COREY NIKOLAUS and the birth of eraserdred
2023: The Jump
Corey started EraserDread in 2023 after more than a decade working in the film industry as a director and editor. While the work was steady, he felt a growing pull toward something more personal. Animation had always been the dream, and eventually he decided to make the pivot and pursue it fully.
Inspired by independent animation channels like MeatCanyon and Flashgitz, Corey saw YouTube as a possible entry point — a space to experiment, learn, and build an audience while finding his voice as an animator.
The spark came from an idea he’d had years earlier: a surreal mash-up of The Simpsons and Eraserhead. At the time, he had attempted it in 2D animation, but his drawing skills held him back. Years later, he discovered 3D scanning. As a lifelong fan of stop-motion and animators like Lee Hardcastle, he picked up a block of clay and sculpted Homer Simpson by hand. The process was meditative. The next question was simple but terrifying: would it actually work? Could this become a film?
To make it happen, Corey had to learn Blender from scratch — rigging, texturing, topology, lighting — an entirely new language. Progress came in fragments, pieced together through endless tutorials and late-night problem-solving. Every solution revealed a new problem. But slowly, the finish line moved closer.
When he finally completed his first 3D animated short, everything clicked. That was the moment he committed to the journey.
2024: The Grind
What followed was a year of relentless work — sculpting, scanning, animating, and producing at speed while chasing the YouTube algorithm. During this time, Corey’s mother was diagnosed with stage-four cancer. The pressure intensified. She didn’t fully understand what he was building, but she believed in him, and that belief pushed him forward.
Six months into the process, his mother passed away. She was the most important person in his life, taken far too soon. Her encouragement — to keep going, to follow his instincts — became fuel during the hardest stretch of the journey.
After months of stagnation, one video finally broke through: a Bluey parody that gained traction, monetized the channel, brought thousands of subscribers, and surpassed 100,000 views. Momentum, at last — or so it seemed.
Instead, performance declined. As production quality increased, views dropped. The algorithm became unpredictable and discouraging. Still, Corey kept pushing.
Faded with a Stranger - A Breakthrough?
Looking for a different outlet, he became obsessed with the song “Faded With a Stranger” by Chris Webby. Visuals flooded his mind with every listen. On a long shot, he animated a sample and sent it to Webby — not expecting a response. Days later, Webby replied. The sample became an official music video.
The project demanded more than anything Corey had done before. When it released, the response was overwhelming: reaction videos, hundreds of comments, and over a million views. His work was reaching people — just not in the way YouTube growth metrics rewarded. Rap fans didn’t necessarily convert into long-term animation audiences.
2025: Back to Basics
So it was back to YouTube. Over the next year, Corey produced more than 30 animated shorts, building a dense catalog of work. Views remained stagnant, but something else was happening — the work was improving. His voice was sharpening.
After the passing of filmmaker David Lynch, Corey created a tribute film driven purely by inspiration rather than algorithm. That piece screened internationally and went on to win multiple awards, reaffirming his instincts as an artist.
Around this time, Animation+ — a FAST streaming platform — discovered his work and signed him, placing his films alongside artists he admired. Seeing his animations play on television felt surreal.
Still, the YouTube grind wore on. One day, discouraged and driving aimlessly, Corey was listening to “Bitter Sweet Symphony” by Ren when new visuals began forming. He considered reaching out — just as he had with Webby.
Within thirty minutes, his phone rang. It was Webby. He was collaborating with Ren on an album and had a track he thought Corey’s style would suit perfectly. The timing felt unreal.
The new music video became a dream project. Corey assembled a small team of long-time collaborators, experimented with puppets made by his mother-in-law, and pushed every creative boundary he could. After three months of intense work, the video was completed and met with enthusiasm from both artists. The release is still forthcoming.
Returning to personal work, Corey created an original film intended for festivals rather than platforms. It received little online attention but is currently on the festival circuit. Soon after, a joke in a group chat about McDonald’s using human meat sparked a new idea. What began as a short parody evolved into his most ambitious personal project yet — a two-month production blending film-noir aesthetics, mystery, comedy, and horror.
2026: AN End & A New Beginning
Despite being his strongest work to date, the film sat under 500 views on YouTube. Days later, Corey woke up to find his channel permanently terminated for “spam.” Appeals failed. Two years of full-time work — more than 30 films — vanished overnight.
But the story didn’t end there.
Corey is now focused on developing an original animated series, Weenis and Gronk — a project that had always been part of the long-term plan. The termination didn’t derail the vision; it accelerated it. A new year, a new direction, and a renewed commitment to building work that lasts beyond algorithms.