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David Freiheit

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David Freiheit
Personal information
Born
David Freiheit

(1979-09-29) September 29, 1979 (age 45)
Occupation(s)YouTuber, Commercial litigator
Children3
Websitevivafrei.com
YouTube information
Also known asViva Frei
Channels
Years active2012–present
Genres
Subscribers322,000[1]
Total views76 million[1]
100,000 subscribers2019
Last updated: 21 September 2020

David Freiheit (born September 29, 1979), is a Canadian lawyer,[3] and YouTuber under the pseudonym Viva Frei.[4]

Biography

Freiheit grew up in Montreal, Quebec, as the youngest of five siblings.[5] He enjoyed creating videos.[6] He studied Creative Arts at Dawson College and received his Bachelor of Arts at McGill University. He then received his civil law degree from Université Laval where he was the editor-in-chief of the university's law journal.[5]

In 2007, Freiheit began practising law, following in the footsteps of his father and older siblings.[7] He worked professionally for the prominent commercial litigation firm Borden Ladner Gervais for six years,[8] but left to be a freelance litigator after his first child to have a more favorable work-life balance,[4] starting a firm called Freiheit Legal.[9]

For the first few years of his YouTube career, Freiheit was a practicing commercial litigator, and he struggled to find time to create his videos.[10] In January 2018, he discontinued his litigation practice and turned full-time to YouTube.[11]

YouTube career

Early content and awards (2014-2019)

Freiheit started his YouTube career in early 2014 by posting videos of him lip syncing to various pop songs while running obstacle courses dressed in a full suit.[12] These videos were not receiving many views, so Freiheit decided to try another style; in late 2014, Freiheit started posting nature-related stunts.[13][14] He gained popularity when he posted a video of a squirrel picking up his GoPro action camera and carrying it up a tree.[15][16] Freiheit then started posting videos of stunts involving the use of a drone.[17][18]

In 2016, Freiheit won a GoPro Award for his use of their cameras in his videos.[19] He won a Shorty Social Good Award for Best Overall Youtube Presence in 2017.[20]

In January 2019, Freiheit was invited by GoPro to be a featured panelist at the Consumer Electronics Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.[21]

Style change (2019-present)

From 2014 to 2019, Freiheit had only accumulated around 60,000 subscribers. In April 2019, he decided that since law-related content was by far his channel's most popular genre, he would change the style of his channel and only post vlogs analyzing different current issues from a legal standpoint.[22][23] He started a second channel, "Viva Family", as a place to maintain his former content style.[2]

Although his content has been described as right-wing, Freiheit himself classifies the political stance he takes on his channel as non-partisan,[24] claiming that the internet, through the use of the terms right or left-wing, only succeeds in "pigeonholing, categorizing, dichotomizing, just reducing a complex individual to either right or left in all of their... beliefs.".[25] In an interview, he described his channel's content as including a "pretty decent balance of left and right".[7]

In 2019 attorney Robert Barnes began making weekly Sunday evening appearances on the Viva Frei law vlog YouTube channel.[26]

References

  1. ^ a b Frei/about "About Viva Frei". YouTube. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  2. ^ a b Macdavid, Thomas (22 April 2020). "A Montrealer Turned His Street Into A Massive Sock Dartboard To Play From The Roof (Video)". MTL. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
  3. ^ "Interview With a Vlogger: Determined Viva Frei and His Viral Videos". Medium. 12 April 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  4. ^ a b Moore, Karl (25 April 2020). "From Lawyer To YouTuber: How David Freiheit Found His Niche". Forbes. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  5. ^ a b "David Freiheit". Freiheit Legal. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  6. ^ Tang, Pency (14 March 2019). "Alumni spotlight: David Freiheit". McGill University. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  7. ^ a b "Know Your Vlawg: An Interview with Viva Frei". 25 September 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  8. ^ Tison, Florence (29 April 2020). "D'avocat à YouTubeur" (in French). Droit. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  9. ^ "David Freiheit is the founder of Freiheit Legal Inc., a Montreal boutique law firm specializing in commercial litigation and general corporate law". Montreal Gazette. 31 August 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  10. ^ Murphy, Eliza (29 August 2016). "Dad Spoofs Jason Bourne With Hilarious (Baby) 'Bjorn Identity' Video". ABC News. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  11. ^ Deshaies, Sarah (12 January 2018). "Quebec's YouTube stars upload their lives". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  12. ^ "Montreal dad enlists squirrel to help remove daughter's tooth". Hamilton Spectator. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  13. ^ Watters, Hayden (25 June 2016). "How nutty! Montreal dad gets squirrel to yank out daughter's tooth". CBC. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  14. ^ "Hot Water + Freezing Temperature + Camera = Amazing Videos!". Indian Express. 2 January 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  15. ^ Sirucek, Stefan (22 November 2014). "Watch: This Is What Happens When You Give a Squirrel a GoPro". National Geographic. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  16. ^ Griggs, Mary Beth (9 August 2016). "This Is What The World Looks Like From a Squirrel's Point Of View". Popular Science. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  17. ^ Prestwich, Emma (7 December 2016). "David Freiheit, Quebec Man, Uses Drone To Wax His Leg". Huffington Post. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  18. ^ "Quebec father-daughter duo get park squirrels to yank out baby tooth from girl's mouth". National Post. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  19. ^ "GoPro Awards: Squirrel Runs Off With GoPro". GoPro. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  20. ^ "Breakout YouTuber - Winner in YouTube Presence". Shorty Awards. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  21. ^ "David Freiheit invited to the CES in Las Vegas". CTV News Breakfast Television. 21 January 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  22. ^ Mendes, David (10 October 2019). "David Freiheit – Merging Law, Popularization, and Content Creation". Papa Phd. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  23. ^ "David Freiheit, l'avocat YouTubeur" (in French). Les Affaires. 21 April 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  24. ^ "Viva Frei". 27 April 2020. p. 11:10 (timestamp). Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  25. ^ "Viva Frei". 27 April 2020. p. 2:10 (timestamp). Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  26. ^ Freiheit, David (Nov 1, 2019). "EP. 1 - Viva & Barnes: Robert Barnes - From Covington Catholic to Alex Jones- Viva Frei Vlawg". YouTube.com. Viva Frei. Retrieved Nov 9, 2020.
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