My Story
After becoming fascinated with entertainment during my first job at Blockbuster Video, I began working in technology for numerous entertainment companies including 20th Century Fox, TV Guide and Cirque Du Soleil. I eventually wanted to turn the camera on myself and find a way to help others. I started LordanArts and began playing around with different content types and formats on YouTube in 2013. In 2015, I found what I had been seeking my whole life.
THE SHOWS
In 2015 I started BrainScratch, a YouTube show dedicated to looking into unsolved mysteries, and bringing a voice of reason to sometimes unreasonable or hard to believe conversations. A staple of BrainScratch is that I take the audience through my research piece by piece, so they can understand where my conclusions are coming from and make their own as well.
This would lead to Searchlight, a show that used the same BrainScratch "filmed research" method to highlight missing person's cases. This had led to some of the hardest and most fulfilling work of my career. Families with missing loved ones are now in regular contact with me, sometimes coming on the show to share their information and insights.
Many of the stories I cover do not have endings, and when they do, they frequently aren't what most would consider happy endings, so I started Case Cracked. Case Cracked focuses on solved cases, and what was the method or evidence that was key in solving that case.
In 2018 I partnered up with fellow True Crime YouTuber Danelle Hallan and started a monthly podcast called Crime After Crime. Every episode is based on a particular topic, and Danelle and I each tell a crime story related to that topic. The audience then votes on who is the winner of that episode.
In 2019 another collaboration started. 3 Men and a Mystery is a deep dive investigative podcast. Each season we review one case and feature information and experts to bring the audience as close to the crime scene as possible. It is hosted by myself, Gray Hughes and Mike Morford.
For many years I'd been hearing from fans of BrainScratch that they wanted a podcast. Seriously Mysterious was started in 2020. Giving overviews and updates on cases I've previously looked into as well as new cases not featured on my YouTube channel, it's perfect for fans both old and new.
In 2021 I was featured on the Netflix documentary Crime Scene The Vanishing at the Cecil Hotel which was a deep dive into the mystery of Elisa Lam. The show hit #1 on the Netflix US Top 10. Later that year I presented a case for an advanced criminology class to analyze at the University of North Texas. That collaboration would happen again the following year, with the professor telling me he believed it was the "deepest and most enriching" modification he had ever made to his curriculum.
In 2022 I worked with an investigative reporter and was featured on a local ABC news segment when the case of Elisa Gomez was reopened by the Minneapolis Police Department. I also began a collaboration with Uncovered.com to highlight their excellent work on a new show called LordanArts Uncovered.
In 2023 a partnership we had established with a company called Jellysmack proved to be fruitful with a video that went viral on facebook, expanding our reach to over 600,000 new subscribers.
As we near the 10 year anniversary of Brainscratch in 2025, we have multiple new projects in development including television and documentaries.
SUGGEST A CASE
If you have a case suggestion that we haven't previously covered on the channel, please follow this link and let me know about it.
APPEARANCES
One of the great privilege's I've found in this work is the ability to meet other people that want to help people as well. I've been interviewed on numerous podcasts, radio shows and have had a few television appearances. I'm also honored to be one of the first YouTubers to be hosted by CrimeCon and have participated yearly since.
I've had the privilege of participating in several important panel discussions over the years. I've discussed numerous aspects of citizen sleuthing, collaborating with law enforcement, ethics of internet investigation reporting, underrepresented Missing Person cases and more.
OTHER PROJECTS
In Gone at Midnight, author Jake Anderson details his investigation into the Elisa Lam case including coming into the world of online sleuthing, finding me and my work.
You can also check out the audiobook version of "Wraithworks," a fictional book about a True Crime YouTuber who investigates a deadly conspiracy. I consulted on the story, as well as produced and narrated the audiobook. Now available at Audible and iTunes.
Please stop by the LordanArts website to learn more about my YouTube channel, or you can see what I've done outside of YouTube on my IMDB profile.
Thanks for your interest and for stopping by,
John