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Philip DeFranco

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Template:Infobox Internet celebrity Philip DeFranco is an American video blogger on YouTube, and a YouTube celebrity. His videos are centered around current events, politics and celebrity gossip in which he gives his opinion, usually presented in a sarcastic manner.

DeFranco started his YouTube channel in 2006, his videos regularly get hundreds of thousands of views. He has used his audience to win a Spore Creature Creator and Wired's Sexiest Geek of 2008. He has claimed in an interview in January 2009 that his annual income exceeds $250,000, but says it's from a number of sources on the internet, not just YouTube.

Personal life

Defranco was born December 1, 1985 in New York City, Bronx, United States.[1], he was a student at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College[2] and then was a junior at East Carolina University.[3] DeFranco said in an interview he had inherited polycystic kidney disease from his father, due to his grandfather also having it.[3]

YouTube

In 2006, during his finals at East Carolina University, he created his sxephil YouTube channel.[3][4] Since his first video, he has amassed hundreds of thousands of fans that watch his videos daily.[5]

On November 3, 2008, DeFranco announced that his work on YouTube will come to an end on November 3, 2009.[6] "I don't want to overrun my time because it'll mean a lot less to me," explained DeFranco in an interview.[3] "I plan on ending The Philip DeFranco Show, but I definitely want to move on to something else non-Philip DeFranco Show-like.[3] However, on his October 6, 2009 video, DeFranco announced he would continue the show beyond November 3, 2009.[7]

DeFranco used his large audience to win the Spore Creature Creator a competition to promote the game, and the winner being whoever gets the most votes gets to choose which charity $15,000 is donated to, beating the Sprouse twins. He chose the PKD Foundation, an organization dedicated to fighting polycystic kidney disease (PKD), due to his grandfather, his father and later himself being diagnosed with PKD.[3] Defranco again used his large online audience to win Wired's Sexiest Geek of 2008 competition, a reader voted contest.[8] "Someone sent it to me, and I was like, Really?", says DeFranco.[3] "I kind of just promoted it because I thought it'd be funny for a normal guy to be at the top of the list."[8]

On February 4, 2009 Defranco commented on YouTube's new 'Most Popular' tab, saying "It is a mixture of views, audience attention (how long the viewer watches) and ratings. Why promote content that people aren't enjoying even after they watch it?" David Sarno of the Los Angeles Times says "it's one way to minimize the effect of gaming, in which users employ racy thumbnails or video titles to trick viewers into watching less than racy videos".[9]

DeFranco announced one of his videos was censored by YouTube after they removed it from the front page. But his account wasn't suspended as he was a partner.[10] In 2008, he used footage of the 2008 Toronto propane explosion captured by 24-year-old Saejin Oh without permission, which is against YouTube's community guidelines. DeFranco declined a request from Wired.com for an interview. Saejin Oh filed a copyright claim with YouTube, the video was eventually taken down.[11]

DeFranco currently has more than 450 videos posted on YouTube.[12] In an interview he claimed to have a salary of over $250,000 from a number of sources on the internet, not just YouTube.[3] He has been paid by companies to create videos to promote Carl's Jr.'s burger[13][14] and the US TV series' Lie to Me and Fringe.[15] Before the YouTube partner program was available, he has asked for donations from his viewers after claiming to have ran out of money, and selling everything except his Mac, camera and clothes and overdrawing his bank account so he could spend a night in a hotel as he found it too scary sleeping in a car in Brooklyn. The video was eventually deleted.[16][17][18]

DeFranco was a founding member of Youtube channel, 'The Station', a channel formed by several Youtube partners, until November 8th 2009 when he announced his departure from The Station due to what he called "The using of people" and financial irregularities.

Hooking Up

In October 2008, DeFranco co-starred with Jessica Rose and Kevin Wu in Hooking Up, a promo from HBOLabs (the online arm of HBO). However, on his BlogTV show he has stated that he is unsure if he will return for Season 2. The majority of internet users find the show to be embarrassing and cheesy. Hooking Up is a scripted 10-episode web-based series set at a fictional university where the students spend most of their time emailing and using Facebook, but still manage to miscommunicate.[19]

Guest appearances on Hooking Up have been made by Kevin Nalty, Michael Buckley, and other internet celebrities.[20]

By the show's second day on YouTube, it had received more than 450,000 views, which the NewTeeVee blog considers a success.[21][22] Bobbie Johnson of The Guardian said that many web surfers had "scoffed at what they see as a cynical attempt to cash in."[23]

See also

References

  1. ^ About | PhillyD.tv
  2. ^ sXePhil. "www.myspace.com/sxephil". Retrieved 2009-01-07. {{cite web}}: Check |archiveurl= value (help)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h "Philip DeFranco is sxephil". Suicide Girls. January 2, 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  4. ^ Sxephil YouTube profile - Joined: 15 September 2006
  5. ^ "Philip DeFranco Views". Tubemongle. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  6. ^ "End of the Road For Me". YouTube. November 3, 2008. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  7. ^ YouTube - Peepshow's Aubrey Has Issues and It May Involve VRNWAAZ
  8. ^ a b "Sexiest Geeks of 2008, as Voted by Wired.com Readers". Wired. December 31, 2008. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  9. ^ On YouTube, 'popular' no longer means the thing everyone's watching [UPDATED] | Technology | Los Angeles Times
  10. ^ "sxePhil Gets Censored By YouTube". rocklandusa.tv. January 27, 2008. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
  11. ^ Wortham, Jenna (August 21, 2008). "Underwire Taking the Pulse of Pop Culture Popular YouTubers 'Borrow' Disaster Footage to Spoof Cloverfield". Wired. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
  12. ^ "Philip Defranco Video's". YouTube. Retrieved 2009-04-04.
  13. ^ YouTube - iJustine Punched me in the Face!!
  14. ^ Brands Flock to Niche Video Networks - Forbes.com
  15. ^ Hitviews Tapped by FOX to Market 'Fringe' and 'Lie to Me' | Product Placement News
  16. ^ Defranco, Philip. The Weeks to Come (YouTube broadcast). Archived from the original on 2008-06-10. Retrieved 2009-10-29. Then you can help me out there, on phillyd.tv there's a little donation button if you want to help.
  17. ^ Gimmeabreakman (10 June 2007). *** What do you THINK about e-begging!??? *** (YouTube broadcast). Retrieved 2009-10-29.
  18. ^ Make money on YouTube without joining Partner Program - Network World
  19. ^ Wallenstein, Andrew (September 8, 2008). "HBO offshoot launches Web video series". Reuters. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
  20. ^ Grossman, Ben (September 8, 2008). "Looking For An Online Hit, HBO Tries A Bunch Of YouTube Cewebrities". Silicon Alley Insider. Retrieved 2008-09-27.
  21. ^ NTV Rerun: What Constitutes an Online Hit?
  22. ^ Russo, Maria (2008-10-03). "Hooking Up: When YouTube stars get all cleaned up?". LA Times. Retrieved 2009-06-04.
  23. ^ Johnson, Bobbie (October 6, 2008). "The rise and rise of the YouTube generation, and how adults can help". The Guardian. Retrieved 2008-10-08.

External links

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