ABOUT ME

From Flipbooks to Viral Animation

I've always loved drawing and writing stories. As a kid, I had my own book series that I'd write and illustrate. In 2nd grade I had a huge discovery when I found a flipbook animation app on the school iPad. That's when I discovered animation - the ability to tell jokes and stories in the form of a moving cartoon. Just like the animated shows I enjoyed watching growing up. Cool!

I was hooked. I'd spend hours making short animations, then moved to more advanced apps on the Google Play Store. I'd show my cartoons to my parents, and they could see how serious I was. At 9 years old, I started my YouTube channel, posting my animations for the world to see... which was about 5 viewers per video at the time lol. I was just making stuff for fun so it was all good!
Below is a video showing my progression in animation from my first YouTube video till my last in 2024.

The Tools That Shaped Me

My parents saw my passion and got me Flipboom All Star 4.0 for my 10th birthday. I mastered that beginner software and was starting to outgrow it quite fast. Two years later, they upgraded me to ToonBoom Harmony Essentials - a cheaper version of the industry standard. It was daunting at first, but I was too eager to learn. I didn't have the patience for tutorials, so I learned by pressing random buttons and seeing what they did.

I spent my entire teen years mastering ToonBoom Harmony, making comedy cartoons that would make my friends and family laugh. Eventually, I started making parody animations on cooking YouTubers, and that's when things started to take off.

The Breakthrough

My parody animations started getting attention — not just from viewers, but from the YouTubers I was making fun of. One video blew up, and Sam the Cooking Guy himself gave me a shoutout. That led to his friend Greg Rempe, host of the BBQ Central Show, reaching out to me.

Greg asked if I'd be interested in making an animation for his podcast and radio show. I jumped at the opportunity. With the help of my mom handling the business side, I delivered a minute-long animation in just 4 weeks. A year later, I made 2 more animations for Greg and even got a spot on the show.

The Rise of Daangdamon

After my work with the BBQ Central Show, I started freelancing. But then my YouTube channel, Daangdamon was starting to have viral videos left and right. By the summer of 2024, I was averaging 100K views per video, collaborating with other creators in my niche, and reached a peak of 86,000 subscribers.

I was making money doing what I loved - creating silly animations that made people laugh. It was insane! You can watch some of my most popular videos on my Daangdamon memorial site.

The Restart

Unfortunately, the channel was taken down. Starting over was tough, but it did make me realize that I was making animations that I did not want to make just for views and I was burning myself out. It was a wake-up call. This led to me making the show that I always wanted to make. An indie-animation series that may one day take the internet by storm - Influencers University.

That's when I went all-in on Influencers University—my indie animated series that critiques modern internet culture through satire and allegory. The teaser alone has racked up over 416,000 views on Instagram Reels. But IU isn't just an animated series—it's a transmedia universe with an upcoming book trilogy, a fully functional website with its own social media platform, and meticulously crafted 3D environments.

And I'm creating all of it SOLO.