Lisa Donovan
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Lisa Donovan | |
|---|---|
 Donovan in 2021 | |
| Born | June 11, 1980 New York City, U.S.[1] |
| Other names | LisaNova (on YouTube) |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur, actress, YouTuber |
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Known for | The Pattern, Maker Studios |
| Website | thepattern |
Lisa Donovan (born June 11, 1980) is an American former YouTuber. She is a founder of Zappin Productions,[2] a production company that specialized in viral videos, as well as the founder and CEO of The Pattern, an astrology-based personality app.[1]
Donovan began her career as one of YouTube's earliest content creators and was subsequently one of the co-founders of Maker Studios, a YouTube video network which was purchased in 2015 by The Walt Disney Company for $675M.[3] The network was absorbed by Disney in 2017 to become Disney Digital Network. The network provided production and marketing services for over 1,000 YouTube channels.[4]
Early life[edit]
Donovan grew up in Scarsdale, New York.[5] She was a student at the University of Colorado at Boulder before moving to Los Angeles, California.[6]
Career[edit]
YouTube[edit]
Donovan made her first YouTube channel in September 2005[7] and uploaded her first video, "Introducing LisaNova," a reel of facial clips in black-and-white accompanied by the Charles Aznavour song Non, je n'ai rien oublié, to YouTube on June 7, 2006.[8] She has parodied a number of celebrities and public figures; her impersonation of Sarah Palin was praised in Wired as "ruthlessly hilarious", and in 2008 Ralph Nader made a guest appearance in one of the skits.[9] In a Forbes magazine article, YouTube founder Chad Hurley highlighted Donovan's success as an example of the changing paradigm of entertainment.[10] Donovan is also a co-creator of the popular YouTube channel 'The Game Station', which led to her co-founding the YouTube network Maker Studios.
Mainstream success[edit]
Donovan was one of the first YouTube content creators to cross over to mainstream Hollywood when she was cast on MADtv in 2006.[11] She debuted in a spoof of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where she played Salma Hayek, the producer of the ABC comedy Ugly Betty, and Rosie O'Donnell.[12] The episode aired on February 17, 2007. After signing a contract and only appearing in four episodes of MADtv, she left the following season.
In 2010, she was given a role in Cosmopolitan's Fun & Fearless campaign for females.[13]
In 2011, she was honored as Pioneer in New Media at the third annual Burbank International Film Festival[14] alongside fellow honorees Bill Plympton, Mark Kirkland, Fred Willard, Al Jean, and Roger Corman.
In 2015, she played the role of the flight attendant in Jeremy Garelick's The Wedding Ringer.[15]
Maker Studios[edit]
Donovan co-founded and served as a board member for Maker Studios, a next-generation talent-focused technology & media company. Maker Studios was sold to The Walt Disney Company in 2014.[16]
The Pattern[edit]
Donovan is the founder and CEO of The Pattern, an astrology-based personality app.[1] Before it officially launched it had 30,000 users by word of mouth.[17] By 2021, the app had over 15 million profiles.[1] The Pattern is initially free, but with paid features.[17] The app uses the time, date and place of birth to make a "pattern", which is like a user's manual to their life that The Sunday Times described as "Myers-Briggs meets Brené Brown".[17]
Donovan stated that her life experiences around the time of the Maker Studios acquisition by Disney inspired her to build The Pattern,[1] which she initially self-funded with a portion of her earnings from the sale.[17] In 2021, Donovan announced that The Pattern intends to launch a dating product called Connect.[18]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c d e "The Pattern, Known for Its "Scarily Accurate" Approach to Astrology, Has Its Sights on Dating". Vanity Fair. May 19, 2021.
- ^ Morrissey, Brian (January 1, 2007). "Lisa Nova On The Spot". Adweek. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved January 4, 2007.
- ^ "Disney Paid $675M For Maker, Its 10Q Discloses". Media Post. February 12, 2016.
- ^ "Smaller Studios, for the Smaller Screen". The New York Times. April 10, 2011.
- ^ 15 Minutes of Fame: Becoming a Star in the YouTube Revolution by Frederick Levy, P. 75
- ^ "Lisa Donovan Joins the Cast of MADtv". January 31, 2007. Archived from the original on July 14, 2007. Retrieved July 11, 2007.
- ^ "lisa's channel – YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved December 5, 2016.
- ^ "Introducing LisaNova – YouTube". YouTube. June 7, 2006. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved July 16, 2007.
- ^ Wortham, Jenna (September 2, 2008). "YouTube Comedian LisaNova Packs Heat for Sarah Palin Spoof". Wired.
- ^ "YouToo". Forbes. May 7, 2007.
- ^ Nova, Lisa. "Lisa Nova". Huffington Post.
- ^ Wallenstein, Andrew (April 29, 2007). "How YouTube Helped LisaNova Start Her Career". The New York Times. Retrieved July 7, 2007.
- ^ "Cosmo's Fun Fearless Female Campaign Video Clip". Cosmopolitan. July 20, 2010. Retrieved May 23, 2012.
- ^ Burbank International Film Festival, 2011 Honorees Archived October 24, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "The Wedding Ringer". IMDb.
- ^ "It's Official: Disney Acquires Maker Studios For At Least $500M". March 24, 2014.
- ^ a b c d "Why The Pattern astrology app founder Lisa Donovan is the Millennial Mystic Meg". The Sunday Times. July 11, 2021.
- ^ "The founder of The Pattern and its new dating feature, Connect, decodes what's in store for a season of transformation". W Magazine. June 10, 2021.
External links[edit]
- Lisa Donovan at IMDb
- LisaNova at YouTube