Danny Zappin (born 1975)Eriq Gardner
"Maker Studios Lawsuit: Inside the War for YouTube's Top Studio,"
''

The Hollywood Reporter ''The Hollywood Reporter'' (''THR'') is an American digital and print magazine which focuses on the Cinema of the United States, Hollywood film industry, film, television, and entertainment industries. It was founded in 1930 as a daily trade pap ...

'', October 24, 2013. is an American businessman. He is the co-founder of

Maker Studios Maker(s) or The Maker(s) may refer to: Film and television * ''The Maker'' (film), a 1997 American drama film *'' Makers: Women Who Make America'', a 2013 American TV documentary, a 2014 TV series, and related media *Maker Studios, now part of D ...

, and the founder, president and CEO of Zealot Networks.

Early life and education

Zappin was born in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

. His mother ran a Christian heavy-metal record label. His brother is hip hop artist

John Reuben John Reuben (born John Reuben Zappin; January 14, 1979) is an American Christian hip hop artist signed to Gotee Records until late 2010. Reuben has sold over 200,000 copies of his first four albums.Breimeier, Russ (May 2002)"John Reuben - ''Hind ...

. He spent a few quarters at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

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 Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...

film ''

Summer of Sam ''Summer of Sam'' is a 1999 American crime thriller film about the 1977 David Berkowitz (Son of Sam) serial murders and their effect on a group of fictional residents of an Italian-American neighborhood in The Bronx in the late 1970s. The kille ...

''.Jeff Klima
"A Timeline: Former Maker Head Danny Zappin Sues Ex-Girlfriend Lisa Nova – Where Did the Love Go?"

NewMediaRockstars ''NewMediaRockstars'' (''NMR'') is an online magazine which was launched in December 2011 and primarily covers YouTube performers, entrepreneurs, and artists with videos and interviews. In 2013, ''NewMediaRockstars'' closed because of lack of fund ...

, June 28, 2013. In 2001, Zappin was convicted of felony drug possession for smuggling

Ecstasy Ecstasy may refer to: * Ecstasy (emotion), a trance or trance-like state in which a person transcends normal consciousness * Religious ecstasy, a state of consciousness, visions or absolute euphoria * Ecstasy (philosophy), to be or stand outside o ...

. He was sentenced to two years in prison, and released to home confinement in 2004.

Career

Internet videos

Zappin began creating videos for the Internet in the early 2000s, while working for CrapTV, an early online video streaming website. In mid-2005, he began uploading videos to the then new website

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

under the name Danny Diamond. Along with several other YouTube content creators, he began signing up online talent to create a digital studio for YouTube.

Maker Studios

In 2009, Zappin co-founded the YouTube multichannel network and online video producer

, serving as its CEO until his resignation in April 2013.Mike Shields
"Ex Maker Studios CEO Danny Zappin Raises Funding For New Web Video Venture,"
''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', August 4, 2014. Founded in

Venice, California Venice is a neighborhood of the city of Los Angeles within the Westside region of Los Angeles County, California. Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, when it was annexed b ...

, 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.Ryan Lawler
"Maker Studios Co-Founder Danny Zappin Sues The Company Over His Ouster,"

TechCrunch TechCrunch is an American online newspaper focusing on high tech and startup companies. It was founded in June 2005 by Archimedes Ventures, led by partners Michael Arrington and Keith Teare. In 2010, AOL acquired the company for approximately ...

, June 26, 2013. 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 history came up in the midst of a 2012 dispute between Maker Studios and YouTube celebrity

Ray William Johnson Ray William Johnson is an American internet celebrity best known for his eponymous YouTube channel and his web series on that channel, ''Equals Three''. In 2013, the channel surpassed 10 million subscribers and had over 2 billion views, making ...

over the terms of a new contract. In June 2013, two months after his resignation, Zappin sued Maker Studios' partners and investors, alleging there was a conspiracy to oust him from the board.Saba Hamedy
"Ex-Maker Studios CEO launches digital media company,"
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'', August 4, 2014. Along with three other former Maker executives, he sued Maker for a second time in April 2014, to block a shareholder vote on the acquisition of the company by the

Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

, shortly after the studio agreed to purchase Maker in a deal worth up to $950 million. The lawsuit was rejected by a California judge and the sale went through. Zappin earned $25 million in the sale.Nicole Laporte
"Maker Studios' Former CEO Takes Disney's Millions to Move Beyond YouTube,"
''Fast Company'', August 4, 2014. On October 17, 2013, Zappin announced that he had acquired digital entertainment news website

, intending to broaden its coverage of new media.

Zealot Networks

In the summer of 2014, Zappin raised $25 million from former and current Maker employees, talent and executives, along with his own money, to form Zealot Networks. In an August 2014 press release, Zappin announced the launch of his new digital media company, "a digital-first media company and growth accelerator." By the end of the year, Zealot had raised additional capital from UK broadcaster

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

, the largest commercial television network in the UK.Melissah Yang
"Zealot Networks Valued at $100 Million,"
''

Los Angeles Business Journal The ''Los Angeles Business Journal'', established in 1979, is a weekly newspaper and online news source in Los Angeles, California, which provides coverage of local business news. According to the ''Journals website, it has a weekly print circul ...

'', December 22, 2014. Zealot was based in Venice, California, with Zappin serving as the company's president and CEO. Zappin stated that the company was a continuation of his work with content creators at multi-channel network Maker Studios. Rather than focusing solely on YouTube talent, Zealot was a multi-company network, made up of a variety of interconnected digital media companies with different areas of expertise working together in an effort to accelerate their collective growth. By November 2016, the company had raised $26.5 million in venture capital and an additional $30 million in debt financing. It used that money to buy 17 other content generating companies with a combination of cash and equity, including

ViralNova ViralNova is a curation site for clickbait Clickbait is a text or a thumbnail link that is designed to attract attention and to entice users to follow that link and read, view, or listen to the linked piece of online content, being typically ...

for $100 million in 2015. Other acquisitions had included a majority stake in content-licensing company AudioMicro, the parent company AdRev in December 2014 for approximately $20 million,Todd Spangler
"Danny Zappin, Ousted CEO of Maker Studios, Raises $25 Million to Launch Digital Studio,"
''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'', August 4, 2014. Premier Sports & Entertainment in January 2015, Converge Media Group and Neighbor Agency and Idea Farmer in February 2015,Todd Spangler
"Danny Zappin's Zealot Networks Buys Converge Media Group Talent Agency From JB Smoove and Others,"
''Variety'', February 5, 2015.Natalie Jarvey
"Zealot Networks Acquires J.B. Smoove's Converge Media Group,"
''The Hollywood Reporter'', February 5, 2015. Threshold Interactive in March 2015,Tim Peterson
"Zealot Networks Buys Threshold Interactive, Its Third Ad Agency,"
''

Ad Age ''Ad Age'' (known as ''Advertising Age'' until 2017) is a global media brand that publishes news, analysis, and data on marketing and media. Its namesake magazine was started as a broadsheet newspaper in Chicago in 1930. ''Ad Age'' appears in mul ...

'', March 12, 2015. and in May 2015, Lord Danger and Hutch Media.Sahil Patel
"Zealot Networks Buys Music-Video Production Company Lord Danger,"
Video Ink, May 12, 2015.Garrett Reim
"Zealot Buys Small Publisher, Hints at Future,"
''Los Angeles Business Journal'', May 18, 2015. By the end of 2016 the company was in financial trouble, and had asked its executives to forgo being paid and a team of current and former executives offered to buy Zappin out. Zealot's website went down in November 2016. * In April 2017 BumpClick, which had at some point acquired ViralNova from Zealot, was sold to Function(x) for $25M. * In January 2018 AVL Digital Group acquired AudioMicro and its AdRev and DashGo divisions from an unnamed party for an unnamed price.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zappin, Danny 1975 births Living people American businesspeople convicted of crimes American businesspeople in the online media industry American chief executives in the media industry American mass media company founders American people convicted of drug offenses Businesspeople from Los Angeles Maker Studios people Ohio State University alumni Businesspeople from Columbus, Ohio People from Venice, Los Angeles