Ethan Newberry wants to be a YouTube star. And the Seattleite is moving closer to that goal having been selected to participate in NextUp, a new program in which YouTube is trying to assist 45 rising media stars “who’ve demonstrated passion, talent and huge potential in video making across a range of genres.”
The program was featured in The New York Times today, with reporter Jennifer Preston calling it a “boot camp” in YouTube’s “campaign to find its own original high-quality video content” in the face of competition from Hulu, Apple and Netflix.”
Newberry wasn’t mentioned in that piece, but the University of Washington grad and former member of Jet City Improv is trying to make his mark in the digital video world.
Newberry is one of the cast members of Team Marco Polo, a new online travel show aimed at kids and produced by some of the same folks behind “Bill Nye, The Science Guy.” You can see some of his work in this video where he pokes fun at travel guru Rick Steves.
Here’s another clip of Newberry talking more about what he hopes to gain from NextUp, kind of like the online entertainment equivalent of the farm system for the major leagues.
And here’s another one of Newberry’s clips, poking fun at Tim Gunn of Project Runway.
