What Happened to Fred?
The Publish Press
“Hey, it’s Fred!” If that read in your mind with a high-pitched, 1.5x–speed voice, you likely remember the channel of Fred Figglehorn, a YouTube character who had one of the highest performing channels in the early 2000s.
Fred became the first YouTube channel in 2009 to reach 1 million subscribers. Then in 2015, he left the channel. The only sign of Fred since has been a TikTok made in 2020 of his old clips. Why did he leave, and where is he now? Let’s take a look:
Fred was a character created by Lucas Cruikshank. He made the channel in 2005 when he was 12, the same year that YouTube was founded. Though he didn’t start uploading to it until 2008.
In 2009 Fred became the most-followed YouTube channel, with 1 million subscribers. At the time, the platform was known for one-off videos, and Fred was part of YouTube’s first class of creators that made consistent, quality content.
Nickelodeon recognized the accomplishment and signed Cruikshank to star in a few projects. They produced a made-for-TV movie in 2010, Fred: The Movie, which also starred John Cena. Two more movies followed in 2011 and 2012. They also made two TV shows, Fred: The Show and Marvin Marvin.
By 2013, none of the shows took off and Cruikshank returned to YouTube, but didn’t receive the same success. Between a more saturated platform and new styles like vlogging growing in popularity, his new sketch videos didn’t receive as many views as his earlier work.
In 2014 Cruikshank sold the Fred channel to a Korean media company, who tried to reprise the channel with new segments and characters, even doing a show with Jake Paul.
Today he continues to post react videos and cultural commentary, and has amassed more than 3 million subscribers and 288 million video views. Most of his content is unsponsored save for an ad he did with Hot Topic earlier this year. He also makes regular appearances on his brother's channel, Jacob Cruikshank.
Our Take
The career of being a creator is new and ever-changing. It’s unknown what a 20-30-40 year career looks like. Lucas was a trailblazer in the mid-2000’s and is still forging a new path today. Studying careers like his will help the next generation of creditors build long term careers.
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🤝 CREATOR SUPPORT
Publish Press readers share a problem they're facing and creators Colin & Samir respond with their advice.
Q: For people who have full-time jobs and creating is a hobby—what are some tips for accountability? I love creating for fun, but I often work 60+ hour weeks and find that putting time towards my craft is difficult due to the need for rest.
A: Hobbies are meant to be fun—so make sure that what you’re making is giving you joy and that you like the process.
If you’re having fun and want to get more output, then try these tips:
Identify your goal—do you want to become a part-time creator? Do you want to make money? Or keep it as-is for fun?
Find a process that allows you to make something you’re proud of. Because you have a full-time job, maybe that is once a month. There are some creators who make one video a month, but it’s their best video and they found a way to build a business off of it.
Switch up the format. Short-form vertical videos might be a better use of your time than longform. Still put emphasis on the ideas, but change the production—make the videos shorter, and shoot them on your phone.
Facing a creator problem you want help with? Share it here→
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