The XD Experience
Fifteen-plus years of making video for a community that YouTube wasn’t built for yet, from one of the first LGBTQIA+ channels to web series and branded storytelling.
In 2008 there were almost no channels made by and for LGBTQIA+ people, especially Black queer creators. The XD Experience started as a personal channel and became my lab for format, voice and audience-building, years before “creator economy” was a phrase.
- Built an audience organically. I wrote, filmed, edited and hosted hundreds of videos, growing to 10K+ subscribers with no paid promotion.
- Spun off formats. I launched The XD Experience Radio Show to extend the brand into audio.
- Produced scripted work. I executive produced season two of the award-winning web series Quarter Century, created by Shayla Racquel, about college grads navigating a quarter-life crisis.
- Supported festival strategy. As associate producer on Riverment (2018), Shayla Racquel’s short about a former civil rights activist and her granddaughter, I supported production and festival strategy. The film went on to win a Student Emmy (National Capital Chesapeake Bay Chapter, Long Form – Fiction) and Best Cinematography at the Las Vegas Black Film Festival.
- Created branded storytelling. As a member of Movember’s inaugural Rooted & Rising Collective (2021), I created and hosted Black Gay Thirty, a mini-series on Black gay men approaching 30.
Black Gay Thirty is a two-part short-form series about men approaching 30 and what self-care really looks like, made with Movember, Second Muse and Rooted & Rising Collective.
Episode 1: Almost 30
Our director Chris opens up about the anxiety of getting older at 29: his self-care (or lack of it), and what he hopes 30 will bring.
Episode 2: Finding Suadé
I sit down with Kyle, my best friend of 15 years and an LA drag performer known as Suadé. He talks about his road to 30, including the hard years and the trauma that led him to find self-care through drag. Then you meet Suadé on the mainstage for the first time.
Created, executive produced & hosted by Xavier D’Leau · Directed by Chris (@cxrodge3) · Powered by Movember, Second Muse and Rooted & Rising Collective
- WETA Well BeingsBlack Gay Thirty: ChrisCreated & hosted · Movember Rooted & Rising2021 ↗
- InstagramBlack Gay Thirty: Kyle (Suadé)Created & hosted · Movember Rooted & Rising2021 ↗
- MovemberRooted & Rising CollectiveInaugural cohort member2021 ↗
- IMDbRivermentAssociate Producer · Student Emmy winner2018 ↗
- Shayla RacquelRiverment: Cast & CrewCredited as Associate Producer2018 ↗
- YouTubeThe XD ExperienceFounder, creator & host2008– ↗
Let’s build what’s next.
Open to Head of Content, Director of Podcast/Audio, Executive Producer, Creative Director and VP of Brand/Community roles. Los Angeles or remote.