Numa Numa Guy Is Creating The Next CollegeHumor, Gary Brolsma had just graduated from high school and started working at "Expert PC" in Saddlebrook, NJ when he made his infamous "Numa Numa Dance" video.
"I didn't plan to make the video," Brolsma told us over a series of phone calls and emails. The New Jersey native said he was bored, had his web cam on, and decided to make a funny video to send around to his friends.
He lip-synced to the song "Dragostea din tei" by Moldovan pop group O-Zone and gave the performance of a lifetime. "Someone once described it to me that it's kind of like one of those moments when you're singing in the shower," Brolsma told us when we asked him why he thinks the video caught fire.
Recently, Brolsma has been working on a project called "Numa Network." Here's how Chris Pierdomenico of Numa Network described the website:
"Numa Network brings in various production companies throughout the country. The production companies still own their work, we merely act as a distributor."
Brolsma and Pierdomenico tell us that Numa Network will be similar to CollegeHumor and comedy videos "will always be the centerpiece." The website is slated to launch on July 9th, and in the meantime, Brolsma is working part-time as a "Field Specialist" for Sarizer Motor Company.
Gary Brolsma himself will be releasing several new videos for the launch of Numa Network while he is looking at a long-term goal of creating one video per week.
On making a successful viral video, here's what the "Numa Numa Guy" told us:
"A lot of the people on the Internet have short attention spans... It'd have to be short and funny. Something extraordinary has to happen to catch their attention."
As for his original hit, the video runs for 98 seconds and was uploaded by Gary Brolsma himself to Newgrounds on December 6, 2004. By the end of 2006, statistics from The Viral Factory showed that the "Numa Numa Dance" had been watched 700 million times – making it the second most watched video of all time behind only "Star Wars Kid." Research from TubeMogul shows that Brolsma's performance gained an additional 130 million views since November 2006; thus, giving the "Numa Numa Dance" a total hovering around 830 million views.
Gary Brolsma showed absolutely no fear in his on-camera appearance because he was already an experienced performer. His band The Nonetheless have been playing together since 1998 with Brolsma taking the microphone as the lead singer.
Despite his on-camera showmanship, Brolsma revealed to us that he is generally a shy person and didn't quite know how to handle his sudden viral fame as the "Numa Numa Guy." Instead of immediately cashing in on his video's success, Brolsma laid low, continued working at "Expert PC," and kept playing with his band.
It looked as if Gary "Numa Numa Guy" Brolsma would take after Ghyslain "Star Wars Kid" Raza and hide from the spotlight created by his viral dance. Eventually though Brolsma would soon learn to embrace his viral video after a meeting with Jaeter Corporation – a company specializing in media creation and business management websites. With his viral stock still through the roof, Brolsma was approached by Jaeter Corporation with the idea to create a new video.
"We sat down over the weekend, and mutually decided to make a sequel for my fans," Brolsma told us. "Once again using a foreign song, but this time to have a little more production, with a studio involved."
The "Numa Numa Guy" officially made his comeback on September 6, 2006 with "New Numa." The video differed drastically from the original "Numa Numa Dance" with professional video production by Experience Studios and a custom song by Variety Beats.
In conjunction with the new upload, Brolsma launched a contest for fans to make their own "New Numa" video and the 50 best videos received a total of $45,000 from the contest sponsors. Brolsma was happy with the finished product, but it never caught on like the original.
"Looking back on it, I believe that Experience Studios did a great job on the video, but the video as a whole didn't capture the whole 'pureness' factor that was found in the first video."
After the "New Numa" contest was over, Jaeter Corporation then set up a meeting between Gary Brolsma and Dan Balan, a former founding member of O-Zone. "He loved my video," said Brolsma.
With the massive rise in popularity of "Dragostea din tei" because of Brolsma's "Numa Numa Dance," Balan released a re-make of his song called "Sugar Tunes Numa Numa." After the two did album and DVD signings at a FYE store in New York City, Brolsma got a chance to listen through Balan's upcoming album.
"After hearing his album, when I went to make my third Numa Numa video, I liked using Dan Balan's new song, 'Crazy Loop.' I returned to just me and my webcam."
The "Numa Numa Guy" would gain more mainstream exposure in the subsquent years when he starred in a 2009 Geico ad and appeared in a 2010 Super Bowl television commercial for Vizio.
Saturday, June 22, 2013
Numa Numa Guy Is Creating The Next CollegeHumor
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