring. I’m happy to list among my friends many of the people you enjoy watching on the web. I’m so happy for all of their success and would jump in traffic for any one of them. I’m sure as I continue to share my stories, more of their names may pop up. Oh and yea, I did tie the tie for Doug. Not very well I might add. I was the best of the worst at it, I suppose.

15. How long is “before the beginning?” When did James and I meet? Get Married? How has marriage effected James’ film-making and acting performances, etc?

James and I met in July of 2004. He had just graduated college, was living with his parents and working a “joe job”. A few months before that he had made what was technically the first AVGN episode, but it was in a closet gathering dust somewhere. His efforts at the time were focused on making “The Deader the Better”. I distinctly remember when the AVGN series started to take off on YouTube and was picked up by ScrewAttack. We were semi-living together at the time (when I wasn’t at college) and we were both really excited. I’ve always been super supportive of James doing whatever it takes to make great videos and to do what he loves doing. Case in point, moving 3000 miles away from home to make the AVGN movie. Some people have alluded to the fact that marriage may have caused James to go soft or get lazy, but this is just factually incorrect. Since I met James, I’ve always encouraged him to make bold decisions to better his career. For example in early 2007, I encouraged James to quit his corporate video job and focus more on the online series. When we were married in November of 2007, I handled all the arrangements so James could continue working on the Dragon’s Lair episode of AVGN (and other projects) up until the day before. In 2008 (our first year of marriage) James would create what he considers two of his “angrier” videos (Dick Tracy and Superman 64). Not to mention, some of the “angriest” episodes of them all, I was directly a part of (that was my hand reaching over the sofa wearing the Freddy Kruger glove). So yea, I’ve been around for a while and our relationship doesn’t affect James’ performance or career in the slightest.

18. How do I feel about the crude nature of the videos? The poop, foul language, etc.

I’m a big fan of shock humor and so I love it. If we kept a tally, I might even curse more than James does. I may be the only woman on the planet that loves the word “cunt” and I try to use it on a daily basis. As for the shit and various other bodily fluids that appear in James’ work, it doesn’t really bother me. Whenever he makes fake shit, it perfumes the house with the smell of Reeses peanut butter cups. So that I enjoy.

21. Does James seek my opinion on scripts, videos, etc? Do I ever disagree? Do I ever think he’s being crazy or too ambitious?

I always say, especially with the AVGN videos, that I’m kind of the control in the whole experiment. Basically, if I think its funny and it works, then it’s going to be a huge hit. It really depends on the project though whether I contribute in the early stages, middles stages or at the end, but I usually see just about everything before it goes live and give my two cents accordingly. I tend to catch things that James mispronounces and things like that. On very rare occasions we have severely differing opinions on things. I’ve been right a few times, but I’m more than happy to be proven wrong. I’m also very aware that James has this mysterious way of making genius out of nothing, so unless I see a glaring problem, I usually just let the master do his thing.

tl;dr: Seems that April is the least likely reason that got James to where he is now, but rather the opposite, she's the one who encouraged James to do Cinemassacre as his full time job, and even got along well with some of the Cinemassacre crew.
 
tl;dr: Seems that April is the least likely reason that got James to where he is now, but rather the opposite, she's the one who encouraged James to do Cinemassacre as his full time job, and even got along well with some of the Cinemassacre crew.
She might be likeable and all that, but that doesn't mean her meddling in the movie didn't backfire, but off course it wasn't all her fault either, as i read about James lack of directing skills just posted a page or two ago. It seems to be a mess from the get-go, and all this hyping up that he and (Kevin) Finn had been working on the script for years and all this hubbub about rewrites and all that came out was convoluted bullshit, i mean, that "Final boss" back story might sound super fun on paper but it sure didn't come out well on film. What was it about? A Turkey sandwich or something? I was about to guess Mega-death christ but that's already a thing in AVGN lore (Mecha), why not just bring back that shtick?
 
actually he came along and ate your writeup because he's FAT
Considering Ryan (of ScreenWave) is known to set up bots for fake comments on videos and censoring negative views, this wouldn't surprise me.

Has anyone done a write up on what Silvermania was?
Justin Silverman's first creative venture was a collaborative effort dubbed Underbelly. It focused on live event coverage (mostly at Nintendo World Store) and skits, most of which you can still find via it's Facebook page. If you grew up as a fan of ScrewAttack, Inside Gaming or G4, it's highly likely that the show would have some appeal to you. Back in 2011 that is. I think that the humour itself hasn't aged well, but not as bad as Silverman's mullet in those videos...

During it's lifespan, Underbelly was apart of Normal Boots. However the channel itself was removed from the sites feature list along with Indie Games Spotlight and some other misc names prior to it's second rebrand. If anyone watched or followed Normal Boots at the time, I'd love to know just how many creators got memoryhole'd due to the ever-changing nature of that group since the fan-wiki fails to list a lot of details until the third reboot in the mid 2010's.

At some point in time, Justin Silverman would develop a feud with Nick Murphy of Continue? (another former Normal Boots creative joint) and would attempt to dox the group members. In turn, Silverman somehow obtained admin entry into the Continue? subreddit and bombarded it with porn, gore and other questionable elements. I do not know if this event led to his removal from Normal Boots or was done in the aftermath. Silverman's distain for them would be a trend in later projects.

Two years into Underbelly's lifespan, Justin Silverman would launch a side-project titled Silvermania with Jarrett, Bob, Kieran and Will. These names will become important later. Creatively, the channel would product singular, self-contained content that wouldn't follow a theme or brand identity. From abstract public skits to elaborate parodies, Silvermania was much like MEGA 64. Just without the Disney Land vlogs and Cali smell. And much like MEGA 64, they have what could only be described today as a cult fan following.

After a few odd videos, Silvermania would find some success with a notable "Did You Know Gaming" parody featuring musician Andrew WK and the now infamous "Gabe Newell" interview. GUB GUB GUB!

It's the attention found here that saw them presented with an opportunity to appear on TheGameStation podcast (now dubbed the Co-Optional podcast). Considering this transpired during the height of the "network" era of YouTube, many aspiring and growing channels would consider such a feature a big milestone. Especially as Maker, one of the largest networks at the time owned and hosted the podcast. All Justin had to do was be polite, go along with the questions and not fuck it up.

Yeah, about that... Below is the first hour of the podcast. It's a colossal shit show, no other way to describe it.

If you seek out the official upload of this podcast, Silverman is cut out and replaced with a picture of some cats.

This podcast in my mind, was the breaking point for Justin Silverman and his group. Uploads afterward would shift focus and approach. Justin once said (and I am paraphrasing here) that they had to be the "bad guys" of gaming media, seemingly doing whatever to antagonise it's own fanbase, let alone other online creatives. Burning more bridges with notable Maker channels and doing whatever to get a rile out of people, from intentionally racist rants to full blown bigotry.

It's from this point, that my memory about them gets hazy (It's 10+ years of information) and so I shall bullet point the later events.
  • At some point, former Underbelly members and active members of Silvermania attempt an LP channel called JAGS - Just Another Game Show. It does not last long
  • Silvermania records a series of LP's for the main channel, themed around demo discs. Most episodes have been deleted as they featured Bob
  • Bob (who played Gabe in the parody) would later be arrested and imprisoned for child-porn. I believe he has since been released
  • Silvermania would start drama with OneyPlays over them covering Frozen's "Let It Go" and burn it's bridge with SleepyCabin. Original upload was pulled from YouTube
  • Justin Silverman would take up a notable role in the transition of power of TooManyGames to ScreenWave media
  • Jarrett would end up in various creative disagreements with Justin, leading to them falling out. Jarrett still maintains an active social media presence and works in the multimedia industry
  • Jarrett's hated for notable creators saw him produce "Reprocessed" - A mini hate-watch series. I only bring this up as he did an 10+ watchalong of all the Channel Awesome films
  • Kieran however has maintained a comfortable position as one of the blobs. He has attempted Twitch streams, however his best creation was FAST CAR with Will
  • Will hasn't done much post Silvermania, but does work as floor staff at TooManyGames
  • As for the former Underbelly names? Most of gone on to better things in the industry, which you can browse via IMDB
And do remember, that Justin and AVGN have been friends for sometime. He'll be able to filter in as many blobs as he likes.
 
Considering Ryan (of ScreenWave) is known to set up bots for fake comments on videos and censoring negative views, this wouldn't surprise me.


Justin Silverman's first creative venture was a collaborative effort dubbed Underbelly. It focused on live event coverage (mostly at Nintendo World Store) and skits, most of which you can still find via it's Facebook page. If you grew up as a fan of ScrewAttack, Inside Gaming or G4, it's highly likely that the show would have some appeal to you. Back in 2011 that is. I think that the humour itself hasn't aged well, but not as bad as Silverman's mullet in those videos...

During it's lifespan, Underbelly was apart of Normal Boots. However the channel itself was removed from the sites feature list along with Indie Games Spotlight and some other misc names prior to it's second rebrand. If anyone watched or followed Normal Boots at the time, I'd love to know just how many creators got memoryhole'd due to the ever-changing nature of that group since the fan-wiki fails to list a lot of details until the third reboot in the mid 2010's.

At some point in time, Justin Silverman would develop a feud with Nick Murphy of Continue? (another former Normal Boots creative joint) and would attempt to dox the group members. In turn, Silverman somehow obtained admin entry into the Continue? subreddit and bombarded it with porn, gore and other questionable elements. I do not know if this event led to his removal from Normal Boots or was done in the aftermath. Silverman's distain for them would be a trend in later projects.

Two years into Underbelly's lifespan, Justin Silverman would launch a side-project titled Silvermania with Jarrett, Bob, Kieran and Will. These names will become important later. Creatively, the channel would product singular, self-contained content that wouldn't follow a theme or brand identity. From abstract public skits to elaborate parodies, Silvermania was much like MEGA 64. Just without the Disney Land vlogs and Cali smell. And much like MEGA 64, they have what could only be described today as a cult fan following.

After a few odd videos, Silvermania would find some success with a notable "Did You Know Gaming" parody featuring musician Andrew WK and the now infamous "Gabe Newell" interview. GUB GUB GUB!

It's the attention found here that saw them presented with an opportunity to appear on TheGameStation podcast (now dubbed the Co-Optional podcast). Considering this transpired during the height of the "network" era of YouTube, many aspiring and growing channels would consider such a feature a big milestone. Especially as Maker, one of the largest networks at the time owned and hosted the podcast. All Justin had to do was be polite, go along with the questions and not fuck it up.

Yeah, about that... Below is the first hour of the podcast. It's a colossal shit show, no other way to describe it.

If you seek out the official upload of this podcast, Silverman is cut out and replaced with a picture of some cats.

This podcast in my mind, was the breaking point for Justin Silverman and his group. Uploads afterward would shift focus and approach. Justin once said (and I am paraphrasing here) that they had to be the "bad guys" of gaming media, seemingly doing whatever to antagonise it's own fanbase, let alone other online creatives. Burning more bridges with notable Maker channels and doing whatever to get a rile out of people, from intentionally racist rants to full blown bigotry.

It's from this point, that my memory about them gets hazy (It's 10+ years of information) and so I shall bullet point the later events.
  • At some point, former Underbelly members and active members of Silvermania attempt an LP channel called JAGS - Just Another Game Show. It does not last long
  • Silvermania records a series of LP's for the main channel, themed around demo discs. Most episodes have been deleted as they featured Bob
  • Bob (who played Gabe in the parody) would later be arrested and imprisoned for child-porn. I believe he has since been released
  • Silvermania would start drama with OneyPlays over them covering Frozen's "Let It Go" and burn it's bridge with SleepyCabin. Original upload was pulled from YouTube
  • Justin Silverman would take up a notable role in the transition of power of TooManyGames to ScreenWave media
  • Jarrett would end up in various creative disagreements with Justin, leading to them falling out. Jarrett still maintains an active social media presence and works in the multimedia industry
  • Jarrett's hated for notable creators saw him produce "Reprocessed" - A mini hate-watch series. I only bring this up as he did an 10+ watchalong of all the Channel Awesome films
  • Kieran however has maintained a comfortable position as one of the blobs. He has attempted Twitch streams, however his best creation was FAST CAR with Will
  • Will hasn't done much post Silvermania, but does work as floor staff at TooManyGames
  • As for the former Underbelly names? Most of gone on to better things in the industry, which you can browse via IMDB
And do remember, that Justin and AVGN have been friends for sometime. He'll be able to filter in as many blobs as he likes.
May as well re-post this since everything got wiped.
 
And do remember, that Justin and AVGN have been friends for sometime. He'll be able to filter in as many blobs as he likes.
I'll reiterate from yesterday: How is it that the chemistry between James and Justin is incredibly flaccid? You'd think the two, whom had known each other for as long as the Farms' existence, would really connect, especially in the videos they're in.
 
Anyone else seen the Cinemassacre website? It was, finally, updated to look less 2007 and more 1997.

Juston is especially proud of the literal dumpster fire theme.
You talking about the linktree? That linktree's been there for a while. No time to actually make any updates to the original website (linked at the very bottom of that page.
 
You talking about the linktree? That linktree's been there for a while. No time to actually make any updates to the original website (linked at the very bottom of that page.

Thank you for correcting me! I edited accordingly.

That said, the aesthetic chosen is still meh, worse than Geocities default template even.
 
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Considering Ryan (of ScreenWave) is known to set up bots for fake comments on videos and censoring negative views, this wouldn't surprise me.


Justin Silverman's first creative venture was a collaborative effort dubbed Underbelly. It focused on live event coverage (mostly at Nintendo World Store) and skits, most of which you can still find via it's Facebook page. If you grew up as a fan of ScrewAttack, Inside Gaming or G4, it's highly likely that the show would have some appeal to you. Back in 2011 that is. I think that the humour itself hasn't aged well, but not as bad as Silverman's mullet in those videos...

During it's lifespan, Underbelly was apart of Normal Boots. However the channel itself was removed from the sites feature list along with Indie Games Spotlight and some other misc names prior to it's second rebrand. If anyone watched or followed Normal Boots at the time, I'd love to know just how many creators got memoryhole'd due to the ever-changing nature of that group since the fan-wiki fails to list a lot of details until the third reboot in the mid 2010's.

At some point in time, Justin Silverman would develop a feud with Nick Murphy of Continue? (another former Normal Boots creative joint) and would attempt to dox the group members. In turn, Silverman somehow obtained admin entry into the Continue? subreddit and bombarded it with porn, gore and other questionable elements. I do not know if this event led to his removal from Normal Boots or was done in the aftermath. Silverman's distain for them would be a trend in later projects.

Two years into Underbelly's lifespan, Justin Silverman would launch a side-project titled Silvermania with Jarrett, Bob, Kieran and Will. These names will become important later. Creatively, the channel would product singular, self-contained content that wouldn't follow a theme or brand identity. From abstract public skits to elaborate parodies, Silvermania was much like MEGA 64. Just without the Disney Land vlogs and Cali smell. And much like MEGA 64, they have what could only be described today as a cult fan following.

After a few odd videos, Silvermania would find some success with a notable "Did You Know Gaming" parody featuring musician Andrew WK and the now infamous "Gabe Newell" interview. GUB GUB GUB!

It's the attention found here that saw them presented with an opportunity to appear on TheGameStation podcast (now dubbed the Co-Optional podcast). Considering this transpired during the height of the "network" era of YouTube, many aspiring and growing channels would consider such a feature a big milestone. Especially as Maker, one of the largest networks at the time owned and hosted the podcast. All Justin had to do was be polite, go along with the questions and not fuck it up.

Yeah, about that... Below is the first hour of the podcast. It's a colossal shit show, no other way to describe it.

If you seek out the official upload of this podcast, Silverman is cut out and replaced with a picture of some cats.

This podcast in my mind, was the breaking point for Justin Silverman and his group. Uploads afterward would shift focus and approach. Justin once said (and I am paraphrasing here) that they had to be the "bad guys" of gaming media, seemingly doing whatever to antagonise it's own fanbase, let alone other online creatives. Burning more bridges with notable Maker channels and doing whatever to get a rile out of people, from intentionally racist rants to full blown bigotry.

It's from this point, that my memory about them gets hazy (It's 10+ years of information) and so I shall bullet point the later events.
  • At some point, former Underbelly members and active members of Silvermania attempt an LP channel called JAGS - Just Another Game Show. It does not last long
  • Silvermania records a series of LP's for the main channel, themed around demo discs. Most episodes have been deleted as they featured Bob
  • Bob (who played Gabe in the parody) would later be arrested and imprisoned for child-porn. I believe he has since been released
  • Silvermania would start drama with OneyPlays over them covering Frozen's "Let It Go" and burn it's bridge with SleepyCabin. Original upload was pulled from YouTube
  • Justin Silverman would take up a notable role in the transition of power of TooManyGames to ScreenWave media
  • Jarrett would end up in various creative disagreements with Justin, leading to them falling out. Jarrett still maintains an active social media presence and works in the multimedia industry
  • Jarrett's hated for notable creators saw him produce "Reprocessed" - A mini hate-watch series. I only bring this up as he did an 10+ watchalong of all the Channel Awesome films
  • Kieran however has maintained a comfortable position as one of the blobs. He has attempted Twitch streams, however his best creation was FAST CAR with Will
  • Will hasn't done much post Silvermania, but does work as floor staff at TooManyGames
  • As for the former Underbelly names? Most of gone on to better things in the industry, which you can browse via IMDB
And do remember, that Justin and AVGN have been friends for sometime. He'll be able to filter in as many blobs as he likes.
I forget what I said before the server went down but thanks for the infomation. Justin is lucky that most of his toxic actions have been forgotten and he has got quite a clean start at Screenwave.
 
Here are the topics. Better than last week but some of these topics are just dumb when it comes to AVGN. Who cares about weed or great beers when your channel is for video games/movies

EDIT: If the screenwave guys were likable and cinemassacre wasn't where it is now, then yeah, they could talk about whatever it is they want as it would still be interesting. But with these guys? Hell no
1629228378614.png
 
Here we go folks. Another podcast.

That's funny, I barely noticed its existence. I know its only been under a hour since it was posted, but was it ever even live?

I don't care if this is better or worse (but is it either of those two?) than last week's podcast, I'd prefer another one of those videos where James is hanging out with an actual friend of his, or maybe hang out with Mike on his streams a little more. I don't even care if its not another AVGN, I'd prefer anything that clearly doesn't have Screenwave/Justin's influence on it.
 
Here are the topics. Better than last week but some of these topics are just dumb when it comes to AVGN. Who cares about weed or great beers when your channel is for video games/movies
They have to pad out the show. Clearly they have no topics since James is such a boring dude, so they have to pull shit out of their ass.
That's funny, I barely noticed its existence. I know its only been under a hour since it was posted, but was it ever even live?
I still have notifications for them, so I noticed it and went "oh shit, they did not drop this after everyone made fun of you". Also notice there is no live chat. Totally defeats the purpose of a podcast
 
Here are the topics. Better than last week but some of these topics are just dumb when it comes to AVGN. Who cares about weed or great beers when your channel is for video games/movies

EDIT: If the screenwave guys were likable and cinemassacre wasn't where it is now, then yeah, they could talk about whatever it is they want as it would still be interesting. But with these guys? Hell no
View attachment 2453275
They have to pad out the show. Clearly they have no topics since James is such a boring dude, so they have to pull shit out of their ass.
You know, some of the topics listed up there are actual topics when it comes to Cinemassacre, but I'm not too sure what they're doing talking about Conan O'Brien, let alone "Snoop Dogg and Steve Urkel's Weed". Guess they're doing their dardnest to cater to James's normie attitudes towards pop culture.
 
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