Brothers and sisters do it for themselves in USA
FIVE Nottingham siblings are opening a studio in New York after gaining millions of social media followers.
They are known online as the Mulligan Brothers and inspire people through documentaries on their Youtube channel with 1.7 million subscribers.
They lived in Gedling before spending most of their childhoods in Carlton, raised by a single mother on a council estate.
They bought their Nottingham filming studio in Carlton Road, Sneinton, at the end of 2018 and are now expanding across the Atlantic.
Eldest brother Jordan, 31, said: “We will never leave Nottingham – all the people we love are here. Nottingham doesn’t get enough credit, like Sneinton and Hockley – they have so much talent and culture around film.
“We are also creating a home base in New York and the same in
London. It’s helpful to have bases in these places because we always go back and forth and we wanted a hub where all the equipment would be so it’s easier to shoot projects.”
They have made Youtube documentaries with people such as motivational speaker Wim Hof and Gymshark billionaire Ben Francis. Their videos have now had more than 300 million views.
The siblings grew up competitive with one another, particularly playing sports. Luke, 30, used to play for England’s partially sighted football team and for Notts County FC.
Jordan said: “When we were kids we always had this self belief that was unwavering. At one point as a child we filmed action scenes on a film camera, but it was not an option to be a filmmaker as someone from a council estate.”
Ten years ago, Luke had a Youtube channel with 10,000 subscribers while Jordan ran a gym for women with his partner, both earning minimum wage. But everything changed when Jordan’s son was stillborn and he realised his life was not fulfilling.
He said: “I didn’t want him to have died in vain. It goes back to that moment. I would not be doing this if he had not died. It’s how I reached this place of making content to inspire people. The way we pick guests is that they need to have an inspiring story.”
Jordan sold his business to help Luke with the channel and they recruited William shortly afterwards. Their first pay cheque was just $80 but now they are working towards collaborating with big companies including Netflix, the BBC and Amazon.
They quickly reached 100,000 subscribers and sisters Erin, 24, and Niamh, 21, have now joined the team. William has got a deal with Penguin for his book The Everyday Stoic: Simple Rules For Good Life, translated into 10 languages before publication.
Jordan said: “We are a really ambitious family. How could I fail when I have the backs of my family? They pick me up when I feel low.”