THE LONG ANSWER:
Cory Williams, born in Merced, California on August 5th, 1981, was raised in Hilmar, California during most of his teen years. Cory spent most of his time outdoors fishing, riding motorcycles, traveling, but also loved playing video games with his friends. In high school he majored in drama and choir, which wasn't a very popular subject. He was often ridiculed by his classmates for being the only guy in choir, but the names never stopped him. In 1999, he graduated Hilmar High School with 3 university scholarships and was considered to be the best male vocalists of his class in the San Joaquin Valley. His goal was to become an entertainer, but didn't quite know what kind. After attending only 3 months of college, he left to follow his own path in hopes to find a new way to reach his goal. After leaving college, he purchased his first camera and immediately began making videos with his friends. Most of them ranged from Sketch comedy, to horror, (Jackass type) stunt videos, hardcore backyard wrestling, and even self made music videos.
(backyard wrestling - 2001)
He named his project SMP Films (Simple Minded People) after the mind set that him and his friends had on life. Cory wasn't the most popular kid in school because he was into acting and singing. In Hilmar, acting and singing was considered taboo and many people prejudged him because of it. Despite the name calling and opinions others had of him, Williams kept following his dream of becoming a film maker.
(SMP Films consumed Cory's mind)
Since Cory left college, he knew that he needed to be educated in order to achieve his goal of becoming an entertainer. So he began taking jobs that would not only give him the experience that he would need in order to forward his knowledge, but at the same time would earn him enough money to support his passion for film making. He worked as a video store clerk to become familiar with movies, a movie theater projectionist / manager to better understand film and management, a furniture salesman to better his people skills, a firefighter for self confidence, focus under extreme situations, and a new perspective of life, and a termite inspector for better pay and time to think.
(Cory was a Merced County firefighter)
But in 2003, due to a difficult breakup, Cory went into a mini depression and stopped making videos. Then, a month later, Cory was injured in an accident which kept him out of work for 1 month to heal.
(broken collarbone - mandatory surgery)
The emotions he felt during those hard times drove him to start writing music. The music helped him cope with his problems by turning his sorrows into laughter. As people came by to visit him, he noticed that many of his friends were going through hard times as well. Cory played his songs for his friends to make them fell better and sure enough it did. So Cory began making more music and more people began coming over to visit. As Cory began to heal, he realized that hurting himself for the entertainment of others was not the way to go. Just being himself was enough to bring a smile to his friends faces. It was then that Cory nicknamed himself "Mr. Safety" and swore that he would never again cause serious pain upon himself for the sake of entertainment. Instead, he would find new ways to tell his stories and keep people taking about his work. When he recovered, he was back to work with a whole new outlook on life. He began making videos again, but this time he had music to go with them.
(Cory performing his music live on Stickam 1/07)
In 2004, a company called Pro Scout discovered Cory in Modesto, California and asked him to come to Los Angeles for a seminar on acting and modeling. The seminar wasn't free, in fact, it was very expensive, but Cory knew he had something that no one else had. He just didn't know what. He used every last dime that he had to attend the event, but only to walk away empty handed. He learned just how much some people will pay for knowledge and just how far they would go to find it. He decided it was time to find another way into the business, so he added the title "Professional Idiot" to his name in order to spark a new interest. His new plan was to make people judge him to be something he wasn't. He would fool them into thinking he was just another "Jackass wannabe", hurting himself to get known, but in reality was far from it. Once the time was right, Cory would expose his stunts as being camera tricks in order to point the fingers back at the prejudging critics. This also served as an example to the youth that being a stunt man isn't always about getting hurt.
Cory had always burned DVDs of his videos for his friends to watch, but many people began asking for more copies. So he created his first DVD titled "Simple Minded People" which included a free CD featuring all of Cory's songs. The DVDs sold in local shops all around the area and sales were going up. The DVDs featured his stunts, sketch comedy, music videos, and even is first and only performance as a stand up comedian. One day at a sold out rock concert in Modesto, California, while handing out promotional copies of his new DVD, Cory was invited to perform stunts on stage with Steve-O from MTV's Jackass. It was a sold out show with nearly 10,000 people and one of Cory's favorite bands at the time (Papa Roach) was the headlining band. Cory was so overcome with the feeling he had that night that knew he was meant to be there again some day, but on his own success.
(Cory and Steve-O performing for a sold out show in Modesto, Ca)
Two months after the show, Cory received a call from VH1 to participate in a new show called "Strip Search", which was about guys who wanted to become male strippers. He would have only be the comic relief, never to be taken seriously. By this time, Cory had met his new girlfriend Stephanie Roby, who he had met while lighting himself on fire for a local rock show. Cory's current employer informed him that if he were to leave work to attend this television audition, that he would no longer have a position in their company. So Cory handed in his two weeks notice. He knew that if he let this opportunity pass him by that he would be stuck saying "What if?" for the rest of his life, but unfortunately, he didn't make the cut. After leaving the audition, he drove Hollywood and took a walk down Hollywood Blvd. After a few minutes, he stopped, sat down on one of the empty stars, and rethought his career path. The next day, he drove home and began making more music. The first song he made that night was called "Make Poop", a symbolic song where the term "make poop" meant "be yourself". The wrote this song because he realized that the reason he didn't get cast for the role was because the show had nothing to do with his life. So Cory went back into pest control in order to save us a little more money.
(This was the closest thing to a Harley that Cory could afford.)
In early 2005, Cory posted his first internet video on Newgrounds.com. At first, people were upset by his video because Newgrounds.com was only a place for user created games and animations. Only a small hand full of people were able to submit actual videos to the site because the technology little known. The video received over 30,000 views, which in that period of time was unheard of. One of the founders of Newgrounds then contacted Cory and introduced him to Myspace.com, a place where Cory could share his music with others around the world. Almost immediately after joining Myspace, his music became a viral hit and the fans started rolling in.
(Cory and Tom, the founder of Myspace)
Cory's DVDs were still hot sellers, so he went back and edited in his new Myspace account address in order to increase the traffic to his Myspace account. Cory's popularity was purely word of mouth and the success sent him all the way to the top of the charts. In March of 2005, Cory once again quit his day job in order to invest more time online.
(Cory remained on the top of Myspace's comedy charts for nearly a year)
Video websites began popping up and every chance Cory had, he would post his videos. The only problem was that most embedded video players at the time would auto play. So if you were to visit Cory's Myspace profile, both the music player and the embedded video player would auto play and cause an irritating audio disaster. To help solve this problem, one of his fans contacted him and told him about a new site called "YouTube". It was a site where you could post your own videos and embed them onto Myspace profiles without auto playing. So without hesitation, Cory signed up for YouTube on October 25th, 2005 under the user name "smpfilms".
(Cory performing with Marshmellows in his pants for a live net show)
After a few months, Cory ran out of money. He lost his Jeep, all of his bills went into collections, and he sold many of his personal belongings to make it by. Stephanie (Cory's girlfriend) saw Cory's determination and knew that some day he was bound to go somewhere. So began to financially support him, but of course and the stress of money began to weigh on her as well. Cory promised her that one day, he would pay her back with more than just money, but true happiness. To ease their financial problems, Cory began to look for sponsors. After successfully helping a few of his fellow stuntmen get sponsorship on eBay, he decided to try a similar method on himself. Cory auctioned himself on eBay to wear the promotional shirts of the highest bidder. Sure enough, an online gaming casino won the auction for $2000.
(Cory ran 7 miles across San Francisco dressed like this!)
With the money, Cory planned on buying a higher quality camera so he could improve the quality of his videos and become a professional videographer (filming weddings, bands, parties, ect for money). But unfortunately, life took yet another hard turn. Cory was scammed by a man selling camcorders online and all of the money he had earned from the auction was gone. Once again, Cory turned to music to improve mood and this time, he didn't just stop making videos, he made twice as many of them. A major radio station in Fresno, California noticed Cory's work and began playing his songs every day in the morning. Then other morning radio stations began to pick up on his music as well and that's about the time that Cory had his first big boom in the media. He realized that he didn't need a good camera to make people happy, he just needed good content and a positive attitude.
In March of 2006, Cory began traveling to different cities to perform his music. Finally, Cory felt the feeling of being a successful solo stage act as he has hoped for.
(Cory's biggest shows were held in Memphis, TN)
Cory's work was improving and his sponsors began to take notice. So they began to pay him on a monthly bases. Eventually, he was able to afford his new camera and generate new income.
(Cory and his Sony DCR-VX2100)
Meanwhile on Myspace, Cory realized that he didn't have to spend as much time marketing himself like he use to because the people were doing more for him than he ever could on his own. So he began searching the internet for new places to expand. He noticed that something was beginning to happen on YouTube. A new feature called the "video response" gave users the ability to send video messages to other users. So Cory decided to try one with a video he recently watched. The video was about a girl named "bowiechick" who was verbally abused by one of her viewers (a hater) in a store because they didn't like the way she looked in one of her videos. So in Cory's response, he tried to make her feel better about her situation by pointing out the "trusth about fame". Cory could relate to her situation because he had a lot of experience dealing with harsh criticism, since he would deliberately put himself there in his videos. Cory enjoyed the feedback he received (both positive and negative), so he decided to make a follow up video. Again, the comments came rolling in. Cory tried many different things to see how people would respond and for a few of the following months, Cory turned YouTube into his own social experiment. Eventually, Cory became one of the most active members of the YouTube community.
(Charles Trippy, Cory, and Ben "Boh3m3" Going, speaking at a new media convention in Hollywood, Ca)
Through YouTube, Cory was able to better market himself and find business. Cory's videos have been shown on many TV shows including MTV Scared, CBS The Early Show, Maximum Exposure, and just to name a few. Cory has also made appearances in major music videos such as Bloodhound Gang's "Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss Uhn Tiss", Against Me!'s "White People For Peace, and has also made a live appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.
(Cory appeared on The Tonight Show on 6/22/07)
Williams is now living in Thousand Oaks, California and is currently the top 15th most subscribed YouTube user of all-time with over 110,000 subscribers and over 50 million views on YouTube. He is also a YouTube partner (one of the first people chosen by YouTube to earn profit from videos).
(Cory in Time Magazine's "Person of The Year" issue 1/07.
Only 40 pictures are shown in the background and repeated.)
Cory's most successful video so far is "The Mean Kitty Song" which has received over 10 million views. Cory is also the founder of "As One." which is the first touring YouTube gathering event. The gatherings attract many YouTubers from around the world. Event have been held in Hollywood, Ca, San Francisco, Ca, and Melbourne, Vic, Australia.
(Cory watching "The Mean Kitty Song" with his cat Sparta. Photo taken by The Acorn, a local news paper in Thousand Oaks, Ca.)
Through Cory's success, he became the first host of a national television show, discovered purely through online video (without an agent). The FIZZ on DirecTV channel 101 was aired for nearly 2 years in the US.
(Cory watching his first television show)
Stephanie, Cory's girlfriend, is now his fiancee after he proposed to her in a YouTube video. Now, she says home full time and helps with his videos. They are set to marry on September 6th, 2009 with a LIVE INTERNET BROADCAST of the wedding.
(Stephanie and Cory, just before leaving Turlock, Ca. Photo taken by the Turlock Journal.)
In October 2007, Cory scored his first role in a feature film called "Faded Memories". Cory played a biker who takes advantage of a mid-aged woman. This is the first time a role has been casted by a person discovered from online video without and agent. The film was a limited release in Fall 2008.
(Cory as "Hunter" in Faded Memories)
After successfully launching his new series of "Mean Kitty" videos, Cory began to realize that his viewers were changing. Families were beginning to watch his videos together and his female viewers went from 30% to over 55% in only a couple of months. So Cory began to change.
Stupidity was what originally drew people into his video. Then after "The Mean Kitty Song" was released, people fell in love with his cat Sparta. Then in 2008, people were drawn to his failures at life. Failures which made him more relatable than ever before because no one can relate to perfection. From this, his new moto was born: "I win at fail."
As YouTube grew, so did Cory's income. After the word got out on The Tyra Show about Cory's earnings, the buzz of "money on the internet" hit news headline around the world. He was even featured on the Front Page of The New York Times on Sunday, December 10th 2008. His money was made partially from YouTube's ad impressions on the sides of his videos and partially from product placements within his video. When ever he liked a product and planned to use it in his videos, he would contact the company and ask if they'd like to sponsor his new video. Sense he wanted to improve his skills as a film maker, he knew that the tools needed to do so wouldn't be affordable on his YouTube checks alone. After getting sponsors, he was able to buy all the props, equipment, and location fees he would need for his videos. He even paid those involved in his sponsored videos to say thank you to his friends which had supported him for so long.
Today, Cory is still working on his arts. The colder months will always be his slower months in which he uses to relax and write. The warmer months being his busiest time of year.
(Cory in Thousand Oaks, California on 2/24/09)
