Ethan Schulteis was just 14 years old when he launched the YouTube channel that would change his life. At the time, he lived in a quiet Wisconsin suburb, enjoyed watching “Avatar: The Last Airbender” (A:TLA), and had no idea what was in store for him.
Today Schulteis has 1,000,000 subscribers on his channel “The Amagi.” He earned YouTube’s highly- coveted Gold Play Button in August 2021. And he’s partnering with major brands like Frederator Media, the studio behind classic hits like “Adventure Time” and “The Fairly Oddparents.”
A Teen’s Journey to YouTube
Born to Tim and Shelly Schulteis, Ethan grew up in Southeastern, Wisconsin. He wanted to be a firefighter until a critical moment in elementary school changed everything.
Schulteis created his YouTube channel in 2016, but the seeds for his account were planted back in 2010— during a time he and his friends called “Avatar fever.” During this era, Schulteis pored over the series, watching every behind-the-scenes clip he could get his hands on and exploring the intricacies of the franchise.
Then and there, Schulteis decided he’d become an animator. Inspired by A:TLA, he envisioned running his own show, even going so far as to send a pitch to Nickelodeon in middle school.
Schulteis never heard back. He did, however, talk his parents into enrolling him in an online animation course. And it was in this course that he created “The Amagi,” and posted his first YouTube video: a now- private web series episode that laid the foundation for his future.
Finding His Footing in Fictional Worlds
While Schulteis put his web series on the backburner, he’s reached viewers in an entirely different way. In May 2019, he he began covering the histories of fictional worlds, starting with the very world that first inspired him: A:TLA. His video “The History of Lavabending” quickly went viral.
Over 150 videos reviewing the A:TLA franchise followed. Schulteis accumulated 100,000 subscribers in 2020, and an additional 900,000 over the next 14 months.
Talk about a snowball effect. Since that first fateful video, Schulteis has started working with the internet’s most popular A:TLA resource (Avatar Wiki)—only the first in a flurry of partnerships that have introduced the creator to some of the brands he’s long dreamed of working with.
And when he noticed his viewers had become less interested in A:TLA content? He simply pivoted. Schulteis started creating content from the “Naruto” franchise, before moving on to different anime worlds as well—hiring voice actors from other channels like Get In The Robot and ChannelFrederator, which caused something of a snowball effect in his channel growth.
What’s Next for Schulteis?
Schulteis spends the bulk of his time making sure he understands what his audience wants. Early on, he played around with top 10 videos, news updates, and even interviews before settling on the histories of fictional worlds. And he isn’t afraid to evolve.
He recently wrapped up a channel rebrand, complete with a new logo and video graphics. He’s also spending more time on his spinoff channel “The Amagi 2,” which covers the worlds of live action fictional characters. (Then, there’s his personal channel “Ethan Schulteis,” which captivates 19,000 subscribers with vlogs from the YouTuber’s life.)
The verdict? Only time will tell what’s next for Schulteis. In October 2021, after hiring many of their staff when they shut down during the pandemic, Frederator Media caught on and hired Schulteis to start creating videos on the studio’s “ChannelFrederator” account, which features 2 million subscribers.
If there’s anything one can assume about the creator’s future, it’s that he’s slated for even more growth. One YouTube analytics site estimates “The Amagi” will have close to 6 million subscribers by 2027.
With well over a million people keeping tabs on his content, and with one of YouTube’s most sought-after awards to his name before age 20, the future is bright for this Wisconsinite. Schulteis is thankful to everyone who’s been there along the way.
Interested in learning more about Schulteis? Follow him for updates, or subscribe to “The Amagi” for a deep-dive on his content.
