Thomas Sanders (actor)
Thomas Sanders (born April 24, 1989 in Gainesville , Florida ) is an American singer, actor, screenwriter and Internet personality who became famous through Vine and YouTube.
He is best known for his career on the Vine social media platform , which lasted from April 2013 until Vine ended in January 2017. Sanders makes longer videos on YouTube and shorter vines-style videos on Instagram and Twitter. His work mainly consists of comedy sketches, pranks, stories, sung and his commitment to social justice.
Sanders is best known for the vines series Narrating People's Lives , also known as Storytime , and the YouTube series Sanders Sides (“Sanders Pages”). He hit over 7.4 billion loops and 8.3 million followers on Vine, making his career one of the most successful in Vine’s short history. He has two channels on YouTube, a main channel that was created in 2009 but has been active since September 2014 and a secondary channel called "Thomas Sanders and Friends" that has been in operation since its creation in October 2018. In January 2019, its main channel had almost 3 million subscribers and its secondary channel over 139,000 subscribers. Sanders won two Shorty Awards and a Streamy Award for Best Viner and Best YouTube Comedian, and was nominated as a "Choice Viner" among other recognitions for the Teen Choice Award.
As a singer, Sanders released an EP in 2013, an album in 2016 and several singles from 2017. He has also had a career in musical theater in Florida since he was a teenager, performing in Gainesville and Orlando, Florida since 2006, and toured his own musical , Ultimate Storytime , based on his Vine series, through 17 cities in the US and Canada. In 2017 he made a guest appearance on the Disney Channel show Bizaardvark and hosted a special episode of the Disney XD show Walk the Prank with David Lopez .
Life
Sanders grew up in his native Gainesville , Florida , where he still lives today. His maternal great grandfather was born in Ireland and Sanders is very proud of his Irish roots. His great-grandmother was a Ziegfeld Follies girl , a special actress for a New York Broadway Year in Review, what Sanders calls his "ancestral connection with stage". Sander's father was a long-time teacher. Sanders has three brothers: Patrick, Christian and Shea. Sanders is two years older than Shea, and eight years younger than Patrick and Christian. He began singing in several choirs in middle school and acting in several school musicals. In high school he combined both with appearances in musicals. During his studies at the University of Florida (in Gainesville) he performed in community theaters and in 2006 he joined the Gainesville Community Playhouse , where he played until 2015. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree as a chemical engineer in 2011, he worked as a production engineer in a drug development company in Alachua and at night in the theater until his success on the social media platform Vine enabled him to quit his first job and concentrate on Vine and theater. He came out as gay in June 2017 .
Career
Vine and Sanders shorts
Thomas Sanders made his Vine debut on April 14, 2013 as "Foster_Dawg", named after his first dog, Foster. A picture of Stewie Griffin, a character from the Family Guy series , in a drive-in was his first viral vine, which led to further success. He later renamed himself "Thomas Sanders". In October 2013, his channel reached 1 million followers. His biggest hit on Vine became the Narrating People's Lives series, also known as Storytime , in which he comedically told what random strangers were doing and showed their reactions. Other Vine series he is known for include: Disney Pranks with Friends , Pokémon Pranks , Misleading Compliments , Musicals in Real Life (" Pokémon Pranks") , Misleading Compliments ("Misleading Compliments") , Musicals in Real Life (" Musicals in real life ") , Stewie vs. Herbert (with Taylor Shrum as Herbert) and Shoutout Sunday ("Shouting Out Sunday"). In April, his Vineaccount with 5 million followers was the 17th most subscribed account of that time.
When Twitter announced Vine would close in late 2016, Sanders announced that it would continue to make vines until the last day of the app. At the end of Vine on January 17, 2017, Sanders had 8.3 million followers. He then published his short videos, now known as Sanders Shorts , on his Instagram account, which had 2.5 million followers in November 2018. He also encouraged his followers, who call themselves "Fanders", to send fan art inspired by him about him and his work, choosing the best and posting compilations under the hashtag "FanArtFriday" every Friday.
On February 24, 2015, Sanders appeared as a guest on The View in a post about Vine stars, where he was interviewed about his popularity on Vine. One of his vines was featured in a post called " Vine after Vine" on The Ellen DeGeneres Show . Sanders also worked with viners like Vincent Marcus , Brandon Calvillo and Amymarie Gaertner , had cameos and dived with the likes of Sean Bean , Nicolle Wallace , Stacy London , Nick Pitera (with whom he created a series of vines called Unexpected Duets ("Unexpected Duets "), Brizzy Voices , Gabbie Hanna , Tara Strong , EG Daily , Dan and Phil , Adam Pascal and the main characters of Hamilton , Teen Titans Go! and Steven Universe .
YouTube
Sanders opened his main official channel on YouTube on March 15, 2009. Having already achieved some notoriety through Vine, he also regularly uploaded videos to YouTube. His first YouTube collaborations in 2015 were pranks, games and challenges. Until 2014, his number of subscribers grew slowly until he had around 80,000 subscribers at the end of 2014. After that, the number rose rapidly, so that in April 2015 he already had 200,000 subscribers and by the end of 2015 even 700,000 subscribers.
In the second half of 2016, following Twitter Vine's announcement to close, Sander's online activity decreased slightly and he announced that he would concentrate on his YouTube content. He started regularly uploading YouTube videos of various formats. He kept the gaming and challenges content and the monthly Vine compilation, later Sanders Shorts compilations, but also added song performances (solo and duets) to the cultural and social justice debate with a focus on the support of LGBTQ + or race and gender equality issues, short Films, comedy skits, web series such as Sanders Sides ("Sanders Pages") and Cartoon Therapy ("Comic Therapy") , shows with audience participation such as Real or Fake Anime ("Real or Fake Anime") or Voices of Unreason (" Voices of Unreason "), occasional live streams and different. In January 2019, its main channel had almost 3 million subscribers.
On October 29, 2018, he opened his second YouTube channel called "Thomas Sanders & Friends", which he dedicated to the unscripted formats that he had uploaded to his main channel in the past. The monthly Sanders Shorts compilations have also been uploaded to his second channel since then. Its main channel is reserved for scripted series and shows, as well as music video clips. Its second channel hit 100,000 subscribers on November 7, 2018, nine days after it opened.
Sanders Sides ("Sanders Sides")
See also: List of Sanders Sides episodes (English)
Since October 19, 2016, Thomas Sanders has been uploading a web series, Sanders Sides , to YouTube , which he writes with Joan, in which he discusses personal or existential issues with four main characters, the four eponymous "Sander Sides". Sanders Sides has a total of 26 episodes as of the end of 2018. The videos are uploaded roughly monthly. It is a spin-off of the Vine / Sanders Short s series because Patton, Roman and Logan were inspired by characters who previously appeared on Vine as "the Dad Guy", "the Prince Guy" and "the Teacher Guy". Usually they are all played by Sanders himself, but they have also been played by Sanders friends Joan, Valerie Torres-Rosario, Terrence Williams Jr. and Talyn. Joan and Talyn are also involved in the production of the series, researching the themes, making props, decorating the sets, designing and sewing parts of the costumes by hand, helping with makeup and cutting. Sanders Sides also had guest appearances by z. B. Lilly Singh and Butch Hartman, who not only appeared as himself, but also animated a sequence in which Thomas and his traits became cartoon characters. Tara Strong, who has appeared in a few Vines and Sanders shorts , had a voice cameo in Hartman's episode.
The core idea of the series is that the characters are different sides of Sander's personality. Sanders starts each episode as a normal vlog on a specific topic. Either he is interrupted by one of the other characters or he calls them himself. Each of the sides takes arguments that fit their character trait until they come to a solution that helps both Sanders and the viewer.
The names of the sites are Logan, Patton, Prince Roman, and Virgil, but the names have been gradually revealed. In the beginning they were only known as Logic (Logic, Logan), Morality or Dad (Morality, Patton), Creativity or Princey (Creativity, Prince Roman), and Anxiety (Fear, Virgil). Logan is Thomas logical thanks, his intelligence and his knowledge. He depicts a high school teacher in a black polo shirt, blue tie and glasses. Patton represents Thomas's moral concept, his sense of right and wrong, his feelings and his inner child. With a blue polo shirt, a sweater tied around the shoulders and the same glasses as Logan, he has the look of a typical American family man. Roman is Thomas' creativity, his imagination, his hopes and dreams, his romance and his love of singing. He has the appearance of a Disney prince, as he wears a white royal suit with a red sash and gold trimmings like in the 19th century. wearing. Virgil is Thomas' fears, worries, his fight and flight reflexes and his instinct for survival. His looks are modeled on an emoteenager, with a black jacket, hair hanging over his face and eye shadow under his eyes.
theatre
Regardless of his internet-based career, Sanders has worked in musicals at the Gainesville Community Playhouse for productions including Hot Mikado (2007), Singin 'in the Rain (2009), The Producers (2010), Anything Goes (2011), Into the Woods (2014), and Les Misérables (2014). In 2015, Sanders made his first professional theatrical appearance in Heathers: The Musical as JD in a production that was staged in Orlando. From August 8 to September 2, 2016, Sanders toured with his self-written musical Ultimate Storytime with songs by Jacob Fjeldheim , which was featured on his Vine series Narrating People's Lives ") based. He performed in 17 cities in the US and Canada , including Toronto and New York .
music
Although critics classified Sanders as a baritone , he describes himself as a bass. He often sings on his social media accounts. He has sung songs from a wide range of genres, although he has a personal penchant for jazz music and names Nat King Cole as one of his favorite singers. He also has duets with dodie, Jon Cozart, Ben J. Pierce, Deedee Magno Hall, Adam Pascal, AJ Rafael and others. His first EP called Merry Christmas came out on December 21, 2013 and contained Christmas carols. 2016 he released the soundtrack to his musical Ultimate Storytime ( Ultimate Story Time ), he with his co-stars Terrence Williams Jr., Nicole Visco, Jay Harper (aka JayIsJo) and Leo Anderson (also known as Leo the Giant ) recorded. On July 22, 2017 published Sanders on YouTube a new original song entitled The Things We Used to Share ( The things we used to share ), written and composed by Joan and piano accompaniment by AJ Rafael, inspired by real events in Sanders Life, available on iTunes and Spotify since July 27th. More singles followed in 2018, solo and as a duet, and the announcement of a new EP. [outdated]
EPs & albums
- Merry Christmas (EP) (2013)
- Ultimate Storytime (2016)
Songs & Singles
| year | title | Duet with | annotation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | "Snow in Venice" | Jacob Fjeldheim (piano) | Cover of a song by Elizaveta |
| 2014 | "A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes" | Jazz cover of a Cinderella song | |
| 2015 | "Proud of Your Boy" | Cover from the musical Aladdin posted on Sanders' Tumblr account. | |
| 2016 | "Vine vs YouTube" | Jon Cozart | Song based on "Anything You Can Do" from the musical Annie Get Your Gun |
| "Middle of a Moment" | Cover from the musical James and the Giant Peach | ||
| "Freeze Your Brain" | Cover of Heathers: The Musical with Sanders in 2015 | ||
| "What You Own" | Adam Pascal | Cover from the musical Rent | |
| "The Internet is Down" | AVbyte | Original song by AVbyte | |
| "RIP Vine: A Song" | Jon Cozart | Song nominated for a Streamy Award; based on "Agony" from Into the Woods | |
| 2017 | "Read" | Original song written by Thomas Sanders and Chris Shaw, from Sanders Sides | |
| "Birds" | dodie | Cover from Sanders Ultimate Storytime musical | |
| "Dear Happy" | Original song by dodie | ||
| "Warrior Girl" | Deedee Magno Hall | Cover from Sanders' Ultimate Storytime musical | |
| "A Lovely Night" | Ben J. Pierce | Cover from La La Land | |
| "Waving Through a Window" | dodie & Ben J. Pierce | Cover from the musical Dear Evan Hansen | |
| "Aggressive Bouts of Beat Poetry" | Rap song written by Joan, from Sanders Sides | ||
| "New York, New York" | dodie | Cover from the musical of the same name | |
| "The Things We Used to Share" | Original song written by Joan, first own single | ||
| "Tomorrow Never Came" | Ben J. Pierce | Cover of a song by Lana Del Rey | |
| "12 Days of Christmas" | Christmas song from Sanders Sides | ||
| 2018 | "Rear View" | Foti | Original song by Foti |
| "Disappear" | AJ Rafael | Cover from the musical Dear Evan Hansen | |
| "I Won't Say I'm in Love (mash-up)" | Terrence Williams Jr., Jamahl Rawls & Foti | Single, cover of a song from Hercules mixed with several Disney songs | |
| "Crofter's: The Musical" | Single, from Sanders Sides . | ||
| "On the Borderline" | Single, original song written by Joan. | ||
| "breathin" | Foti | Single, cover of a song by Ariana Grande. | |
| "Incomplete (The Puzzle Song)" | Single, original song, from Sanders Sides . |
watch TV
On January 27, 2017, Thomas Sanders guest-starred on the Disney Channel show Bizaardvark, in the final episode of the first season, "In Your Space!", Where he portrayed reality web show host Ian Finkelman. He also co-hosted a special episode of Walk the Prank called "Talk the Prank with Thomas Sanders and David Lopez" that aired on Disney XD on March 20, 2017.
Awards and nominations
| Year | Award | Nominee | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Ryan Seacrest's Favorite Vine Celebrity Contest | Thomas Sanders | Won |
| 2015 | Univision's Shorty Awards - Vine Star of the Year | Thomas Sanders | Won |
| 2016 | Streamy Awards - Viner of the Year | Thomas Sanders | Won |
| Teen Choice Awards - Choice Viner | Thomas Sanders | Nominated | |
| 2017 | Shorty Awards - YouTube Comedian | Thomas Sanders | Won |
| Streamy Awards - Collaboration | Thomas Sanders and Jon Cozart for "RIP Vine: A Song" | Nominated | |
| Unicorn Awards - YouTuber of the Year | Thomas Sanders | Nominated |
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Sanders, Thomas |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American singer, actor, screenwriter, and internet personality |
| DATE OF BIRTH | April 24, 1989 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Gainesville, Florida |