The UpTake is opening up a call for Opinion/Editorial videos. To kick this off, we bring you all the first video by Dennis Trainor, who will be providing a regular voice to our media palette. We do not have a name for the show yet, and look forward to hearing ideas for the show’s name from our audience. We also hope that more people feel inspired to send us “video op/eds” and will be providing guidance in the near future on how to submit your own opinions to our site.
Join the “Opinion/Editorial” group HERE
For more about Dennis, here is what Steve Grove, the head of news and politics at YouTube had to say about him:
“I first met Dennis when he started his channel on YouTube under the moniker “Davis Fleetwood”. Playing the role of an angry hermit in the basement of his home, Dennis’ character was a unique bird to the Internet community – combining the satire of a Lenny Bruce with the performance style of an Andy Kaufman, all the while offering an acerbic social commentary that resonated with a large audience on the site. “Davis Fleetwood” soon became one of the most prominent voices in YouTube politics, posting daily videos that were thoughtful, provocative, and darkly humorous.
When YouTube teamed up with CNN to host a part of presidential debates, we tapped “Davis” to come to the debate and produce commentary from the scene on YouTube’s behalf – and a question he’d submitted online was posed to Dennis Kucinich in the live televised debate. It must have been a sign – within weeks, Dennis had been hired by the Kucinich campaign to do reporting and commentary for the campaign. To my knowledge this was the first time a video blogger had been plucked from YouTube and hired by a presidential campaign. Demonstrating he could shift from theatre to politics, Dennis produced some
great online and on-air video content for the Kucinich campaign, breathing a fresh perspective into the campaign.
In the new and undefined field of online video, Dennis has proven he knows both how to create compelling work, and how to distribute and promote it. One of the videos in the “Davis Fleetwood” series – challenging students to protest the governments’ actions on Iraq & Iran – has risen to over 4.8 million views on YouTube. The video was so popular that it became a nominee for the “Best of YouTube” awards in 2007.
I’ve had the pleasure to meet Dennis in person several times, both at YouTube events and at various points along the campaign trail, and have found him and affable and earnest activist who brings a unique voice to the political discussion today. He’s passed the test of being able to churn out daily content yet remain fresh, to take a unique approach to message delivery yet remain relevant, and to be flat-out-funny while also delivering a poignant message that resonates with a broad spectrum of people.”
