About Us
Technology through creativity. Creativity through technology.
Our Focus
Nerd on the Street is a video production company. Our mission is to inform and entertain our viewers while advocating for free & open software.
Open-source software is software that's released with publicly accessible source code. Free/libre software is software that respects the freedoms of its users. We combine and shorten these terms into the phrase "free & open."
We consider free & open software a critical requirement of creative expression. In an increasingly digital world, we believe users should have high-quality software that respects their privacy and lets them retain control over their own computers. This is why we advocate for free & open software.
Our Content
We advocate for free & open software in two ways: talking about it, and using it to make cool stuff. Our content is split between two broad categories: technology & creativity.
Technology
On the NOTS Technology Channel, we've published over 350 videos demonstrating, explaining, and discussing technology. With a long-time focus on Linux-related content, our tech videos aim to provide detailed, well-produced content for the free software community. Our videos have achieved over 5 million views on YouTube so far.
While most of our videos are standalone, we've produced some recurring series, such as our weekly Linux news podcast, Rolling Release. We've also helped open-source projects reach community members via video content, like when we hosted community chats with the developers & users of Composr CMS.
Creativity
Our scripted sci-fi show Displaced tells the fan-fiction story of a team of intergalactic explorers rediscovering the roots of their civilization's past. The first two feature-length seasons were produced as machinima, using Minecraft as the animation engine. The third season is being produced as original animation using Blender.
On our gaming channel, we participate in charity events such as Extra Life, which benefits Children's Miracle Network hospitals. We've put on telethons up to 28 hours in length, and we've raised over $8,000 for the St. Louis Children's Hospital!
Our Business Plan
Nerd on the Street Productions, LLC is a Limited Liability Company located in the state of Missouri. Most of our operating costs are covered by our staff, but we do receive some funding from two types of sources: ad (advertisement) revenue and audience funding. We prefer audience funding when possible.
Ad revenue sources:
- Google AdSense
- Dailymotion
- Brave Creators
- Amazon Prime Video (inactive)
Audience funding platforms:
In order to maintain our creative independence, we specifically avoid partnerships with individual companies, although we are willing to test and review products on occasion. We do not accept partnership terms that would require us to say specific things or limit us from saying anything.
Our People
Jacob Kauffmann founded Nerd on the Street and produces most of its content. Jacob holds a master's degree from the University of Colorado Denver and works full-time in information systems. Visit Jacob's LinkedIn profile for more information about his career.
Over the years, numerous friends and volunteers have come and gone from NOTS content. At present, there are no active projects with continual outside involvement, but here are some of the other faces you'll see in our back catalog:
- Michael Chenot: Michael was on the machinimation team for the first two seasons of Displaced. He's also been a stream tech (handling audio & video) for many of the NOTS Extra Life telethons. He's currently working full-time in information technology.
- Adam Herrera: Adam was the lead voice actor in all seasons of Displaced, and was also on the machinimation team for the first two seasons. He's co-hosted over 60 episodes of the NOTS Podcast with Jacob, co-hosted other shows such as the visual novel stream entitled "Flowchart Kings," and appeared on many of the NOTS Extra Life telethons. He's currently working full-time in accounting.
- Brett Schlereth: Brett was the host of the NOTS Gaming channel from September 2014 to April 2015. He was a voice actor in all seasons of Displaced, and he participated in the first few NOTS Extra Life streams. He's currently attending university.
- Richard Bimmer: Richard was the second recurring co-host of the Rolling Release podcast. He's currently attending university for computer science.
- Mark McDoodly: Mark was the original co-host of the Rolling Release podcast. He's currently working full-time in information technology.
- Stephanie Tsunami: Stephanie participated in the NOTS Extra Life 2015 and 2016 streams. She's currently attending university.