Lisa Donovan

Lisa Donovan (born June 11, 1980) is an American actress, comedian and Internet personality. She is one of the co-founders of Maker Studios, a YouTube video network which was purchased in 2015 by The Walt Disney Company. The network was absorbed by Disney in 2017 to become Disney Digital Network. The network provided production and marketing services for over 1,000 YouTube channels. [1]

Lisa Donovan
Portait of Lisa Donovan
Born	June 11, 1980 New York City, U.S.
Other names	LisaNova on YouTube
Occupation	Actress, comedienne, internet personality
Years active	2006–present

She was also a founder of Zappin Productions,[2] a production company that specialized in viral videos.

Early life

Donovan grew up in Scarsdale, New York.[3] She was a student at the University of Colorado at Boulder before moving to Los Angeles, California.[4]

Career

YouTube

Donovan made her first YouTube channel in September 2005[5] and uploaded her first video, "Introducing LisaNova," a reel of facial clips in black-and-white accompanied by the Charles Aznavour song Non, je n'ai rien oublié, to YouTube on June 7, 2006.[6] She has parodied a number of celebrities and public figures; her impersonation of Sarah Palin was praised in Wired as "ruthlessly hilarious", and in 2008 Ralph Nader made a guest appearance in one of the skits.[7] In a Forbes magazine article, YouTube founder Chad Hurley highlighted Donovan's success as an example of the changing paradigm of entertainment.[8] Donovan is also a co-creator of the popular YouTube channel 'The Station', which led to her co-founding the YouTube network Maker Studios.

Mainstream success

Donovan was one of the first YouTube content creators to cross over to mainstream Hollywood when she was cast on MADtv in 2006.[9] She debuted in a spoof of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where she played Salma Hayek, the producer of the ABC Comedy Ugly Betty, and Rosie O'Donnell.[10] The episode aired on February 17, 2007. After signing a contract and only appearing in four episodes of MADtv, she left the following season.

In 2010, she was given a role in Cosmopolitan's Fun & Fearless campaign for females.[11]

In 2011, she was honored as Pioneer in New Media at the third annual Burbank International Film Festival[12] alongside fellow honorees Bill Plympton, Mark Kirkland, Fred Willard, Al Jean, and Roger Corman.

In 2015, she played the role of the flight attendant in Jeremy Garelick's The Wedding Ringer.[13] Comedian Bo Burnham called Donovan "hot" in his song, "Welcome to YouTube" at YouTube Live in 2008

See also

• List of YouTube personalities

References

1. "Smaller Studios, for the Smaller Screen". The New York Times. April 10, 2011.
2. Morrissey, Brian (2007-01-01). "Lisa Nova On The Spot". Adweek. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-04.
3. 15 Minutes of Fame: Becoming a Star in the YouTube Revolution by Frederick Levy, P. 75
4. "Lisa Donovan Joins the Cast of MADtv". 2007-01-31. Archived from the original on 2007-07-14. Retrieved 2007-07-11.
5. "lisa's channel - YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 2016-12-05.
6. "Introducing LisaNova - YouTube". YouTube. 2006-06-07. Retrieved 2007-07-16.
7. Wortham, Jenna (September 2, 2008). "YouTube Comedian LisaNova Packs Heat for Sarah Palin Spoof". Wired.
8. "YouToo". Forbes. May 7, 2007.
9. Nova, Lisa. "Lisa Nova". Huffington Post.
10. Wallenstein, Andrew (2007-04-29). "How YouTube Helped LisaNova Start Her Career". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2007-07-07.
11. "Cosmo's Fun Fearless Female Campaign Video Clip". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 2012-05-23.
12. Burbank International Film Festival, 2011 Honorees Archived 2011-10-24 at the Wayback Machine
13. "The Wedding Ringer".

External links

• Lisa Donovan at IMDb
• LisaNova at YouTube