Who is the Vlog Squad?
Part 2: The Supporting Cast of "The Vlog Squad"
This is a continuation of a series on content creator collective deep-dives.
Read Part 1 about David Dobrik before reading this.
Who are the “vlog squad”?
If it sounds like a made-up term, it’s because it is.
It’s a term given to the creator collective that collaborate on videos together. Many of them started on Vine and after the app fizzled out they started working together on various skits and videos and helping each other. They have all since branched and created their own YouTube channels, businesses and independent followings.
Their authenticity and relatability is unmatched by any other creator collective.
Contrary to other creator collectives like Team 10 (now in a state of disarray), the Hype House and FaZe Clan, the Vlog squad does not all live on the same property. They all do live near each other which makes it easier to collaborate on vlogs, music videos and skits.
Also, contrary to other collectives, there is no contractual agreement or shared revenue across the creators, that we know of at least. It genuinely seems like everyone are friends from an outsider’s perspective.
The term “vlog squad” originated organically from the group themselves.
They were all recurring characters in David Dobrik’s vlog and very quickly started branching off and creating their own vlogs. If David Dobrik’s vlog was the main show, the rest of the vlog squad members content serves as behind-the-scenes footage.
Think of your favorite show, let’s say Friends.
How great would it be you could see life through Joey’s eyes when he’s learning his lines? Or if you wanted to see how Rachel talks to Phoebe off-set? What if there were That’s exactly what the rest of the vlog does and with that demand of content from fans, they’ve built their own spinoffs while still participating in the main show, David’s vlog.
Each of David’s vlog is 4 minutes of 21 seconds of fast-paced skit based content. But the other vlog members have vlogs of up to 10-15 minutes on how they set up the bit. And as consumers, we want more and more all the time. So, imagine watching a 30 second bit in David’s vlog and then jumping over to Zane Hijazi’s video on how they set that up.
Over time, they’ve built the spinoffs into their own storylines and their own fanbases. Zane Hijazi & Heath Hussar now have their own respective multi-million subscriber count YouTube channels, a podcast and respective merchandise lines. They’re also one of the first podcasts to be on Spotify’s video podcasts.
Many more in the vlog squad have their own channels and have been able to launch their own businesses and revenue lines for themselves simply from being in David’s vlog. The model is simple. Star in David’s vlog, drive traffic to your own channel. Almost 5M+ people watch each and every David Dobrik vlog, so if even 1% of that audience traffic comes to your channel, that’s dividends for you.
It’s a great case study of “when I make it, I’m bringing all my friends with me.”
Which in my new opinion is the new friend group American dream. And David has done almost perfectly.
He lives in a multi-million dollar mansion in the Hollywood hills with his two hometown friends: Natalie and Ilya. He has three assistants: Natalie, Taylor and Ella who help with well basically everything from thumbnails to daily chores like cooking to brand deals and logistics for content like flights, props, and the like. He regularly gifts things to his hometown friends such as cars, paying off school debt, World Series tickets and literally a home for a few of his Chicago friends all through brand deals and solid partnerships with brands.
Who makes up the vlog squad?
The vlog squad is a combination of different content creators that all work and create together.
We’ll cover the main cast (in my opinion and in no particular order):
Jason Nash
First is Jason Nash, a 47 year old standup comedian, divorced father of two teenage children, podcast co-host, vlogger, director, writer, ex-Viner, and YouTuber (not necessarily in that order).
He is literally the dad of the group. Jason Nash is the most committed person to the bits that David and team come up with. He’s literally created recurring characters outside of his dad character. He’s got Carmelita, a character who is a prostitute where he literally wears a skirt, wig and heels just to commit to the bit. Jason always goes the extra mile when it comes to the bits and for that he is not only one of my favorite recurring cast members but also the first one to mention here.
Scotty Sire
Second is Scotty Sire, a 28 year old, ex-Viner, musician, and a YouTuber . He diversified very well and broken out from just being a person in David’s vlogs. His character (if you can even call it that) is a semi-suicidal Scotty who has a running joke of being cut from the vlogs. It’s funny deprecating humor once you’ve watched a few vlogs.
Scott has found his niche to make him stand out against the backdrop of the vlogs and he could easily leave them at any point if he wanted to. I think that’s what makes him stand out the most compared to others. He’s got a lovable personality, his songs on Spotify are about mental health, catchy, and have some feel good vibes.
Here’s just a few:
His latest song as of July 26th, 2020 is called Don’t Be Sad and it’s also a staple on his merchandise. The song is absolutely hauntingly beautiful.
Breakfast In the Park is a relatively newer song, but it shows his range.
His classics are below:
Lonely Christmas is too relatable, but shows the overall production and dedication to his craft.
This song is just insanely catchy and his verse shows he can be fun and vibey without having serious lyrics.
Last but least is Get Better which I personally think is his best song. It talks about getting better (I’m funny, I know) mentally. From chill vibes to more serious songs like Get Better, Scotty has quite the range and is definitely a man of many talents.
Outside of these fantastic songs and a few albums, Scotty himself makes TikToks, vlogs and is a bonafide content creator across all platforms.
Zane Hijazi & Heath Hussar
Next up is Zane and Heath. You might have seen them on Vine or on YouTube or on their fairly new podcast called Zane & Heath unfiltered. They’re best friends who are always finding ways to make people laugh.
Zane is a powerhouse in and of himself, he released this cover of WAP by Cardi B that is hauntingly beautiful. It also features Todd Smith who I wrote about later in this article on the keys.
From YouTube, you can tell they were some of the first people David met when he was just starting out and both their brands are tied to their friendship. Zane is known as the drunk idiot and Heath is a smoker/drunk turned sober. Their partnership when it comes to comedy is unmatched.
Reality TV shows can’t write better scripts or better back and forths than what these two have done.
For example, here’s a brief compilation of their most iconic bit, I dare you not to laugh.
NSFW language Warning (as with almost everything in this section)
Aside from their dedication to these comedic bits, Zane and Heath both have large YouTube channels with Zane at almost 4M subscribers and Heath at almost 3M subscribers.
There’s a running joke that Zane doesn’t post videos very often, but every once in awhile, he makes an absolutely beautiful vlog. They both started posting longer form vlogs as has been the case for most of the vlog squad. And for Zane’s 200th vlog, well it was incredible.
Everyone came together to support Zane for his 200th vlog and oh boy was it a masterpiece. Just the first few minutes are gloriness in their own right.
As mentioned, Zane and Heath also have their relatively new (as of July 2020) podcast called Zane and Heath unfiltered where they talk about tales from the vlogs, Vine days and have recurring guests. From a business standpoint, this is genius.
They’ve taken their very lucrative YouTube careers and converted to audio. Furthermore, the podcast has a YouTube channel and sponsors. The channel has 666K subscribers (as of late July 2020) and they post the podcast to Apple Music and Spotify.
Here’s why that’s brilliant (Views by David Dobrik & Jason Nash has a similar model, but they post video versions less frequently).
Now when you’re making a vlog, it’s video content that runs on YouTube. You make adsense and maybe money from the sponsor. For a podcast that has a video and audio component, you’re diversifying the income stream while creating the same piece of content for different consumption formats. For people that want to watch the video version of the podcast, they can on YouTube, they’ll hear about the sponsor, see actual face reactions and maybe have something visual. Those that listen to the audio only format on Spotify or Apple podcasts or any other platform get the same content.
At the end of the day, for video, it’s based on views.
For podcasts and audio, it’s based on listens.
So, if someone views the video podcast or listens to it, it serves both consumer types while saving the creator time and money to create two pieces of content. Logan Paul has a similar model with Impaulsive and it’s actually taken from the Joe Rogan podcast where the majority of people listen via Spotify/Apple Podcasts/etc. but he also has a massive following on YouTube for people that want to see visual reactions to things said on the podcast.
Toddy Smith
Todd “Toddy” Smith is from Huntington Beach, California and before being in David’s vlogs, he was on a reality show called Sweet Home Alabama in 2013. This is before Vine, but you can tell this guy is the quintessential “Chad” looking guy of the group.
Over time, Todd has taken his talents to music and the arts while using David’s vlogs as a promotional tool. I think that is the best way that these group of friends have built their own businesses out of being in the vlogs. For Todd, he plays piano but also recently released a book with partner Darren Nuzzo titled I’ll Give You A Dollar If You Call This Art.
Todd is a recurring character in the vlogs but has also had his relationship drama within the group. He’s dated Corinna for a bit and is currently dating Natalie (as of October 2020) and part of that comes as no surprise to avid fans and watchers.
At the same time, Todd has his own YouTube channel of 1M subscribers where he shares personal stories as well some music videos. It’s a combination of deep personal stories and comic relief content.
The song “Natalina” he made for Natalie (before they were officially dating) is incredibly catchy.
Corinna Kopf
You’ve probably noticed I haven’t highlighted any of the girls in the vlog squad.
That’s mainly because I want to write about them in another article. That said, I do want to highlight Corinna. She grew up with David, Natalie and Ilya in Illinois but didn’t know the group until later. I hate this term, but she is the residential “hot girl” of the vlogs and wears the personality proudly. I’m not one to judge anyone, do whatever makes you happy and as long as you’re not actively hurting anyone, get that bag.
Here’s why Corinna is interesting other than having great looks. She’s also somewhat smart business wise. She has about 5M on Instagram creating inbound brand deals galore especially with a broader reach across other platforms as well.
She has a YouTube channel (that she hasn’t uploaded to in over 6 months) as well as gaming. She’s an avid streamer who is signed in an exclusive contract with Facebook gaming where she streams regularly. She started originally streaming Fortnite on Twitch and recently switched to Among Us and Fortnite on Facebook. Streaming is another area I’ll cover later, but it’s bringing in $$$ for Corinna.
There Are More
There’s a few more members of the vlog squad as it’s a rotating cast of people. The newer folks (who are not highlighted here) are Natalie Mariduena, David’s first assistant who lives with David (he has three now), Ilya Fedorovich (who also lives with David), Taylor Hudson (David’s second assistant), Ella Priya (David’s third assistant), Liza Koshy (a huge content creator herself and David’s ex-girlfriend), Carly & Erin, Mariah Amato and others who I’ll highlight in other articles.
The Bottom Line
I also just want to note two things while I wrap this article.
1) All of the people mentioned here are in their mid or late-20s (except Jason) which is absolutely mind-boggling. They’ve figured out how to capitalize and monetize attention and build their own empires at a very young age.
2) I don’t have any relationships with any of these people and this is all written from an avid fan perspective. I do wish I got to meet or collab with them - it’d be great to interview any of them on how they think about business and the world.
Thanks for reading and let me know if you want more deep-dives like this.