Olentangy Liberty rising senior Nathan Ogilbee set out in 2017 to create the Chewy Channel with his little brother, Jacob Ogilbee, a rising Olentangy Liberty sophomore. The Chewy Channel is a YouTube channel named after their cat Chewbacca. The channel was initially used as a way for Nathan to post stop-motion animation videos so his friends can look back on them when older.
Nathan elaborated, “At first, I assumed that Chewy Channel would be for posting stop motions out of legos which are created by taking a picture of something, moving it slightly, and taking another picture. We would repeat this process thousands of times, play these photographs in quick succession and, voila, a movie was born. I remember spending hours working on mere seconds in our films; this was the first giveaway that a passion for the medium was there.”
Now, the channel celebrates five years of production and over 800 subscribers, beloved by fellow high school students at Olentangy Liberty High School.
The channel features over 267 videos, with topics ranging from food reviews to cinematic movies such as “Too Many Nathans” (their newest movie will be released on July 14). Video ideas are pitched by Jacob, Nathan, or other friends. Then the two make sure the ideas pass their standards. Afterward, they start filming. Nathan described this part as the fun part. Nathan said to us, “Filming is always a good time. It usually doesn’t take that long, too.”
Rewarded for their time and effort, each video receives hundreds of views from both friends and strangers.
However, the channel’s journey toward YouTube popularity hasn’t been smooth or easy. At first, Nathan stopped posting after the channel lacked viewers. However, thanks to his little brother’s spirit and energy, the channel started posting again.
“I stopped posting for a year b’cause it died down,” Nathan said. “Then Jacob started it up again and took the lead on the channel.”
Additionally, the channel faces issues in expanding.
“The biggest problem is definitely time. During the school year, it is pretty limited, and during the summer, it is a little more flexible but there still is not a lot of time,” Nathan said. “Balance is crucial,” Jacob added.
During the summer, the two brothers described the summer as a period where they would solely focus on producing content and growing the channel. Jacob described the workload for the channel to be two hours daily or 14 hours a week.
In addition, the brothers have been partnering with a group of local friends and filmmakers from Olentangy Liberty High School as a way to grow the channel. The two are working with Krishna Choppara, Jack Thompson, William Wang, Vincenzo Tran, and others to brainstorm new ideas, innovate on previous videos, and produce better videos.
When asked about their goals for the channel, Nathan replied, “Next year I want us to grow an audience and support to make our short films the main thing since I take the most pride in those.”
Jacob added, “Our goal by the end of the summer is to reach 1,000 subscribers.”
To describe the channel to new viewers, Nathan concluded, “We’re big on comedy, and we’re more of a viewership-seeking channel. Then humorously, Jacob remarked, “We’re a channel where you shouldn’t take it too seriously.”
William Wang and Lucas Colegrove are Olentangy Liberty High School students and members of the Powell Youth Council, which is a student-governed nonprofit organization recognized and partnered with the City of Powell. Created in March of 2022 by Wang, Powell Youth Council’s purpose is to give a voice and power to the youth of Powell in local decisions and projects, show how local leaders create projects and decisions, and motivate the youth to help their community.
