Cory Williams

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Background information
Cory Williams

Born	August 5, 1981 (1981-08-05) (age 26) Merced, California, United States
Internet activity
Web alias(es)	Mr. Safety of SMP Films, smpfilms
Period active	March 2005-present^[1]
Host service(s)	YouTube
Genre(s)	Variety
Official site	www.smpfilms.com

Cory Williams (born August 5, 1981), also known as "Mr. Safety" from SMP Films, is a YouTube personality who lives in Thousand Oaks, California, USA.

1 History
2 YouTube
3 Television
4 Acting career
5 "As One"
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

[edit] History

Williams started streaming online video in March 2005 on Newgrounds. He then developed a following by posting original music tracks to his Myspace, leading Myspace to sponsor him on a cross country tour.^[1] In September 2005, Golden Palace Casino sponsored Williams, making him one of the first video bloggers to receive corporate sponsorship.^[2] SMP Films was named after his friends in his home town of Hilmar, California. The "SMP" stands for "Simple Minded People".

[edit] YouTube

Williams's video output includes music, sketch comedy and community building. As of December 2007, Williams's YouTube channel, "smpfilms", has acquired over 100,000 subscribers and over 40 million video views. He is also one of the first 30 users to be chosen to for YouTube's revenue sharing program.^[3]

"The Mean Kitty Song" (Or, "Hey Little Sparta"), based on his own cat of the same name, is Williams's most popular video to date which has attracted 10 million views. In a 3 month period, it became the top 51 of YouTube's list of all-time favorite videos, top 68 of YouTube's list of all-time most discussed videos, number 1 all-time most discussed Pets & Animals video, number 7 all-time most viewed Pets & Animals video, and is the No. 2 all-time favorite video in the Pets & Animals section. The video was also aired by CBS' The Morning Show and a few other television shows as well.^[4]

Cory also proposed to his girlfriend via YouTube.com. The video was made one day in advance but was posted on April 1st, 2007.

On Wednesday, May 28th, 2008, Williams uploaded 64 videos at once. The videos were a part of a Choose Your Own Adventure-style game on YouTube. The project was titled CHOOSE YOUR PATH - The game where YOU control my fate! and the game's goal was to find his missing cat somewhere in his apartment. Within days of the project's release, 24 of YouTube's 50 most viewed new videos were from this series.^[5]

[edit] Television

In November 2006, he became the host of the first national TV show to spawn from video bloggers, called The FIZZ^[6] on DirecTV channel 101 in the United States.^[2]. The show features other popular video bloggers such as thewinekone, boh3m3, TheHill88, Kevin Nalty, and many other notable YouTube users. It airs daily on DirecTV channel 101. This marks the first time in which a YouTube user has transitioned into a television without the aid of an agent.

Williams has appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and MTV Scarred.^[1] Although it should be noted that his appearances on these shows were unrelated to his success on YouTube.

Outside of YouTube, Williams works for a viral video project called "I Got Shotgun" (aka General Motors) where he interviews celebrities on the red carpet about their personal opinions on the future of new media.

[edit] Acting career

In early October 2007, Williams starred in his first feature film role as the character "Hunter" in the movie "Faded Memories", which is currently in post production.Williams also has a minor cameo in the song Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss by the Bloodhound Gang.This will mark the first known occasion in which a YouTube user, without an agent, has made a direct transition into film acting. Naathan Phan (aka SungHero), who was cast for a featured role in Superbad, was the first known YouTube user to transition with the aid of an agent. Brandon Hardesty would be the third YouTube user to transition into feature films for his role in the upcoming movie Bart Got A Room.

[edit] "As One"

Williams is the founder and West Coast American Event Coordinator of the international gathering of YouTube users dubbed "As One".^[7] The first "As One" gathering was held in January 2007 in Hollywood, California; Williams's associated video went on to receive over 1.3 million views. The second gathering, held at Pier 39 in San Francisco, California^[8], managed to attract many of YouTube's highest viewed users, YouTube employees,^[9] and attention in mainstream press.^[10] Notable YouTubers who attended include Caitlin Hill, Ben Going, Smosh and Paul Robinett, as well as Yousef Abu-Taleb and Jackson Davis, the actors who play DanielBeast and jonastko in the YouTube serial lonelygirl15.^[11] Another "As One" gathering was held on July 7, 2007 in New York City. Another "As One." gathering also took place on December 1, 2007 in Melbourne, Australia.^[12]