More than two years ago, then-UA student Jimmy Tatro created a YouTube video called “Frat Life” that he said was destined to go viral. Now, Tatro and Christian A. Pierce, a creative writing junior, will be starring in the upcoming “Total Frat Movie.”
“I can’t wait to watch this movie take off. This year we’ve really started to get into our groove of our partnership, and it’s really starting to look good,” Pierce said. “So I’m really excited for what’s about to happen.”
Known for weekly sketches that exploit common, not-openly-discussed, awkward situations, the duo’s YouTube channel, LifeAccordingToJimmy, has amassed more than 63 million views since opening in November 2011.
Tatro said he wanted to expand his comedic horizons beyond “Frat Life.”
“I didn’t want to be that YouTuber who’s known as just doing that one thing, because there’s no where to really grow from there,” Tatro said. “Once you do all the frat videos, it’s like, what else is there to do?”
Each week, before sketching out lines and scenes (many of which originate from the UA), Tatro and Pierce sit down with 15 to 20 concepts and recall funny interactions or relevant events.
After this year, he added, the two will move back to their hometown of Los Angeles to pursue full-time entertainment careers before taking part in a new fraternity-oriented video that will play on the big screen.
Due to their established fan base of students and colleagues, Tatro and Pierce were contacted by totalfratmove.com about collaborating on the “Total Frat Movie” during the summer.
Tatro said that he’s been contacted for numerous requests because of his videos, but one in particular has stuck with him.
Tatro said a man from Connecticut often contacted him wanting to buy his clothes.
“I’d say ‘no’ and he’d be like ‘I want to buy your clothes from this video, this video and this video’ and I’d be like ‘Dude, no way,’” Tatro said. “Then he’d be like I’ll give you $1,500 for five T-shirts, so I ended up selling that kid a lot of my clothes … I probably made about four grand from that kid.”
While both have received interesting requests, Pierce said the success of the channel has made him more aware of the support around him.
“I’ve heard nothing but good, supportive things from the U of A. It’s really awesome,” Pierce said. “It’s really opened my eyes to different groups of people that go to this school and the level of support that they give and how much they really care about their fellow students.”
Due to their understanding of fellow students and the college scene, both Pierce and Tatro said they wanted to have a part in the writing process for the movie. This was important to Tatro, who said he believed many Hollywood writers, after their college years, while funny, don’t understand college.
“Most people have no idea. Like the life college kids live is just so ridiculous and unfathomable that most people just can’t even imagine. Like they have no idea what college kids are doing right now,” Tatro said.
W.R. Bolen, author of the New York Times bestseller “Total Frat Move Book,” agreed. He added that the two appeal to an audience otherwise unattended to by frequent fraternity stereotypes.
“They both have awesome YouTube followings that are, for the most part, college kids obviously, and they’re both fucking hilarious,” Bolen said. He added that the duo, including “West Coast Jimmy,” branches out to a part of the country who relate more to them than the “southern vibe” of the site.
Even though they will be busy with “Total Frat Movie,” and other projects, Pierce said he hopes to continue keeping the YouTube channel fresh with new videos and pursuing other ventures.
“Any down time that I have over the next six to 12 months is going to be focused on writing sketches,” Pierce said, “keeping the channel alive, writing pilots for TV and keep working on as many projects as I can.”
