Natalie Tran

Natalie Tran (born 24 July 1986), known online as communitychannel, is an Australian YouTuber, actress, and comedian. She is best known for her comedy videos in which she discusses everyday issues.

"communitychannel" redirects here. For other uses, see Community channel.

Natalie Tran
Tran at the Australian premiere of Paper Towns in 2015
Born
Natalie Tran

(1986-07-24) 24 July 1986
Auburn, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation
  • YouTuber
  • actress
  • comedian
  • writer
Years active2006–2016, 2020-
YouTube information
Channel
Genre
Subscribers1.82 million (communitychannel)
54,100 (natalie)
Total views602 million (communitychannel)[1]
359,000 (natalie)
100,000 subscribers
1,000,000 subscribers 2011
Updated: 1 September 2020
Websitewww.babyiknow.com

She began posting on YouTube in 2006 while attending University of New South Wales. From 2006 to 2016, her channel consisted primarily of observational comedy videos with monologues. Tran eventually became one of the most prominent users on the platform, and was the most subscribed-to YouTuber in Australia in the late 2000s and early 2010s as well as one of the highest-earning YouTubers. She ceased uploading routinely to YouTube in late 2016 due to anxiety.

Outside of YouTube, Tran's acting career has consisted of a role in the romantic comedy film Goddess (2013), as well as recurring roles on the Foxtel sketch comedy show The Slot (2017–2018), the FX/Foxtel comedy-crime drama series Mr Inbetween (2018–2019) as Jacinta, and the Network 10 sketch comedy show Kinne Tonight (2018–2020).

Early life and education

Natalie Tran was born on 24 July 1986 in the suburb of Auburn in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, to her mother and father, both refugees who traveled to Australia from Vietnam in 1981, having previously practiced law and literary lecturing, respectively. She also has one sister who traveled with her parents from Vietnam.[2] After they resettled in Sydney, Tran's mother found employment in the postal service, while her father became a public school teacher.[3] Tran credits her parents for making her success possible, expressing that they "endured so much to give my sister and I great lives."[4]

Tran was raised in Auburn, and attended primary school in Lidcombe. After graduating, she attended Rosebank College in Five Dock, before transferring to Meriden School, an Anglican all-girls school in Strathfield, in year nine, where she graduated in 2004.[5] Speaking about her secondary school experience, she shared that she "wasn't really a fan", sharing, "I'm not a very ambitious or very applied student."[6] After high school, she attended the University of New South Wales, where she originally majored in education after being inspired by her father, but, following the success of her YouTube channel, began studying and later completing a degree in Digital Media.[7][3] While attending the University of New South Wales, she worked in retail.[8]

Career

YouTube

Tran began posting to her YouTube channel in 2006, initially posting responses to other videos she had seen on the site.[9][8] Her content subsequently moved towards comedy skits and vlogs[10] which involved lampooning everyday social issues, in which she played all of the characters and gave monologues throughout.[11]

In 2007, Tran was invited to participate in the launch of YouTube Australia.[12] Her passionate defence of Vegemite, made in response to a YouTube video by Ben Going, was featured on the Australian television programme A Current Affair on February 2007, as part of their Vegemite wars segment.[13] Tran was nominated for "Best YouTube Channel or Personality" and "Funniest YouTube Channel" by Mashable at their 2009 Open Web Awards.[14] Tran partnered with Lonely Planet in 2010 to make a series of travel videos, chronicling Tran's journey around the world to places such as Paris, New York City, Los Angeles and Buenos Aires.[10][15]

By 2009, Tran was the most subscribed-to YouTuber in Australia and the 37th most subscribed-to globally.[11][10] In 2010, she became the 18th most subscribed-to YouTuber globally.[16] Also in 2010, analytics firm TubeMogul revealed that Tran was the 10th highest-earning YouTuber on the platform, having made over $101,000 in advertising revenue between July 2009 to July 2010.[17] By 2011, she had earned over one million subscribers.[6]

In March 2014, Visit Melbourne, Melbourne's tourism brand, partnered with Tran and posted two Melbourne-based travel videos to Visit Melbourne's YouTube channel.[18][19] In December 2014, Samsung Australia released a series of tutorial videos for the Samsung Galaxy S5 starring Tran.[20][21] She appeared as part of the lineup at YouTube FanFest Australia 2015.[22] In an April 2015 presentation at Brown University posted to her YouTube channel, she talked about Asian representation and stereotypes in the media.[23] Tran became a member of the Real-Time Academy of Short Form Arts & Sciences in March 2015, a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of social media content known for its Shorty Awards.[24] In December 2015, she appeared in Lilly Singh's promotional video for her #GirlLove campaign, which aimed to end socialized competition among women, alongside Shay Mitchell, Hannah Hart, and others.[25][26]

Her April 2016 parody of Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's video apology for breaking Australian biosecurity laws, in which she depicts them as being held at gunpoint while filming the video, received notoriety and praise.[27][28] Writers from The Telegraph, New York Daily News, and The Independent referred to the video as "hilarious".[29][30] In February 2017, her Valentine's Day video, in which she serenaded her partner while he played video games using a virtual reality headset, got traction.[31][32] She became an ambassador for YouTube's Creators for Change initiative in September 2016.[33] In December 2017, as part of the program, she released White Male Asian Female, a 40-minute documentary which discussed negative stigmas surrounding interracial relationships, specifically those between Asian women and Caucasian men, including her own, on her YouTube channel.[34][35] She hosted a video guide segment for the 2019 Sydney Film Festival called the Launch Show, released in May 2019.[36]

Television and film
Tran at the premiere of Goddess, March 2013

From 2010 to 2011, Tran worked as a Sydney correspondent for The Project's The Whip segment.[6] In 2011, she appeared as a guest on an episode of the third series of Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation.[37]

After being emailed by producers twice but missing their first email, Tran made her debut film appearance in the 2013 romantic comedy film Goddess as Helen.[38] From 2017 to 2018, she appeared as a series regular on the sketch comedy show The Slot.[39] In October 2018, she appeared in an ad for the vegan burger at Hungry Jack's.[40] She appeared in both seasons of the FX series Mr Inbetween in the recurring role of Jacinta, the ex-wife of the protagonist, Ray, played by Scott Ryan.[41] She appeared as a guest in the pilot episode of the sketch comedy series Kinne Tonight in August 2018.[42] Luke Buckmaster of The Guardian reviewed the pilot negatively, suggesting instead that Tran should have been given her own pilot.[43] In 2020, she returned to the show during its second season as a recurring guest.[44]

Other endeavors

Tran was commissioned by The Sydney Morning Herald in April 2009 as a contributor to their technology vlog Digital Life.[45] In May 2009, she was among the first of the featured speakers to open "Creative Sydney" at the Museum of Contemporary Art.[46] In 2010, she spoke at the Entertainment Gathering convention in Monterey, California[47] and went on to deliver a presentation at ideaCity in Toronto, Canada later that same year.[48]

Six months after returning home from her Lonely Planet trip in 2011, Tran co-launched a travel app for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade with the country's former Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd.[49][50]

She was an announcer at the 2013 Social Star Awards,[51] the Australian Screen Industries and Audiences Conference[52] and spoke at the Commercial National Radio Conference in Brisbane, Australia in October 2013.[53]

Public image
Tran speaking at the EG2010 conference, January 2010

From 2010 to 2012, internet critic TC Candler put Tran on his long running "100 Most Beautiful Faces" list.[54][55][56]

Tran has frequently been referred to as the "Australian Queen of YouTube".[57][11][58] She has appeared on multiple lists of the best Australian YouTubers.[59][60][61] The Daily Telegraph called her "One of Australia’s original success stories on YouTube".[62] Wired placed Tran at number 9 on their list of "The Top 10 Geeks from Downunder".[16]

In 2011, Tran made The Sydney Morning Herald's annual list of Sydney's 100 most influential people.[63] In 2014, Tran was listed at number 80 on the New Media Rockstars list of their top 100 channels.[64] Digital Trends named her video "Indoor Plant Serial Killer" as one of the funniest YouTube videos of all time in 2020.[65]

Personal life

Tran became vegetarian in 2015, and later became vegan. In 2011, she began dating Rowan Jones, a producer who she met during her time on The Project. As of 2015, the two work together as freelance videographers.[6] Tran announced their break-up in June 2019.[66] In March 2020, she confirmed that the couple had reconciled and were living together.[67] She identifies as an atheist.[68]

In a January 2019 release of an interview between Tran and Quentin Kenihan, she revealed that, after not having posted any videos since December 2016, she had gone through a year-long self-imposed isolation due to an intense bout of anxiety brought about by her obsessive–compulsive disorder.[69]

Advocacy

Tran has been vocal in her support of asylum seekers in Australia.[70] In November 2016, she partnered with Amnesty International to host a live streamed social experiment wherein Australian locals met refugees without being told prior that they were refugees.[71]

Controversy

Tran's anti-religious comments on Twitter regarding the Charlie Hebdo shooting in 2015 sparked an outrage among some fans for singling out Islamic extremism and encouraging Islamophobia, although Tran rejected that notion and clarified that she was criticising all religion. The backlash started after Tran tweeted, “strapping bombs to children...I've tried to remain indifferent towards religion but it's incredibly hard to remain that way”, which followed a number of provocative tweets that she had later deleted.[68]

Despite the criticism she received, she stood by her position and tweeted, “I'm disappointed that people still support religion when so much evil is done in its name.” Conversely, she also received support from some fans and other Twitter users for her stance, including from Smosh's Anthony Padilla, with some also expressing disappointment that she had to remove her tweets.[68]

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
2010–2011 The Project Herself TV series (13 episodes)
2011 Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation Herself Game show (1 episode)
2013 Goddess Helen Film debut
2017–2018 The Slot Herself/Various roles TV series
2018–2019 Mr Inbetween Jacinta TV series (6 episodes)
2018–2020 Kinne Tonight Herself/Various roles TV series (5 episodes)
2020 Rosehaven Gemma Episode: "Episode #4.4"

References
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