How freshman Alex Marchionda used YouTube to turn song parodies into profit.
Ever since his elementary school days of filling rolls of tape on his father’s video camera with improvised sketches, Alex Marchionda has been fascinated by the world of film.
Now, a freshman studying communication, Marchionda has encountered an opportunity that few amateur video-makers have the chance to capitalize on — YouTube has begun paying him to produce content.
Most of the time, Marchionda’s content includes music video parodies of popular songs, often created with friends in his hometown of Cincinnati.
“It started out as sort of an improv thing where we just started the camera and went from there, but later we started to write scripts and make actual movies,” Marchionda said. “Once I turned 16, my friends and I started getting busy and it became to hard to find time to make movies so I started writing short little videos like the ones I post now.”
Marchionda’s venture into the world of online video began in November 2014, when he made his YouTube debut with “I’m Not Insane,” a light-hearted albeit dark-humored parody of Taylor Swift’s “Blank Space.”
{{tncms-asset app="editorial" id="6cfebfa2-de06-528f-a1cb-650c49b77ac4"}}
Since its premiere, the video has garnered more than 1,000 hits, scarcely half that of “Nerdy Guys,” Marchionda’s parody of Iggy Azalea and Britney Spears’ “Pretty Girls,” which has proved to be his biggest hit thus far, with more than 2,600 views since May.
“I started out as like a 10-year-old who had no idea how to use Windows Movie Maker and putting random sounds and clips in random spots,” Marchionda said. “But over time my knowledge of how to use it and my progression of different programs grew and it all seemed to come together.”
University of Cincinnati freshman Kelci Culp, who often assists in developing ideas for Marchiano’s Youtube channel, had seen the positive effect the increase in popularity has given her friend.
“It's honestly amazing seeing his videos grow,” Culp said. “It's something he's really proud of and he works extremely hard on them, so it's nice to see all of his hard work and dedication being recognized.”
Once videos receive a certain amount of views, creators such as Marchiano are able to become partners with YouTube, monetizing content by allowing the website to place ads at the beginning of videos, essentially getting paid to upload. How much he gets paid depends on the ads that come before his video. His latest video, "It's Halloween," a parody of Justin Bieber's song "What Do You Mean?" has earned him $1.74 for 147 views, he said in a text message.
“As of now the pay rate isn't enough to 'quit a job' and make videos for money, but I appreciate the amount of money I get paid overall,” Marchionda said. “I don't really mind how much a video makes but I love to be able to see all of the people that took the time to watch my video.”
As many of the videos are a group effort, he said he often enlists the help of hometown friends, including Kevin Shaknaitis, a senior at Loveland High School in Cincinnati, who has been a close friend and neighbor of Marchionda for 14 years.
“We've been making videos for over a decade,” Shaknaitis said in an email. “It feels awesome to see people are actually seeing my hard work. I feel that Alex and I take great pride in it.”
As viewership continues to skyrocket and the rewards of hard work and dedication have begun to pay off, Marchionda said the true reason for creating his videos is not to make a profit, but rather to make someone’s day.
“The main reason I like making these videos is because it seems to make people happy and laugh watching them,” Marchionda said. “I love getting to hear about how my video could have made a random stranger's day.”
@lauren__fisher
lf9666@ohio.edu
