INFLUENCE Matt Silverman

The early days of YouTube were for home movies, cat videos, and short vlogs. But in the summer of 2006, something emerged from Wisconsin that would change our perception of what Internet video was capable of. “Chad Vader: Day Shift Manager” tells the classic story of Darth Vader’s younger brother, who commands a middle-management job at the local grocery store, rather than a Death Star.
But “Chad” was more than just a hilarious Star Wars parody. It had the production values of a fully-fledged sitcom: Multiple actors and plot lines, costumes, sets, a musical score, sharp writing, and legit cinematography. The Internet — and YouTube corporate — took notice.
Before “Like & Subscribe” was a thing, YouTube featured Chad Vader on its homepage, which reached millions of eyeballs and generated serious heat around the series. Fans began demanding new episodes, and YouTube realized the new potential of its platform. It was starting to shift from a novelty site, to a loyalty destination.
Chad is the brainchild of Aaron Yonda and Matt Sloan, improv comedians from Madison, Wisconsin, who had been making sketch comedy videos for public access TV and film festivals. After Chad Vader was canceled by Channel 101 and ignored by the Los Angeles establishment, they decided to check out this whole “YouTube thing.” The success of the series (and other emerging creators) prompted YouTube to roll out its advertising partner program. Yonda and Sloan’s channel, Blame Society Films, became one of the first ever to monetize. Chad’s popularity lead to brand partnerships, contract work, and collaborations. But despite its huge success and even an award from George Lucas himself, Hollywood never figured out how to translate a Star Wars parody sitcom to traditional TV.
This week on INFLUENCE, Aaron and Matt chat with the Other Matt about their origin story, the evolution of their audience, the “lunacy” of Internet comments, why YouTube sketch comedy is dying out, voicing the REAL Darth Vader for TV and video games, and the long-running series their fans love and support today.
Subscribe to Blame Society Films: https://www.youtube.com/@blamesocietyfilms
Beer and Board Games: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL49WgzlbhrT0kCIoZQukx-xbwFjSQhYFQ
Game Society Pimps: https://www.youtube.com/@GameSocietyPimps
Junkyard Joust: https://www.youtube.com/@JunkyardJoust
Welcome to the Basement: http://welcometothebasementshow.com/
This show is made possible by listener support: https://www.patreon.com/influencepod
Join our Discord community! https://discord.gg/influencepod
Call the show and leave a message: (347)-871-6548
Email me with guest & trivia suggestions! influencepod69@gmail.com (NOICE)
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Chelsea Laufer went to a prestigious film school. She got a job in TV production, and then in animation. But it wasn't until she uploaded her *own* creations to the Internet that her life turned magical.
Chelsea VFX makes inspired, short-form digital magic tricks where she disappears into hula hoops, takes a dip in her own cup of coffee, and changes the color of her sweater with a snap. Her visual effects skills rival Hollywood movies, and her flair for short-form surprises racked up millions of followers and (likely) 1 billion views. Her motto is, "If you can think of it, you can make it happen" — at least in the world of digital manipulation. But when her fans tell her she should work for Marvel or Disney, she has one huge reason she prefers to create for the Internet.
This week, Chelsea shares her rules for magical short-form storytelling, why she's the worst person to watch a movie with, and the fascinating tale of her most-viewed video which went INCREDIBLY viral (500 million views!) for all the wrong reasons.
Plus: Trivia is BACK!
Follow Chelsea IMMEDIATELY:
📸 https://www.instagram.com/queenchelseavfx/
🎵 https://www.tiktok.com/@queenchelsea
This show is made possible by listener support: https://www.patreon.com/influencepod
Join our Discord community! https://discord.gg/influencepod
Call the show and leave a message: (347)-871-6548
Email me with guest & trivia suggestions! influencepod69@gmail.com (NOICE)
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When I was coming up in media and learning about online video around 2010-2011, Craig Benzine (known to the Internet as @wheezywaiter ) was a big inspiration. His videos were so absurd, so fast, and so funny. I felt like he was speaking to a new kind of audience. "YouTuber" was starting to become a job, and being ridiculous on the Internet could pay the rent. Loyal subscribers and conversations from the comments section were the gold standard.
But as YouTube became more algorithmic, Craig's channel started to stagnate. His core audience was remained, but the growth had stopped. He felt completely stuck, for about 5 years. Then, in 2018, he made a radical change to his content that doubled his audience — from 500,000 to 1 million subs — in just a year.
I'm thrilled to talk to Craig about making Internet videos for 16+ years(!), and what drove him to "make a movie every day." We discuss how YouTube editing became a unique artform, why getting 30 views and 1 comment from an online stranger was the best feeling in the world, the years he toiled in obscurity before the Internet finally took notice, and the re-invention of his channel.
Plus: Your voicemail!
Subscribe to WheezyWaiter on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wheezywaiter/
This show is made possible by listener support: https://www.patreon.com/influencepod
Join our Discord community! https://discord.gg/influencepod
Call the show and leave a message: (347)-871-6548
Email me with guest & trivia suggestions! influencepod69@gmail.com (NOICE)
Follow me:
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The mysterious Jack Rhysider talks to hackers, cyber criminals, bank robbers, crypto scammers, (real!) spies, CIA agents, and penetration testers. Because his job sends him to the darkest corners of the Internet, his true identity is not known. But that never stops him from sharing how his extraordinary podcast - Darknet Diaries - comes together. From the kernel of an idea, to sweeping stories full of twists and turns, his true crime episodes started with the InfoSec crowd, and quickly gained mass appeal. Jack joins Matt to discuss his obsession with security and privacy, his journey from IT to blogging to podcasting, how he learned from the world's best audio storytellers, the moment he knew people really loved his show, why he loves to make things that are not sustainable, and the possibility of a new podcast in the works.
Check out Darknet Diaries (True stories from the dark side of the Internet): https://darknetdiaries.com/
This show is made possible by listener support: https://www.patreon.com/influencepod
Watch & subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@InfluencePodcast
Join our Discord community! https://discord.gg/influencepod
Call the show and leave a message: (347)-871-6548
Email me with guest & trivia suggestions! influencepod69@gmail.com (NOICE)
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Oh hey there! Matt here. It's been a minute, but if you're subscribed to this feed, I have a big update for you. 2G1P is now INFLUENCE, and I'm very excited (and nervous!) to be taking the reigns of a show we are so proud of. All the details you need to know are in this ep, and down below. I hope you'll join me for this next chapter!
Help me reach 1,000 subscribers (even if you don't listen on YouTube!): https://www.youtube.com/@InfluencePodcast
This show is made made possible with listener support: https://www.patreon.com/influencepod
Join our amazing Discord community: discord.gg/influencepod
Email me with your dream guest! InfluencePod69@gmail.com  (noice!)
Call me and leave a voicemail! (347) 871-6548
Connect with me: https://twitter.com/Matt_Silverman
https://www.instagram.com/matt_silverman/
-Show Description-
What does it really take to make a living (and an impact) on the Internet today?
Join Matt Silverman (who has been covering online culture for 15+ years) in conversation with YouTubers, musicians, podcasters, streamers, journalists, TikTokers and more about turning creativity into a job, building community on ever-changing platforms, and their complex relationships with huge online audiences.
INFLUENCE is the relaunch of 2 GIRLS 1 PODCAST, a weekly comedy/interview show about fascinating online communities, which ran for 7 years and nearly 300 episodes.
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Happy new year! We wanted to share an update about some truly unexpected circumstances, and explain that the show (and all Patreon contributions) will be paused while we figure things out.
We hope you'll still hang with us on Discord, and please get in touch if you have any questions:
discord.gg/2g1p
2g1podcast@gmail.com
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