Brooke Allison Brodack (born April 7, 1986), known online as Brookers, is one of the earliest YouTubers. Brodack, a receptionist from Holden, Massachusetts, first began uploading short comedy skits to YouTube in September 2005. She was offered a contract from NBC show host Carson Daly in 2006, before YouTubers were able to monetize their videos in December 2007, but nothing came of it. Brodack briefly had the most-subscribed YouTube channel for a period of 43 days from July 3, 2006, to August 15, 2006, during which it became the first channel to reach 10,000 subscribers. It was the first and only time the most subscribed YouTube channel was officially held by a channel of a female individual. The New Yorker called her "the first real YouTube star," in a December 2006 article.[2]
Brooke Brodack | |
|---|---|
 Brodack at 2008 ROFLCon | |
| Born | Brooke Allison Brodack April 7, 1986 Putnam, Connecticut, U.S. |
| Other names | Brooke Alley |
| Years active | 2005–2018 (New channel is active) |
| Known for | YouTube personality |
YouTube information | |
| Channel | |
| Genre | Vlog |
| Subscribers | 64 thousand (2014)[1] |
| Total views | ~50 million (2014)[1] |
Last updated: May 4, 2023 | |
Brodack moved in with fellow YouTuber iJustine, but afterwards deleted her channel and moved to Vadodara, India. She relocated to Los Angeles in early 2017.
Early life
editBrodack was born in Putnam, Connecticut. She has been making videos since she was nine years old.[3][4] Graduating from Wachusett Regional High School, she then attended college at Worcester State College, Quinsigamond Community College and Mount Wachusett Community College, ultimately dropping out of all three. Brodack worked from 2003 to 2006 as a receptionist and hostess at the 99 Restaurant,[5] and she volunteered (2003–2005) for the NEADS program (Dogs for Deaf and Disabled Americans) in Sterling, Massachusetts.[6]
Brodack lived in Holden, Massachusetts with her mother and younger sister, working as a receptionist.[5][7]
Internet success
editBrodack began posting her short comedic videos on her "Brookers" YouTube channel in September 2005. By June 2006, she was offered an 18-month development contract from Carson Daly, the host of a late night show on NBC,[7] but nothing ever came of it.[8] From July 3 to August 17, 2006, her "Brookers" channel was the most-subscribed on YouTube. She was named a "Crossover Star" by The Wall Street Journal on its New Media Power List on July 29, 2006.[9]
Brookers directed, edited and performed in her early videos, most of which were set at her family home in Holden, Massachusetts. The New Yorker has called her videos "defiantly madcap."[2] Her single-most popular video, "Crazed Numa Fan!!!!", a lip-sync parody of an earlier Internet meme, Numa Numa Dance by Gary Brolsma (itself a parody of "Dragostea din tei" by O-Zone),[10] was viewed on YouTube over 8.2 million [11] times. Her younger sister, Melissa "Missy" Brodack, performed alongside her in many videos, including "Crazed Numa Fan!!!!"[5]
Her video "Chips," a spoof suspense drama about eating potato chips, was called "brilliant" by Entertainment Weekly, which has listed it among the "great moments in YouTube history."[12]
From August 2006 to April 2007, she played a large role on a Daly-hosted, NBC-sponsored video contest website, It's Your Show TV[13] posting many videos there.[14] She appeared on The Tyra Banks Show (December 6, 2006), as a judge for a student video competition. In February 2007, she appeared alongside other early YouTube stars in "The Sound of Your Voice," a viral music video for Barenaked Ladies.[15]
From May 2007 to March 2008, Brookers had her own web channel, brookebrodack.tv, which was offered through www.me.tv, a new service Daly helped to found. She participated in the 777 (July 7, 2007) YouTube gathering in New York City. In November 2007, she released, "Ozzy's Magical Glasses n' Stuff," a viral video advertisement for a live auction of Ozzy Osbourne items on the Auction Network, for which she was paid "a solid five figures" by the Palisades Media Group.[16]
Later life
editFrom mid-2013 to early 2017, she lived in Vadodara, India, working on video workshop lectures in collaboration with Design Infinium.
As of February 2017, she relocated to Los Angeles.
On July 12, 2017,[17] Brodack deleted her YouTube account. She also deleted her Twitter and set her Instagram profile to private.
In mid-2018, she returned to YouTube on a new[18] self-titled channel. This channel also no longer exists.
In 2019 Brodack created a new YouTube channel under her real name as of August 2024 it had a little over 1.7 thousand subscribers which was fewer than her previous channel which had 59.2 thousand subscribers before its deletion in July 2017.[19]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "About Brooke Brodack". YouTube.
- ^ a b McGrath, Ben (October 8, 2006). "It Should Happen to You". The New Yorker. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
- ^ Martin, Denise (June 12, 2006). "Carson Daly bonkers for Brookers". Variety. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
- ^ Audette, Ashley (February 12, 2007). "Brookers Interview". Brookers Fanatics. Archived from the original on February 9, 2009.
- ^ a b c Hardy, Michael (June 27, 2006). "The self-made star". The Boston Globe. Retrieved April 21, 2020 – via boston.com.
- ^ "NEADS". Archived from the original on 2007-02-02. Retrieved 2007-01-31.
- ^ a b Collins, Scott (June 19, 2006). "Now she has their attention". Los Angeles Times. p. E1. ISSN 0458-3035. Archived from the original on January 13, 2023.
- ^ Bergman, Sirena (January 17, 2020). "YouTube conquered the world in the 2010s – where does it go from here?". The Independent. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
- ^ Jurgensen, John (2006-07-29). "Moguls of New Media". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 2007-09-22. Retrieved 2007-05-20.
- ^ Feifer, Jason (2006-06-11). "Video makers find a vast and eager audience". Worcester Telegram. Archived from the original on 2009-02-09. Retrieved 2009-04-03.
- ^ Video on YouTube
- ^ Juarez, Vanessa (August 18, 2006). "How YouTube is changing Hollywood". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
- ^ It's Your Show TV Archived December 10, 2006, at the Wayback Machine,
- ^ Mayberry, Carly (November 27, 2006). "Daly expands domain with Net projects". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
- ^ "Barenaked Ladies - Sound of Your Voice [Official Music Video]". YouTube.
- ^ "Crazier Train". OMMA. January 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-02-27. Retrieved 2009-04-03.
- ^ "Brookers". Socialblade.com. Archived from the original on 2017-08-22. Retrieved 2017-08-22.
- ^ "Brooke Brodack". YouTube. Archived from the original on March 9, 2019. Retrieved September 24, 2018.
- ^ "Brooke Brodack". YouTube. Archived from the original on July 6, 2019. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
Further reading
editBooks
edit- Bergen, Mark (2022). Like, Comment, Subscribe: Inside YouTube's Chaotic Rise to World Domination. Penguin Books. ISBN 9780593296349.
- Ezarik, Justine; Hargrave, C. L. (2015). I, Justine: An Analog Memoir. New York: Keywords Press. ISBN 9781476791517. OCLC 887849720.
Articles and videos
edit- Flynn, Colm (February 9, 2022). I was the world's first Youtube star: Brooke Brodack (Interview). YouTube. Retrieved January 15, 2023.
- Sydell, Laura (June 28, 2006). "NBC Plugs into YouTube's Viral Growth". NPR. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
- Leskin, Paige (May 30, 2020). "7 early YouTubers reveal the moments they knew they made it big". Business Insider. Retrieved January 12, 2023.