Today we’d like to introduce you to Davin Tong.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
In 2009, after having taken a few years off after film school, I wanted to take the industry by storm. Social Media had just started to see traction through platforms like Twitter, and Facebook was only five years old at the time. I knew that video would be the next big thing, and I was right. YouTube had rolled out a monetization program but building a foundation and an audience was the first step. YouTube was the home to a lot of family-friendly content so I wanted to inject just the opposite into my comedy to shake things up. I’m just glad it all worked out because the timing of everything that I did was so key.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The challenge always been staying true to yourself while giving the audience what they want. Finding a happy balance affects the mental health of so many creators in today’s digital age. The Peter Chao character, similar in a sense to Sacha Baron Cohen’s character, Borat, to me, had run its course in 2012 but I found it really challenging to create content themed around the “real” me because ultimately, that’s not what fans wanted. For that reason, I informally retired the character and pursued a career in acting so I could prove to myself that I could play a character that wasn’t Peter Chao. In 2020, with the advent of TikTok, it’s allowed me to attract new fans, this time as myself with little tributes to the Chao character from time to time.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
As Peter Chao, I was an early pioneer for edgy, controversial content on a platform that mostly hosted the complete opposite. While my passion has diverged elsewhere, I will always appreciate the time I spent on the platform because it opened doors to new opportunities, even I couldn’t have guessed. With over 1.5m followers across the likes of YouTube, Instagram, and now, TikTok, I plan to continue to engage with my supporters for years to come.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
The proudest moment of my career thus far was being offered the role of Young Tommy on a Netflix Original, “Wu Assassins”. I had never anticipated that making videos on YouTube was ever a path to having a presence in traditional media but here we are!
Contact Info:
- Website: direct.me/peterchao
Image Credit:
https://www.instagram.com/tonyyphoto
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