Esnyr Ranollo reflected on his journey as a content creator, recalling how his popular high school skits began five years ago.
On Instagram Stories, Esnyr shared a throwback video and revealed that he secretly filmed his early content inside his room during the pandemic despite having limited resources.
"Wow, exactly 5 years ago around this time. I remember filming this content nang patago sa kwarto ko 🥺 No budget, no wigs, no nice lighting, just pure passion," he shared.
Looking back, Esnyr said he was simply pursuing his dream of bringing joy to viewers during a difficult period.
"Looking back, I was just someone with a dream na makakapagpasaya kahit pandemic. There were moments dati I wondered what life would be like if I ever made it," he recounted.
Esnyr initially gained popularity on TikTok through his short-form skits, in which he portrayed multiple high school characters. He later expanded to YouTube and produced his first long-form high school series.
In a previous interview with Melai Cantiveros on Kuan on One, Esnyr revealed that he invested all his savings in the show’s first episode despite being warned that transitioning from short-form to long-form content would be difficult.
"Nag-start jud ko, tanan nako savings gibuhos nako sa first episode kay ang gusto lang namo maka-reach lang siya ug 100,000 views. Mao lang jud to ang among goal kay niana sila, lisod daw mu-transfer from short-form to long-form videos. Mao to gi-risk nako tanan (I really started by pouring all my savings into the first episode because our goal was just to reach 100,000 views. That was our only goal because they said it’s hard to transition from short-form to long-form videos. So I risked everything),” Esnyr recalled.
His sacrifice paid off, with the first episode of his YouTube series eventually garnering 9 million views.
"Tapos okay ra sad na gi-risk nako kay murag ni-boom siya, first video namo niabot 9 million views. Mao to nakuratan ko kay dugay-dugay na wala ko kakita ug videos na 9 million, 10 million [views] (It was worth the risk because it really boomed. The first video reached 9 million views. I was shocked because it’s been a while since I saw a video reach 9 or 10 million views), " he shared.
READ: Esnyr Ranollo recalls sacrificing savings for first episode of YouTube high school series
Last June, Esnyr launched his latest high school series, First Day High, featuring a star-studded lineup of guests.
The content creator shared that the episode took three months to produce and was one of his biggest projects to date.
Among the celebrities who appeared in the installment were Vice Ganda, Donny Pangilinan, Belle Mariano, and Empoy Marquez.