Henry Spencer and Carlos Alcántara Reconciliation: How They Reconnected
- A Luis Carlos Burneo lo llaman casi siempre por su nombre público.
- Hace 19 años, cuando YouTube aún no prometía fama, dinero ni algoritmos benevolentes, Burneo decidió crear su propio programa.
- "Voy a subir los videos que yo quiera, cuando quiera, como quiera", se dijo una tarde, de regreso en combi por la avenida Salaverry, frustrado porque la televisión...
A Luis Carlos Burneo lo llaman casi siempre por su nombre público. En la calle, en los comentarios, en los mensajes directos le dicen Henry Spencer. A veces solo Henry. A veces solo Spencer. Pero cuando alguien le dice “Hola, Luis Carlos, ¿cómo estás?”, él sonríe distinto.”Me siento supercercano”, dice. es el saludo que no lo expone, lo reconoce.
Hace 19 años, cuando YouTube aún no prometía fama, dinero ni algoritmos benevolentes, Burneo decidió crear su propio programa. No en televisión, ni en radio, ni en un medio que lo validara, sino en internet, desde su cuarto y con una cámara Mini DV.
LEE MÁS: Henry Spencer y la gran polémica que vivió: ¿Qué pasó con el youtuber y por qué fue tendencia?
“Voy a subir los videos que yo quiera, cuando quiera, como quiera“, se dijo una tarde, de regreso en combi por la avenida Salaverry, frustrado porque la televisión le cerraba las puertas. Ese momento lo recuerda con nitidez. Ahí nació “La habitación de Henry Spencer” y, desde entonces, se le atribuye haber abierto camino como pionero del videoblog en YouTube en el Perú.
El nombre surgió más por intuición que por estrategia. Henry Spencer es el protagonista de “Eraserhead” (1977), la película más perturbadora y fascinante de David Lynch, su director favorito. Primero fue un alias de Messenger. Luego, un canal. después,una identidad pública.
“Fue un nombre bastante casual. Tomé ‘Henry spencer’ y me imaginé ‘El mundo según Wayne’ y también ‘el cuarto de Juan’, el programa de Carlín. Me sonó bien. Y como grababa desde mi cuarto, la ‘habitación’ era literalmente mi oficina“, detalla.
El primer en
The biggest challenge, he admits, has not been exposure or the passage of time, but remaining relevant without betraying himself. Continuing to create under his own rules in an increasingly saturated, competitive, adn fast-paced ecosystem.
“Trajectories are not linear: there are ups and downs, but in every fall I find an possibility to do something new. That happened to me with soccer. It all started when I saw a documentary about Universitario in the cinema,I didn’t understand anything,but I was intrigued. My favorite band is Green Day and I thought that, for those people, the ‘U’ was the same. Last year, when Flamengo came for the Libertadores, I went to cover it and that’s when I said: ‘I have to do something with this.’ Then came Alianza, Cristal and Noche Crema. From there came a series of episodes told from someone who doesn’t know soccer, but wants to learn“, he points out.
That search for authenticity has also led him to stumble, from time to time, with interviews that he would look at with more caution today. Not because the content embarrasses him, but because the chemistry -that essential spark in his format- does not always appear. Henry prefers that the guest come to his house wanting to chat, that thay understand the intimate code of “The room…”. When that doesn’t happen, it shows.
“I look for interviewees that I feel are going to connect with me. For me,the important thing is that the person wants to come to my house,wants to record with me,because when I have to chase them a lot or they don’t know my work or they don’t connect,sometimes it doesn’t turn out so beautiful“,he explains.
Criticism, yes, he has received. But little. And, almost always, linked to the same thing: how a phrase can grow out of context and become noise. It happened to henry unexpectedly with Carlos Alcántara, when the actor debuted as a director in “Asu Mare 4” and an answer in an interview ended up becoming a media controversy.
For Henry, the turning point came with documentaries in prisons. Entry, authorized by INPE, forced him to slow down, to look with humility, and to listen without prejudice.
“That work moved and transformed me a lot,” he says. “I entered with fear, as it is indeed a very different space from what we usually see on television, but I found human beings.People who made mistakes, who are repentant, who work, who want to be resocialized,” he points out.
Risk was never the objective of his content, although it has accompanied him.From visiting Tacora in the early hours to entering territories he didn’t know, he learned that curiosity also requires courage. “You have to take risks, overcome fears and go to places you never thought you would go, but always with care.I really like that.”
In an increasingly massive internet -and sometimes more like television-, Henry believes that relevance doesn’t rely on formulas, but on a mixture of humility and constant adaptation. “I try to keep my feet on the ground, be as humble as possible, listen as much as I can. This work involves a lot of openness,” he says. “It is indeed critically important to adapt, reinvent yourself, transform yourself, be aware of what is happening: to do it or, if you don’t want to do it, propose something alternative. It is key to keep your eyes open, because if you don’t, you get left behind. Almost everyone I started with is no longer here, they stayed in another era, their moment passed.”
For Luis Carlos Burneo, the limit when creating content is not in the format or monetization, but in the starting point. He believes that today it is possible to live off the internet, even earn money, but warns that the order of factors matters. “You can live and earn money with the internet,” he says, “but the money has to be a outcome.”