When we released the Epic Disney Villains Medley on June 24th, it immediately went viral! With almost 2 million views, it topped the YouTube trending charts for two full days – a first in my career. Over the years, I’ve produced a lot of great content that I was proud of but didn’t do as well as I had hoped. So, putting in over a hundred hours of work into something that was two years in the making, and seeing it reach millions of people is an absolutely amazing feeling. Sure, everyone on my team loved the video. But that doesn’t necessarily guarantee that the rest of the world will enjoy it. As an artist, a creator, and an entrepreneur, the feeling of watching something succeed that you put so much of your heart and soul into is truly unexplainable.
If you haven’t seen the Epic Disney Villains video yet, go watch it here! Villains often get the best songs and we love to hate them, but they never get the recognition they deserve. Whitney Avalon and I combined eight of our favorite Disney tales; The Lion King, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Princess and the Frog, The Little Mermaid, Tangled, Aladdin, and Beauty and the Beast to make a positively wicked video.
In addition to the stunning number of views on YouTube, Facebook, and Patreon, we had some great news coverage! The Huffington Post called the video a “stunning new a capella medley” and a “masterpiece.” Nerdist said that it was “epic” and “showstopping.” The List, an award-winning show that covers all the latest trends, made a short video about it that you can watch here. I also did an interview with KGW-TV at VidCon about my journey, my aspirations, and the Hollens Creator Academy. All in all, the Villains Medley was covered by over a dozen media outlets, including three international publications!
It was definitely a team effort. More than ten incredible professionals worked tirelessly to create the best product possible. This included production meetings with the editor, director, talent, and costume designer, hair and makeup, and coordinating the shoot locations. Filming itself consisted of two days: one on location at The Enchanted Forest and another in the studio; which ended up being a 19 hour day for the team.
The Disney Villains Medley was my first No.1 trending video on YouTube. This means that millions of people who would never see my content otherwise had it at their fingertips. As a creator, that kind of distribution is invaluable. I let out a huge sigh of relief because the video served its purpose after hours and hours of tireless work. The success of the Disney Villains Medley is a huge personal accomplishment for me and represents the incredible ways in which hard work and persistence eventually paid off. If you refuse to give up and are passionate about your work, you will get the outcome you want. As the villains would say, “muahahaha!”
