Young YouTuber's Dream Come True
Adam Shamil is the first Sabahan to set foot in Google's YouTube Space in Los Angeles, the United States.
IT was a whirlwind week for young YouTuber Adam Shamil after he received an email from top American multinational company, Google. He disregarded the invitation to attend a summit at the firm's Los Angeles office in the United States, assuming it was a spam.
It wasn't until a personnel from the firm sent him another personalised email, requesting him to RSVP for the event when he was hit by the truth; he had just been handpicked to visit Google's YouTube Space office.
"It was definitely surreal. Everything occurred lightning-fast as I applied for the visa to travel the following week. During the visa interview, the embassy delegate repeatedly asked me what was my purpose of travelling to the US.
"I had to answer a few times, stating that I had been invited by Google to attend a conference," related Adam, 23, chuckling at the disbelief.
Despite the short notice, Adam, who is currently pursuing a degree in International Communication Studies with Film and Television, and Mandarin as Second Language at Nottingham University in Semenyih, Selangor, was relieved that his application was given the green light.
"Some people had to apply months ahead just to get the nod from the US embassy. Therefore I was not entirely convinced that I would be given one. However, it was a relief that everything went according to the plan."
The jolly millenial, who is of Sino-Kadazan and Indonesian parentage, brought along his side-kick, another young YouTuber for this interview, his coursemate, Shantini, ("She came with me when I bought my very first video camera," Adam confessed).
Before he could barely register the fact, he was already aboard the plane heading to the States, bearing the Malaysian flag together with another established YouTuber, Jinny Boy.
With over 162,000 followers in Facebook, 87,500 in Instagram and 34,276 followers in YouTube, Adam, who hails from Penampang, Sabah, is practically a social media star, with the number of views of his videos exceeding two million. However, apart from his compelling content, which covers a broad range of subjects - from misconception about his beautiful Bornean state and people as well as their languages, to humorous takes on life; like the series he did with his dotting octogenarian grandmother - Adam's speedy reach to fame, gaining around 12,000 followers within four months was one of the deciding factors that earned him the invitation.
The famed city
He was in good company as the group of people chosen for the YouTube Public Policy Summit included JinnyBoy and Reuben Kang (who jointly run JinnyBoy TV Production) as well as Fathia Izzati (Indonesia), who are established YouTubers in their own rights.
"It took us about six hours to reach Tokyo for transit ,and another 10 hours and 46 minutes to reach LA airport," Adam said.
'We were picked up by a black limo and driven to the Ritz Carlton hotel," he said, adding that he felt pretty privileged. Apart from that, Google allocated each participants US$300 for car service to get to wherever they wanted to go.
The following day was the actual event, which gathered 22 talented people from around the world at You Tube Space including those from the United Kingdom, the US, Netherlands, New Zealand, Thailand and Indonesia.
The YouTube Space in LA, which was formerly the Howard Hughes Airport, is in the Playa Vista area of Los Angeles and covers nearly 41,000 sq ft.
"It was very futuristic. It's a huge building with a huge YouTube logo.They really appreciate the content creators, as at the entrance is this huge LED screen that show visuals of YouTubers and their upcoming events. On the other side, there are cubicles that cater to content creators who have reached over 10,000 subscribers and those who have received the Silver, Gold or Diamond Play Buttons," recalled Adam.
Apart from that, the space also reportedly contains large production stages, cameras, lights, sound gear, electrical and grip equipment as well as post-production resources ranging from private editing suites to voice-over recording booths; all at no charge if your channel has at least 10,000 subscribers.
"If they have reached that level, they have their own cubicles and green screens. And if you basically don't have a space to make the video, you can actually go to YouTube Space and have your videos done, edited and uploaded," Adam said.
Copyright and infringement
The purpose of the summit included to educate the young people on subjects such as copyright and infringement.
"The things that we learned were pretty technical. Like, you are not allowed to use artistes' tracks in your video, unless it is a parody. For example, you can't use Justin Bieber's 'Baby' as the soundtrack of your video, and you can't sing along to that song. They take the word ‘original’ very seriously.
"As for covers, they are part of video content that cannot be monetised. You can only gain profit if you monetise the video. I was also taught how my video could be discovered easily," Adam shared.
He gave an insight on the course of the one-day summit.
"Basically we had to present our video content; what do we do to increase views and share the reasons that we think contribute to viewership. It was an exchange of ideas and experiences," Adam said, adding that he felt slightly small as among them, his was the least-subscribed channel.
However, on the other hand, his was also the fastest drawing within the time span of seven months, he quipped.
Apart from that, he said, there were were numerous sessions with Google personnel including the head of marketing and the chief of YouTube, who awards the social media content creators the "blue badge" to verify the channel as an established one with over 100,000 subscribers.
Networking
Adam said after the summit, they were able to network with others during the after party.
"That was when I met with Fathia Izzati, one of the most famous YouTubers in Indonesia," he said, adding that he managed to come up with the ninth episode of his popular "Get It Right" video series.
The episode explains the difference between the Indonesian language and the Sabahan Bahasa Malaysia that often confuse Peninsula communities.
Adam makes it a point to clarify the vast difference that exists between both by getting Fathia to say an English sentence, in Bahasa Indonesia while he does the Sabahan version.
This clip received more than 178, 000 views from the You Tube community.
The earlier responses prompted him to make similar videos under the "Get It Right" umbrella to dispel misconceptions about Sabahan lifestyle, language and people, especially for those who tend to misuse colloquial terms for fun. For instance the usage of the expression 'Bah', is akin to the word 'OK' in Sabah, but according to Adam, should not be used in improper settings unless one wants to irk the locals. Adam is the first Sabahan to set foot in the social media dwellers' revered place.
Blessed
As a young student, Adam admitted to strict time-management in order to consistently come up with new clips and still complete his assignments and other commitments in campus.
His advice to his peers and youngsters out there is to dare to dream and dare to achieve them.
