Danny Zappin
| Danny Zappin | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 1975 (age 41–42) Columbus, OH |
| Residence | Venice, CA |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Ohio State University |
| Occupation | Co-founder & CEO, Maker Studios (2009-13) Founder, president & CEO, Zealot Networks (2014-present) |
| Years active | 2004–present |
| Website | zealotnetworks |
Danny Zappin (born 1975) is an American digital media entrepreneur. He is the co-founder of Maker Studios, and the founder, president and CEO of Zealot Networks.
Zappin was born in Columbus, Ohio. His mother ran a Christian heavy-metal record label. He spent a few semesters at Ohio State University before moving to Florida. In the mid-1990s, he moved to New York, and then to Los Angeles to pursue a career as an actor. He had a small role in the 1999 Spike Lee film Summer of Sam.
Zappin began creating videos for the Internet in the early 2000s, while working for CrapTV, an early online video streaming website. Surfing the Web in mid-2005, he happened upon YouTube, which was then just months old. Zappin was struck by the large number of actors and creators trying to break through on the site, and the fact that anyone could upload videos without needing to go through a Hollywood-like system. He began uploading videos himself, under the name Danny Diamond, and quickly gained a following. Along with several other YouTube content creators, he came up with the idea to sign online talent and create a digital studio for YouTube.
In 2009, Zappin co-founded the YouTube multichannel network and online video producer Maker Studios, serving as its CEO until his resignation in April 2013. Founded in Venice, California, Maker was one of the first content providers on YouTube to reach 1 million views. By the end of 2012, Maker was one of the top five networks on YouTube, with over 2 billion views per month, according to comScore. The idea behind Maker was to create a new type of studio model, a collaborative, creator-friendly multichannel network helping to boost views and better monetize online short-form content. Zappin is considered to be one of the first to recognize the platform's potential for new types of content and talent.
Zappin's legal immigration history came up in the midst of a 2012 dispute between Maker Studios and YouTube celebrity Ray William Johnson over the terms of a new contract. In 2001, Zappin was convicted of felony drug possession for smuggling Ecstasy. He was sentenced to two years in prison, and released to home confinement in 2004.
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