About · The person behind the systems
About Callum Janes.
Media strategist, content systems architect, community builder, and voice actor. Fifteen years inside creator ecosystems, from convention floors to broadcast studios to the editorial engine room of one of YouTube's biggest channels.
Belfast, NI
01 / Media & Content
The engine room.
The career started where most media careers in Northern Ireland start: doing every job at once. Researcher, runner, production assistant, sound recordist. The kind of years where you learn how content actually gets made, end to end, because you carried every piece of it.
That foundation led to writing and voice-led video for ScreenRant, long-form narration for Knowledgia, and eventually to WatchMojo, first as a writer and voice, then as Lead Editorial Coordinator, running editorial systems for a channel of 25 million subscribers. Over a thousand credited videos later, the lesson holds: great content isn't an act of inspiration. It's a system that lets inspiration ship.
02 / Founder · Community
Building the room.
The community work started at QCon in 2010 as a volunteer and never really stopped: through Alcon, Eirtakon, and Nom-Con, then MiniCon, where as Operations Director attendance doubled, and on through a decade of convention culture to Anime Tattcon.
In 2024 that experience became NerdyNI, Northern Ireland's most consistent fandom community. Pokémon quizzes, Anime Discos, and the 1,500-attendee Belfast Nerdy Market: 24+ events, 2,800+ attendees, and a return rate that proves the thesis. People don't come back for content. They come back for each other.
03 / Voice
The instrument.
Voice work runs through all of it. Character voices for BBC CBeebies' Pablo, an animated series led by autistic talent. Dennis Blanford in Fallout London. Narration across WatchMojo, Knowledgia, and ScreenRant, plus commercial work for brands like Gillette and Coca-Cola.
All of it recorded from a treated home studio in Belfast, Sennheiser MKH 416 into a Zoom F8n, built for broadcast-quality delivery on fast turnarounds.
Hosting · NerdyNI live event
Timeline
Fifteen years, six chapters.
Operating principles
What I believe.
Community is infrastructure, not content.
Content is what fills a community. It isn't what holds one up. The holding is done by rituals, safety, and the quiet work of making people feel expected. That work has to be designed like infrastructure, because that's what it is.
Attention is not the same as belonging.
Attention is rented; belonging is owned. A spike in views tells you the algorithm liked something. A room that refills itself month after month tells you that you built something people need.
Sustainable audiences are built from emotional truth.
Formats can be copied. Trends decay. The one thing that compounds is an audience's sense that you mean it, and that can't be faked at scale, only earned at scale.
Frequently asked
Quick answers.
Q. Who is Callum Janes?
A Belfast-based media strategist, content systems architect, community builder, and voice actor. Formerly Lead Editorial Coordinator at WatchMojo, founder of NerdyNI, with broadcast credits across BBC, ITV, and CBeebies.
Q. What is NerdyNI?
Northern Ireland's fandom community: quizzes, anime discos, the Belfast Nerdy Market, and meetups. Founded in 2024, it has welcomed 2,800+ attendees across 24+ events. Read the full story.
Q. What does Callum Janes do?
Three things: media strategy and content systems for publishers and creators, community building through NerdyNI, and professional voice over for games, TV, and online media.
Q. Is Callum Janes available for work?
Yes: for media strategy and consulting, speaking engagements, workshops, and voice over commissions. Get in touch.
Q. Where is Callum Janes based?
Belfast, Northern Ireland, working with clients locally and internationally, with remote-ready studio facilities for voice work.
Transmission open
Want to work together?
Whether it's a media project, a community partnership, or a script that needs a voice: say hello.