David Freiheit

David Freiheit (born September 29, 1979), is a Canadian lawyer,[1] and YouTuber under the pseudonym Viva Frei.[2]

David Freiheit
Personal information
BornDavid Freiheit
(1979-09-29) September 29, 1979
OccupationYouTuber, Commercial litigator
Children3
Websitevivafrei.com
YouTube information
Also known asViva Frei
Channels
Years active2012–present
Genre
Subscribers322,000
Total views76 million
100,000 subscribers 2019
Updated: 21 September 2020

Biography

Freiheit grew up in Montreal, Quebec, as the youngest of five siblings.[3] He enjoyed creating videos.[4] He studied Creative Arts at Dawson College and received his Bachelor of Arts at McGill University. He then received his civil law degree from Université Laval where he was the editor-in-chief of the university's law journal.[3]

In 2007, Freiheit began practising law, following in the footsteps of his father and older siblings.[5] He worked professionally for the prominent commercial litigation firm Borden Ladner Gervais for six years,[6] but left to be a freelance litigator after his first child to have a more favorable work-life balance,[2] starting a firm called Freiheit Legal.[7]

For the first few years of his YouTube career, Freiheit was a practicing commercial litigator, and he struggled to find time to create his videos.[8] In January 2018, he discontinued his litigation practice and turned full-time to YouTube.[9]

YouTube career

Early content and awards (2014-2019)

Freiheit started his YouTube career in early 2014 by posting videos of him lip syncing to various pop songs while running obstacle courses dressed in a full suit.[10] These videos were not receiving many views, so Freiheit decided to try another style; in late 2014, Freiheit started posting nature-related stunts.[11][12] He gained popularity when he posted a video of a squirrel picking up his GoPro action camera and carrying it up a tree.[13][14] Freiheit then started posting videos of stunts involving the use of a drone.[15][16]

In 2016, Freiheit won a GoPro Award for his use of their cameras in his videos.[17] He won a Shorty Social Good Award for Best Overall Youtube Presence in 2017.[18]

In January 2019, Freiheit was invited by GoPro to be a featured panelist at the Consumer Electronics Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.[19]

Style change (2019-present)

From 2014 to 2019, Freiheit had only accumulated around 60,000 subscribers. In April 2019, he decided that since law-related content was by far his channel's most popular genre, he would change the style of his channel and only post vlogs analyzing different current issues from a legal standpoint.[20][21] He started a second channel, "Viva Family", as a place to maintain his former content style.[22]

Although his content has been described as right-wing, Freiheit himself classifies the political stance he takes on his channel as non-partisan,[23] claiming that the internet, through the use of the terms right or left-wing, only succeeds in "pigeonholing, categorizing, dichotomizing, just reducing a complex individual to either right or left in all of their... beliefs.".[24] In an interview, he described his channel's content as including a "pretty decent balance of left and right".[5]

In 2019 attorney Robert Barnes began making weekly Sunday evening appearances on the Viva Frei law vlog YouTube channel.[25]

References
  1. "Interview With a Vlogger: Determined Viva Frei and His Viral Videos". Medium. 12 April 2018. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  2. Moore, Karl (25 April 2020). "From Lawyer To YouTuber: How David Freiheit Found His Niche". Forbes. Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  3. "David Freiheit". Freiheit Legal. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  4. Tang, Pency (14 March 2019). "Alumni spotlight: David Freiheit". McGill University. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  5. "Know Your Vlawg: An Interview with Viva Frei". 25 September 2019. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  6. Tison, Florence (29 April 2020). "D'avocat à YouTubeur" (in French). Droit. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  7. "David Freiheit is the founder of Freiheit Legal Inc., a Montreal boutique law firm specializing in commercial litigation and general corporate law". Montreal Gazette. 31 August 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  8. Murphy, Eliza (29 August 2016). "Dad Spoofs Jason Bourne With Hilarious (Baby) 'Bjorn Identity' Video". ABC News. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  9. Deshaies, Sarah (12 January 2018). "Quebec's YouTube stars upload their lives". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  10. "Montreal dad enlists squirrel to help remove daughter's tooth". Hamilton Spectator. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  11. Watters, Hayden (25 June 2016). "How nutty! Montreal dad gets squirrel to yank out daughter's tooth". CBC. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  12. "Hot Water + Freezing Temperature + Camera = Amazing Videos!". Indian Express. 2 January 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  13. Sirucek, Stefan (22 November 2014). "Watch: This Is What Happens When You Give a Squirrel a GoPro". National Geographic. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  14. Griggs, Mary Beth (9 August 2016). "This Is What The World Looks Like From a Squirrel's Point Of View". Popular Science. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  15. Prestwich, Emma (7 December 2016). "David Freiheit, Quebec Man, Uses Drone To Wax His Leg". Huffington Post. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  16. "Quebec father-daughter duo get park squirrels to yank out baby tooth from girl's mouth". National Post. 24 June 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  17. "GoPro Awards: Squirrel Runs Off With GoPro". GoPro. 12 August 2016. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  18. "Breakout YouTuber - Winner in YouTube Presence". Shorty Awards. Retrieved 19 April 2020.
  19. "David Freiheit invited to the CES in Las Vegas". CTV News Breakfast Television. 21 January 2019. Retrieved 22 April 2020.
  20. Mendes, David (10 October 2019). "David Freiheit – Merging Law, Popularization, and Content Creation". Papa Phd. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  21. "David Freiheit, l'avocat YouTubeur" (in French). Les Affaires. 21 April 2020. Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  23. "Viva Frei". 27 April 2020. p. 11:10 (timestamp). Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  24. "Viva Frei". 27 April 2020. p. 2:10 (timestamp). Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  25. Freiheit, David (Nov 1, 2019). "EP. 1 - Viva & Barnes: Robert Barnes - From Covington Catholic to Alex Jones- Viva Frei Vlawg". YouTube.com. Viva Frei. Retrieved Nov 9, 2020.
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