By the Gods! (Blog note)

Karim (Steve Reeves) steals from corrupt Gamal (Daniele Vargas) in THIEF OF BAGHDAD (1961)

I started this blog back in 2010. At that time I already had a Youtube channel, which I created in 2007. I decided to make this blog for many reasons, mainly because the genre as a whole is seriously underrated but I also created it as an extension of my Youtube channel. To have people who visit the  blog to check out my Youtube channel as well. Since 2007, I've had numerous different incarnations of Youtube channels. From the get go, I've experienced numerous problems and set backs that would make one's head spin. Last week, out of nowhere, Youtube placed a restriction on my entire channel. PEPLUM TV has been put under some sort of lock down. It has been entirely demonetized and 'blacklisted' from being seen as recommended videos. I have a month to appeal the decision but aside from that there's nothing I can do. The decision they gave is extremely vague and doesn't exactly pin point to what upload (or uploads) triggered this problem. I have to guess it. And I have to say that I don't even have any copyright strikes. So, Youtube placed a permanent restriction on my channel even if I don't have any strikes. Amazing! It irks Youtube to no end that the content I upload is public domain and they can't copyright strike my uploads.

Basically, my Youtube channel is dead and even if I re-apply to change the decision in 30 days, there's very little chance the decision will be overturned.

I can't create a new channel. I already had 3 different channels which have also been rejected by Youtube.

I spend an enormous amount of time in creating Fan Dubs, uploading videos, choosing clips, etc, and in creating this blog. The video editing part has basically dominated my life for the past 4 years. Now that the only platform in which I was able to showcase my works is not available anymore, I've decided that I won't be uploading anything at PEPLUM TV. I won't be uploading anything anywhere. I know some people will say to go the Patreon way but I've already tried Patreon and it didn't work out (I only got 3 patrons).

Right now, at the moment, my mindset is not clear enough to post stuff here at the blog. I'm not abandoning the blog because it basically has a life of its own separate from PEPLUM TV but as I already stated above, I created the blog to help promote my Youtube channel(s) and now that the channel is pretty much dead, there's a part of me that feels that it's pointless to keep posting here. A PEPLUM blog without PEPLUM TV is pointless. It feel like I'm going backwards, not forward.

I won't be posting as often as before, mainly until I figure out what's in store for this blog or anything to do with PEPLUM stuff. The only thing I know is that PEPLUM TV on Youtube is dead (unless there's a miracle and the decision is overturned). Ultimately, I would like to do a documentary or, to be more realistic, to write a book on the genre, which means I need to focus all my attention on this which means I'll have even less time for the blog. I have over 8 years of material here. I've been rereading old posts and I'm amazed by how much information I have that few have seen. I'll be re-posting old posts on and off for now, until I figure out things. I'm at a certain point in my life in which I need to move forward, to be as productive as possible. And continuing the blog **full time** without PEPLUM TV is not part of it.

The latest incarnation of PEPLUM TV has been enormously successful. The channel has over 128,000 subscribers with over 55 million views (it's lower now since I deleted many uploads). I have many videos with millions of views. Its success is most likely the reason why a restriction was placed on it. Once a channel surpasses 100,000 subscribers, someone (not a bot) is assigned to the channel and they look over the channel to help promote it even further. This person probably saw the content of my channel and it was sent to the Youtube gulag (among other reasons including people uploading my videos to their channels subsequently making my content look like it's not original).

The videos uploaded there will stay, as a permanent exhibit of the PEPLUM genre. I had so many things planned for PEPLUM TV but all of this is now flushed down the toilet.

Thanks for your understanding.