| Philip DeFranco | |
|---|---|
Philip DeFranco |
|
| Born | December 1, 1985 |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | PhillyD, sxephil |
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Known for | Director Comedy Topical World news, entertainment news, politics, popular culture, technology |
| Internet information | |
| Web alias(es) | sxephil (YouTube), PhillyD |
| Web hosting service(s) | YouTube Tumblr |
| Signature phrase | "As always, my name is Philip DeFranco, and you've just been phil'd in." |
| Website | |
| phillyd.tv | |
Philip "Phil" DeFranco (born December 1, 1985), also known as PhillyD or by one of his YouTube usernames "sxephil", is an American video blogger, YouTube celebrity and motivational speaker. His videos are centered on current events, politics and celebrity gossip in which he gives his opinion, usually presented in an ironic manner and with frequent jump cuts to create a fast-paced feel. He has over 760 million views, and 1.9 million subscribers, and is the 15th most subscribed YouTuber as of December 2011.[1] His second YouTube channel is called "PhilipDeFranco" and he also makes a series of vlogs which he calls "The Vloggity".
DeFranco started his YouTube channel in 2006, and his videos regularly surpass one million views daily. His large audience led to his winning of a Spore Creature Creator contest and Wired's Sexiest Geek of 2008 award, both open access online polls.
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DeFranco was born December 1, 1985, in The Bronx, New York, United States.[2] He was a student at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College[3] and later a junior at East Carolina University.[4] DeFranco said in an interview he had inherited polycystic kidney disease from his father and grandfather.[4] He currently lives with his girlfriend Lindsay Jordan Doty[5] (LinzLoves) and their 2 Yorkshire Terriers Rookie and Ace.[6]
On September 15, 2006, during his finals at East Carolina University, he created his sxephil YouTube channel.[1][4] Since his first video, he has amassed over a million fans that watch his videos 3-5 times a week.[7]
Before the YouTube partner program was available, he has asked for donations from his viewers after claiming to have run 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.[8][9][10][11]
On November 3, 2008, DeFranco announced that his work on YouTube would come to an end November 3, 2009.[12] "I don't want to overrun my time because it'll mean a lot less to me," explained DeFranco in an interview.[4] "I plan on ending The Philip DeFranco Show, but I definitely want to move on to something else non-Philip DeFranco Show-like."[4] However, on his October 6, 2009, video, DeFranco announced he would continue the show beyond November 3, 2009,[13] until he posted a video on April 22, 2010 saying that the show has ended. DeFranco stated he would be continuing with his YouTube channel but that he felt the show had become "stagnant" and that it needed to "evolve." As of April 26 DeFranco said he "needed to cancel the show", due to a contract he signed with a company "way back in the day" that allowed them to advertise his show which he would have to agree to. However DeFranco started a new show called "NSFW" or 'Not Safe For Work'. This new show is basically the same as the PDS, but it instead concentrated on what he liked the most about the Philip DeFranco Show. The show returned to its original format and name shortly after this due to an agreement he came to with the company he signed the contract with.[14]
DeFranco used his large audience to win the Spore Creature Creator, a game promotion competition, and in doing so beat the Sprouse twins. The winner's prize was to choose which charity would receive a donation of $15,000. He chose the PKD Foundation, an organization dedicated to fighting polycystic kidney disease (PKD), which he attributed to his family's history with the condition.[4] Defranco's large online audience also enabled him to win Wired's Sexiest Geek of 2008 competition, a reader voted contest.[15] "Someone sent it to me, and I was like, really?" says DeFranco.[4] "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."[15]
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 said "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."[16]
DeFranco announced one of his videos was censored by YouTube after they removed it from the front page. As a YouTube partner, however, his account was not suspended.[17] In 2008, he used footage of the 2008 Toronto propane explosion captured by 24-year-old Saejin Oh without permission, a violation of YouTube's community guidelines. DeFranco declined a request from Wired.com for an interview on this subject. Saejin Oh filed a copyright claim with YouTube, and the video was eventually taken down.[18]
DeFranco has over 800 videos posted on YouTube.[19] In an interview he claimed to have a salary of over $250,000 from a number of sources on the Internet, not just YouTube, but has denied it in several videos.[4] He has been paid by companies to create videos to promote Carl's Jr.'s burgers,[20][21] and the US television series Lie to Me and Fringe.[22]
On September 29, 2011, DeFranco uploaded a video (simply titled "We're Moving!!!") announcing that his company's work space is temporarily moving to the house he is currently living in, while he travels around Europe. He also stated that is leasing the 5 bedroom house because he wanted the pool; according to him a reason backing that statement is, "I've always wanted a pool." [23]
In October 2008, DeFranco co-starred with Jessica Rose and Kevin Wu in Hooking Up, written and acted by Woody Tondorf as a promo from HBOLabs (the online arm of HBO). 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.[24]
Guest appearances on Hooking Up have been made by Kevin Nalty, Michael Buckley, and other popular Internet celebrities.[25]
By the show's second day on YouTube, it had received more than 450,000 views, which the NewTeeVee blog considers a success.[26][27] Bobbie Johnson of The Guardian said that many Web surfers had "scoffed at what they see as a cynical attempt to cash in."[28]
| Achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by machinima |
Most Subscribed Director on YouTube Ranked 2nd as of 2010 |
Succeeded by MysteryGuitarMan |