YouTube sensation, Biola senior and film major, Zach King is also known by his YouTube alias: “FinalCutKing.” | Job Ang/THE CHIMES
From squallers to fame, these once homeless kittens have become instant Internet stars thanks to their new roles as Jedi Knights and creative Biola film student, Zach King.
What once started out as innocent fun has turned into an instant hit in the viral video world.
The now notorious YouTube video first began with a couple of sparring kittens with light sabers.
King, a senior film and music major with a minor in worship, enhanced and dramatized the epic dual with Star Wars theme music.
“My buddy Aaron and I were hanging out at his house with his new kittens that he had adopted [and] we started talking about cool cat viral videos …” King said. “After throwing out some random ideas, I thought it would be sweet to see cats fighting with light sabers.”
Video an instant hit, inspires sequel
The Jedi Knight kitten YouTube video drew a much larger audience than King and his friend Aaron had expected, reaching over one million views on YouTube in only three days.
“Of course kittens and Star Wars will make for a popular video but I didn’t expect a couple million views so quickly,” King said.
The video was such a hit that King decided to create a sequel, “Jedi Kittens Strike Back,” which was released three weeks ago and has received over three million views and has countless comments under the video reading “MAKE MORE!”
King’s website offers Final Cut tutorials
While the first Jedi Knight kitten video was a spontaneous creation, King’s film career has been long in the making.
With over 109,886 subscribers to his YouTube channel, 10,355 Facebook fans, over 200 uploaded videos and more than 14 million viewers each day, King has branded himself with the name “Final Cut King,” named after the editing software he uses in his videos.
In addition, King has also launched a website forum for aspiring filmmakers, Finalcutking.com.
“I started my website in 2008 during Christmas break [after] I had been searching for online video tutorials for Final Cut,” King said. “Since there was no place to find good quality tutorials, I decided to fill that need and post free tutorials online. Now my site has become a larger resource for filmmakers around the world and I’m excited because the videos and the website are getting hundreds of thousands of hits a month and it’s continuing to grow.”
YouTube channel receives global attention
Internet viewers, students and social media followers are not King’s only fans. In fact, major news corporations such as CNN, Good Morning America, The Today Show and ABC News have all interviewed King on his recent YouTube successes. America was not the only interested nation in the viral video.
The Australian Sunrise morning show interviewed King after showing their audience the Jedi Kitten clip and predicted a successful future for King in the film industry.
New videos planned for near future
“I love YouTube and right now it’s my full time job,” King said. “Most people are confused when I tell them that I create videos for YouTube for a job but it’s such a valuable experience … By creating content for YouTube, I am able to post my work and immediately get hundreds of comments, some of which have helped craft my work and push me to improve.”
With May graduation on the horizon, King plans on continuing work on his YouTube channel and entertaining people through film.
“I know God has blessed me,” King said. “And if I had one prayer request, it would be that I would be a good steward of the things he has given me: my talents, relationships and attending Biola.”
As for the Jedi kittens, King plans on closing the infamous series with a final video in the coming months. So, stay tuned!
