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 and entrepreneur. He was originally founder of
Maker Studios, and the founder, president and CEO of Zealot Networks.
Early life and education
Danny Zappin was born in
Columbus, Ohio
Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...
.
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 - ''Hinds ...
. He spent a few quarters at
Ohio State University
The Ohio State University (Ohio State or OSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio, United States. A member of the University System of Ohio, it was founded in 1870. It is one ...
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, actor, and author. His work has continually explored race relations, issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary ...
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. It focu ...
''.
[Jeff Klima]
"A Timeline: Former Maker Head Danny Zappin Sues Ex-Girlfriend Lisa Nova – Where Did the Love Go?"
NewMediaRockstars, June 28, 2013. 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.
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 an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
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
Maker Studios, 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'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'', 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, United States.
Venice was founded by Abbot Kinney in 1905 as a seaside resort town. It was an independent city until 1926, whe ...
, 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
Comscore, Inc. is an American-based global media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, advertising agencies, brand marketers, and publishers.
History
Comscore was founded in July 1999 in Resto ...
.
[Ryan Lawler]
"Maker Studios Co-Founder Danny Zappin Sues The Company Over His Ouster,"
TechCrunch
TechCrunch is an American global online newspaper focusing on topics regarding high tech, high-tech and Startup company, startup companies. It was founded in June 2005 by Archimedes Ventures, led by partners Michael Arrington and Keith Teare.
I ...
, 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 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'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'', 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 referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...
, 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
NewMediaRockstars, 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, 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
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most po ...
'', 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 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'', 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 ...
'', 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.
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 mass 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