Lisa Donovan (born June 11, 1980) is an American former

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and 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 Google, and is the second mo ...

r. She is a founder of Zappin Productions, a production company that specialized in

viral video A viral video is a video that becomes popular through a viral process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites such as YouTube as well as social media and email.Lu Jiang, Yajie Miao, Yi Yang, ZhenZhong Lan, Alexander H ...

s, as well as the founder and CEO of ''The Pattern'', an astrology-based personality app. Donovan began her career as one of YouTube's earliest content creators and was subsequently one of the co-founders 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 ...

, a YouTube video network which was purchased in 2015 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 Octobe ...

for $675M. The network was absorbed by Disney in 2017 to become

Disney Digital Network Disney Digital Network is an American multi-channel network located in Culver City, California. It was originally the successor to Maker Studios, co-founded by Lisa Donovan, Danny Zappin, Scott Katz, Kassem Gharaibeh, Shay Carl, Rawn Erickson ...

. The network provided production and marketing services for over 1,000 YouTube channels.

Early life

Donovan grew up in

Scarsdale, New York Scarsdale is a town and village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The Town of Scarsdale is coextensive with the Village of Scarsdale, but the community has opted to operate solely with a village government, one of several village ...

. She was a student at the

University of Colorado at Boulder The University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder, CU, or Colorado) is a public research university in Boulder, Colorado. Founded in 1876, five months before Colorado became a state, it is the flagship university of the University of Colorado sy ...

before moving to

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

Career

YouTube

Donovan made her first YouTube channel in September 2005 and uploaded her first video, "Introducing LisaNova," a reel of facial clips in black-and-white accompanied by the

Charles Aznavour Charles Aznavour ( , ; born Shahnour Vaghinag Aznavourian, hy, Շահնուր Վաղինակ Ազնավուրեան, ; 22 May 1924 – 1 October 2018) was a French-Armenian singer, lyricist, actor and diplomat. Aznavour was known for his dist ...

song ''Non, je n'ai rien oublié'', to YouTube on June 7, 2006. She has parodied a number of celebrities and public figures; her impersonation of

Sarah Palin Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 R ...

was praised in ''

Wired ''Wired'' (stylized as ''WIRED'') is a monthly American magazine, published in print and online editions, that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered in San ...

'' as "ruthlessly hilarious", and in 2008

Ralph Nader Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American political activist, author, lecturer, and attorney noted for his involvement in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes. The son of Lebanese immigrants to the Un ...

made a guest appearance in one of the skits. In a ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' magazine article, YouTube founder

Chad Hurley Chad Meredith Hurley (born January 24, 1977) is an American webmaster and businessman who serves as the advisor and former chief executive officer (CEO) of YouTube. He also co-founded MixBit. In June 2006, he was voted 28th on Business 2.0's "5 ...

highlighted Donovan's success as an example of the changing paradigm of entertainment. Donovan is also a co-creator of the popular YouTube channel 'The Game Station', which led to her co-founding the YouTube network

Mainstream success

Donovan was one of the first YouTube content creators to cross over to mainstream Hollywood when she was cast on ''

MADtv ''Mad TV'' (stylized as ''MADtv'') is an American sketch comedy television series originally inspired by ''Mad (magazine), Mad'' magazine. In its initial run, it aired on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox from 1995 to 2009. After a one-off reuni ...

'' in 2006. She debuted in a spoof of ''

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' (often shortened to ''Ellen'' or ''The Ellen Show'') is an American daytime television variety comedy talk show that was created and hosted by its namesake Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it was pro ...

'', where she played Salma Hayek, the producer of the ABC comedy ''

Ugly Betty ''Ugly Betty'' is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which was originally broadcast on ABC. It premiered on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombi ...

'', and

Rosie O'Donnell Roseann O'Donnell (born March 21, 1962) is an American comedian, television producer, actress, author, and television personality. She began her comedy career as a teenager and received her breakthrough on the television series '' Star Search'' ...

. The episode aired on February 17, 2007. After signing a contract and only appearing in four episodes of ''MADtv'', she left the following season. In 2010, she was given a role in ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

s Fun & Fearless campaign for females. In 2011, she was honored as ''Pioneer in New Media'' at the third annual

Burbank International Film Festival The Burbank International Film Festival (BIFF) is an annual film festival held since 2009 in Burbank, California, United States. It was founded by Val Tonione, and awards are distributed to filmmakers that have focused on social and environmental i ...

alongside fellow honorees

Bill Plympton Bill Plympton (born April 30, 1946) is an American animator, graphic designer, cartoonist, and filmmaker best known for his 1987 Academy Awards-nominated animated short '' Your Face'' and his series of shorts featuring a dog character starting wit ...

Mark Kirkland Mark Kirkland is an American animation director. He has directed 84 episodes of ''The Simpsons'' since 1990, more than any other director. Career At the age of 13, Kirkland began making super 8 films and working for his father, noted photograph ...

Fred Willard Frederic Charles Willard (September 18, 1933 May 15, 2020) was an American actor, comedian, and writer. He was best known for his roles in the Rob Reiner mockumentary film ''This Is Spinal Tap'' (1984); the Christopher Guest mockumentaries ''Wa ...

Al Jean Alfred Ernest Jean III (born January 9, 1961) is an American screenwriter and producer. Jean is well known for his work on ''The Simpsons''. He was raised near Detroit, Michigan, and graduated from Harvard University in 1981. Jean began his wri ...

, and

Roger Corman Roger William Corman (born April 5, 1926) is an American film director, producer, and actor. He has been called "The Pope of Pop Cinema" and is known as a trailblazer in the world of independent film. Many of Corman's films are based on works t ...

. In 2015, she played the role of the flight attendant in

Jeremy Garelick Jeremy Garelick (born November 30, 1975) is an American screenwriter, director, and producer. Early life Garelick was born in New York City. He attended Yale University and graduated with degrees in Film and Theater. He is of Jewish background. ...

's '' The Wedding Ringer''.

Maker Studios

Donovan co-founded and served as a board member for

, a next-generation talent-focused technology & media company. Maker Studios was sold to

in 2014.

The Pattern

Donovan is the founder and CEO of The Pattern, an astrology-based personality app. Before it officially launched it had 30,000 users by word of mouth. By 2021, the app had over 15 million profiles. The Pattern is initially free, but with paid features. The app uses the time, date and place of birth to make a "pattern", which is like a user's manual to their life that ''

The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...

'' described as "Myers-Briggs meets Brené Brown". Donovan stated that her life experiences around the time of the Maker Studios acquisition by Disney inspired her to build The Pattern, which she initially self-funded with a portion of her earnings from the sale. In 2021, Donovan announced that The Pattern intends to launch a dating product called Connect.

References

External links

*
LisaNova
at

{{DEFAULTSORT:Donovan, Lisa 1980 births Living people American businesspeople American people of Guernsey descent University of Colorado alumni Maker Studios people American YouTubers Scarsdale High School alumni American sketch comedians American web series actresses 21st-century American actresses American businesspeople in the online media industry YouTube channels launched in 2005 YouTube channels launched in 2006 21st-century American comedians American female YouTubers