Shane Dawson, 26, is a YouTube sensation with more than 10 million subscribers across his three Internet channels and more than a billion views.The Southern California native made his first YouTube video in 2006 and has been producing daily videos ever since. In 2010, Forbes magazine named him its 25th most famous Web celebrity. Mr. Dawson is featured in the Starz reality series, “The Chair,” and his new movie, “Not Cool” — which was filmed in Pittsburgh as part of that project — is being released digitally today. The movie, about teens spending their Thanksgiving break experiencing love, friendship and partying, is R-rated in nature.
Q. You live in California. How did you like filming your new movie, “Not Cool,” in Pittsburgh?
A. I love Pittsburgh. I thought all of the people were really easy to work with and fun. And I loved the vibe of it — you know, living in California, I don’t get the same kind of scenery and such great, unique locations, so that was nice.
Did you have a favorite Pittsburgh location?
Oh, my favorite location was definitely Heinz Field. That was a really amazing place to shoot in. It was just so big and epic — and it just made my movie so much bigger than I.
How did you handle your early success? Did you have any supporters?
Yeah, you know, me and my mom and my brother kind of always leaned on each other. The success came pretty much right after we all got fired from Jenny Craig and it definitely helped pick up our spirits a little bit. [Mr. Dawson worked at Jenny Craig with his mother and brother, but they were fired after Shane posted a video of himself pole-dancing at work.]
After you got started, was the Jenny Craig video the one that got you noticed?
You know, I didn’t really have any viral video or any one thing that got me noticed, like some people do. It was kind of a slow, gradual thing — there was no one specific video that took off.
Can you tell us about your childhood and how you overcame the difficulties you faced?
I had a really, really bad childhood. There was a lot of chaos in the house and I was extremely overweight, and I basically used being creative as my outlet — you know, making videos and writing and all that stuff. And it got me out of some dark places, which is cool because now I’m making videos and I’m helping a lot of other kids who are going through similar stuff that I went through. Now, I’m able to help them to get out of their dark places — so, everything’s come full circle.
When I watched your new reality TV series, “The Chair,” I saw how difficult it is to make a movie. Were you surprised by that?
I found it a lot less difficult than I was expecting, because when I’m doing YouTube videos, I’m all by myself, and I’m funding the project and I’m the one having to do everything. But when I was making the movie “Not Cool,” I had help, and I had a crew with people who knew what they were doing and producers who had opinions. It was a lot better than just being alone like I’ve been, with the whole world on my shoulders.
If “Not Cool” is successful, will you continue making YouTube videos, or will you focus more on films?
Oh, I think I’ll always make YouTube videos. I think the content may change a bit — it would be weird if I was 30 years old and I was still wearing wigs and playing multiple characters. But I don’t plan on quitting anytime soon ... .
What advice do you have for creative kids?
I would say just do it. When I was a kid, sometimes I was nervous about putting anything on the Internet or showing anything to my family that I made, because I thought, ‘Oh, what if they don’t like it?’ But I got over it and I just showed them, and — even if they didn’t like it — it felt good to show somebody what I’d been working on. So, I would just tell kids ‘Hey, be creative, show people, put yourself out there.’ It’s the best way to get over the fear of being scrutinized, and to do what you love.
First Published: September 23, 2014, 4:00 a.m.