Ninja for Hire – Working YouTube to Break into Pictures

Xin Sarith Azuma Phan Wuku is the Ninja for Hire. In an effort to break into feature films, he created a video highlighting his martial arts skills. He swiftly became a legend of viral video, gathering over 4 million hits on YouTube.What I love about Xin is not only his physical prowess, but his clear determination to break into the movie industry – cheaply, on YouTube. Xin Sarith Azuma Phan Wuku, Ninja for Hire, is an impeccable warrior.

Before the days of Web 2.0., breaking into pictures was hard for your average Joe. With the social media revolution, talented guys like Xin have and deserve a chance to be discovered.

Social media has made it possible for web savvy, self promoting individuals with a penchant for working the participatory web to rocket from anonymity to stardom.

Take the example of Tila Nyguyen, a.k.a. Tila Tequila – queen of MySpace. Tila has over 1.5 million MySpace fans and Tila’s MySpace profile has been viewed over 50 million times.

According to Time Magazine, “Nguyen clearly grasps the logic of Web 2.0 in a way that would make many CEOs weep. She sells Tila posters, calendars, a clothing line of hoodies and shirts. She has been on the cover of British Maxim. She has a single due to be released online. She has a cameo in next summer’s Adam Sandler movie. She has four managers, a publicist and a part-time assistant. It’s hard to know how to read the rise of Tila Tequila. Does she represent the triumph of a new democratic starmaking medium or its crass exploitation for maximum personal gain? It’s not clear that even Tila knows.

But she knows why it works. “There’s a million hot naked chicks on the Internet,” she says. “There’s a difference between those girls and me. Those chicks don’t talk back to you.”"

Sources:

Time Magazine Article on Tila Tequila

[tags]social media, social media optimization, smo, personal branding, web 2.0, lorna li[/tags]

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Dan Schawbel Says:
June 5th, 2007 at 12:16 pm
He must do a lot of viral and word-of-mouth marketing to get some of those hits. Hopefully he will replace jacky chan someday.
Jack Says:
October 30th, 2007 at 2:16 pm
Jack…

I Googled for something completely different, but found your page…and have to say thanks. nice read….
Traffic Geyser Says:
March 26th, 2009 at 4:55 am
when will his movie coming? just kidding, I’m a big fan of his videos, actually I watched them over and over again, wishing I can do all of those stunts that he were performing, but I’m too afraid to break my bones.. =)